Diceros praecox


Diceros praecox is an extinct species of rhinoceros that lived in Africa during the Pliocene, around 4 million years ago. It has been suggested to be the direct ancestor of the living black rhinoceros .

Taxonomy

Diceros praecox has for many years been classified as Ceratotherium praecox, however the original material describing the species has been shown to be closer to the black rhinoceros in its skull morphology. Other material showing greater similarities with the white rhinoceros are considered to belong to a different species, Ceratotherium mauritanicum. D. praecox has been suggested to have arose from Ceratotherium neumayri, however the close relationship between C. neumayri and Diceros has been disputed by other authors.

Description

The teeth of D. praecox are similar to those of Ceratotherium neumayri. However, the longer skull suggests increased browsing specialization. The break-off of Diceros from Ceratotherium probably indicates ecological divergence and character displacement between browsing versus grazing specializations.