Brachydiastematherium

Brachydiastematherium
Temporal range:
Holotype of B. transylvanicum.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: †Brontotheriidae
Subfamily: †Brontotheriinae
Tribe: †Brontotheriini
Subtribe: †Brontotheriina
Infratribe: †Embolotheriita
Genus: †Brachydiastematherium
Böckh & Matyasovski, 1876
Species:
†B. transylvanicum
Binomial name
†Brachydiastematherium transylvanicum
Böckh & Matyasovski, 1876

Brachydiastematherium (lit. 'short diastema beast') is an extinct genus of horned brontothere that lived in Eastern Europe during the Middle Eocene. It is the westernmost species of brontothere, with the first fossils of it being found in Transylvania, Romania. Only the type species, B. transylvanicum, is known.[2]

Description

In comparison with other brontothere fossils, it is suggested that B. transylvanicum would have had an elongated head, not unlike Dolichorhinus, and be about 2 meters at the withers (anatomically speaking, the highest part of the back at the base of the neck).[3][4] The name of Brachydiastematherium comes from the fact that the genus lacks a large diastema (tooth gap) between the canines and the premolars. This trait is shared by another genus, Metatitan, which also shares the unique trait of a molariform metaconid.[5]

Phylogeny

Most phylogenies support the idea that Brachydiastematherium is closest to Metatitan among the embolotheres, due to aforementioned morphological similarity in dental structure.[5]

Cladogram after Mihlbachler (2008):[1]

Embolotheriita

References

  1. 1 2 Mihlbachler, Matthew C. (2008). "Species Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and Biogeography of the Brontotheriidae (Mammalia: Perissodactyla)". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 2008 (311). doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2008)501[1:STPABO]2.0.CO;2.
  2. ↑ "Prohyracodon orientale Koch, the oldest known true rhinoceros. American Museum novitates ; no. 395". digitallibrary.amnh.org. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  3. ↑ Spencer George Lucas und Robert M. Schoch: European Brontotheres. In: Donald R. Prothero und Robert M. Schoch (Hrsg.): The evolution of perissodactyls. New York und London, 1989, S. 485–489
  4. ↑ Cristina Fărcas: Study of the Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene continental formations from northwestern side of Transylvanian Depression - Biostratigraphy, and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions based on land vertebrates. Babeș-Bolyai-Universität, Cluj-Napoca, 2011
  5. 1 2 "A new brontothere (Brontotheriidae, Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the Eocene of the Ily Basin of Kazakstan and a phylogeny of Asian "horned" brontotheres. American Museum novitates ; no. 3439". digitallibrary.amnh.org. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
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