Persiatherium rodleri, gen. et sp. nov. (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) from the upper Miocene of Maragheh (northwestern Iran)

A new genus and species of Rhinocerotidae, Persiatherium rodleri, gen. et sp. nov., a new acerathere rhinocerotid from the early upper Miocene (ca. 9 Ma) locality of Kopran, Maragheh (northwestern Iran), is described. The new taxon can be clearly distinguished from the three species previously reported at Maragheh: Iranotherium morgani, Ceratotherium neumayri, and Chilotherium persiae. Moreover, P. rodleri can be distinguished from the latest middle and late Miocene elasmotheres, teleoceratins, and rhinoceroses recorded in Eurasia and Africa. The new taxon displays morphological characters close to Aceratheriini. However, the presence of plesiomorphic characters on the teeth (presence of P1, continuous lingual cingula on the premolars, labial cingula on the premolars, lingual cingula on the molars, weak protocone constriction on the molars, absence of crista and antecrochet on the molars), of peculiar morphological characters (e.g., lingual side of the protoloph and metaloph directed disto-lingually on P2 with the presence of a lingual groove on the hypocone), as well as some derived characters (e.g., short metaloph on the molars), enable its distinction from other Aceratheriini. A cladistic analysis shows that P. rodleri is the sister taxon to ‘Aceratherium huadeensis’. Though the latter displays more derived features than P. rodleri, their phylogenetic relationships allow inclusion of both species in the same new genus.