Diceros praecox

Diceros praecox is an extinct species of rhinoceros that lived in Africa during the Pliocene, around 4 million years ago.^[1] It has been suggested to be the direct ancestor of the living black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis).^[2]

Diceros praecox Temporal range: Pliocene
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Family:	Rhinocerotidae
Genus:	Diceros
Species:	†D. praecox
Binomial name
†Diceros praecox Hooijer & Patterson, 1972
Synonyms
Ceratotherium praecox

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.^[3] D. praecox has been suggested to have arose from Ceratotherium neumayri,^[2] however the close relationship between C. neumayri and Diceros has been disputed by other authors.^[4]

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.^[2]