Reappraisal of a middle Pleistocene rhinocerotid (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Matsugae Cave, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan

ABSTRACT

Here we describe a few cheek teeth and mandibular remains of a Pleistocene rhinocerotid from the Matsugae Cave in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, western Japan. Previously, these remains had been identified as Dicerorhinus cf. nipponicus or Dicerorhinus sp. The present study redescribes and identifies them as belonging to Stephanorhinus sp. indet., like several other Japanese middle Pleistocene rhinocerotid remains. The present and other studies suggest that this genus reached Far East Asia during the middle Pleistocene. Stephanorhinus sp. from the Matsugae Cave would have migrated from northern China in 0.43 Ma as a member of the group of terrestrial mammals found in the cave.

KEYWORDS:

• Japan
• the Matsugae Cave
• middle Pleistocene
• Paleobiogeography
• Rhinocerotidae
• Stephanorhinus

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Syozo Iwanaga and Kyoko Funahashi (the Kyushu University Museum, Fukuoka, Japan), and Tomoyuki Ohashi (Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History, Kitakyushu, Japan) for research permission of studied materials.

The first author thanks Tao Deng, Dan-Hui Sun, and Jiangzuo Qigao (Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing) for providing access to specimens for the comparative work.

We wish to thank Editor in Chief Gareth Dyke and two anonymous reviewers, whose comments improved the original manuscript.

This study was supported by a grant of Collaborative Research of NMJH (research title: Taxonomic reconsideration of the Pleistocene fauna in the Naora collection, and its current reappraisal).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Museum of Japanese History [a grant of Collaborative Research of NMJH].