Named By: | Ringstrom in 1924 |
Time Period: | Late Miocene |
Location: | China and Iran |
Size: | Between 3-4 meters long. Males larger than females |
Diet: | Herbivore |
Fossil(s): | Skulls and post cranial remains of several individuals |
Classification: | | Chordata | Mammalia | Perissodactyla | Rhinocerotidae | |
Iranotherium ("Beast of Iran") was a large elasmothere rhinoceros, as big as a modern white rhino, found in the Middle East and Central Asia. It was a precursor of the related Sinotherium, and may have been ultimately outcompeted by its descendant.
Males were larger than the females and had more developed muscle scars on the zygomatic arch.