Ecomorphology of the postcranial skeleton of the rhinocerotids from the Miocene Fossillagerstätte Sandelzhausen

• Applicant: Dr. Rico Schellhorn
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 277472614

The Miocene Fossillagerstätte Sandelzhausen was discovered in 1959 and is one of the most important Neogene mammal sites in the world. Within the large the rhinoceroses are dominating the rich fossil assemblage. So far mostly skull and mandible remains, and teeth have been studied of the three occurring species, which belong to three different genera. Sandelzhausen is the type locality for the genus Prosantorhinus and the species Plesiaceratherium fahlbuschi. Beside cranial elements the fossil remains are rich in postcranial material especially limb bones. This material provides the unique opportunity to study variability and to describe the postcranial anatomy in detail and will be the basis for comprehensive statistical analyses. Beside sexual dimorphism and ontogeny the ecological interpretation is one of the main aims of this project and for example the hypothesis of a semi-aquatic mode of life in the short limbed Prosantorhinus germanicus will be tested. The two other species are long legged and hypothesized as terrestrial, but also in Plesiaceratherium fahlbuschi the primitive dentition tends to a moist habitat. Within the fossil remains P. germanicus and P. fahlbuschi are nearly same abundant and Sandelzhausen is known as the richest locality worldwide for both species. Lartetotherium sansaniense was first described from the French locality Sansan and is comparably abundant in Sandelzhausen.The main focus of the functional investigations lies on the limb bones of the three differently adapted species. The analysis will help to clarify the modes of life and to describe the fossil environment. Most of the material is disarticulated. Therefore classical methods, e.g., biometrics, will be combined with current 3D methods, e.g., surface and micro CT scanning. With the 3D data the possibility for measurements and comparisons will be extended, Virtual skeletal reconstructions will allow an interpretation of the data like articulated specimens. This project provides a fruitful and fundamental contribution to the knowledge of the Fossillagerstätte Sandelzhausen itself, as well as to the evolution and ecology of the Rhinocerotidae.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants