Rhinoceros (genus)

Classification

The genus Rhinoceros comprises:

• Indian rhinoceros (R. unicornis) Linnaeus, 1758 Indian subcontinent
• Javan rhinoceros (R. sondaicus) Desmarest, 1822 Southeast Asia
• †R. sivalensis Falconer and Cautley, 1846 northern Indian subcontinent (Siwalik Hills) Pliocene-Early Pleistocene
• †R. platyrhinus Falconer and Cautley 1847 syn Punjabitherium Khan (1971) Upper Siwaliks, Indian subcontinent, Early Pleistocene to early Middle Pleistocene, India. Largest species in the genus.
• †R. sinensis Owen, 1870 has been used as a wastebasket taxon used to refer to rhinoceros material from the Pleistocene of China, with various specimens belong to other Rhinoceros species, Dicerorhinus and Stephanorhinus, though it is possible that some remains attributed to Rhinoceros sinensis represents a valid and distinct species of Rhinoceros.
• †R. sinhaleyus Deraniyagala, 1936 and †R. kagavena Deraniyagala, 1956 have both been found in Late Pleistocene strata in Sri Lanka.

The earliest remains of the genus are known from the Late Miocene, represented by remains such as an indeterminate species found in deposits in Myanmar dating to around 8-9 million years ago.

The species "Rhinoceros" philippinensis from the early Middle Pleistocene of the Philippines and "Rhinoceros" sinensis hayasakai from the Early-Middle Pleistocene of Taiwan have been transferred to Nesorhinus, which appears to be closely related to Rhinoceros. While Rhinoceros fusuiensis Yan et al. 2014 from the Early Pleistocene of South China has been transferred to Dicerorhinus.

Relationships among Late Pleistocene and modern rhinoceros genera, based on nuclear DNA, after Liu et al, 2021:

Bayesian morphological phylogeny after Pandolfi, 2023 Note: This excludes living African rhinoceros species.