42 Vertebrate Paleontology Research in North America (Posters)

Friday, 21 March 2025
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Shenandoah ABC

FIRST JUVENILE SKELETON OF TELEOCERAS AEPYSOMA (PERISSODACTYLA, RHINOCEROTIDAE) FROM THE GRAY FOSSIL SITE, TENNESSEE

Paper number: 42-5
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Authors

  • Joseph Gajewski Presenting Author
    Don Sundquist Center for Excellence in Paleontology, Johnson City, TN

Abstract

The fossil rhinoceros (Teleoceras aepysoma) material recovered from the Gray Fossil Site represents one of the latest known populations of Rhinocerotidae in North America. T. aepysoma is morphologically distinct from other members of the genus, characterized by pronounced supraorbital tubercles and longer, more gracile forelimbs, a feature that stands out in a genus typically characterized by robust, proximodistally shortened limbs. Recent recovery of a juvenile skeleton of T. aepysoma (ETMNH 32999) from the Gray Fossil Site offers a new look into the development of this species’ unusual morphology, particularly in the cranium and forelimbs. Sex and age class are assigned to the specimen based on a combination of established methods. Comparisons with congeneric juveniles, adult T. aepysoma specimens, and extant rhinoceroses will be made to facilitate examination of ontogenetic and taxonomic differences in skull and limb morphology. These comparisons will further the understanding of this species’ development, as well as add to the scarce published literature describing juvenile fossil rhinoceroses. Results will also set the groundwork for understanding the ecological role of T. aepysoma in the Appalachian forests of the late Neogene: a habitat thought to be atypical of Teleoceras.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025SE-407338

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