[PaleoMammalogy • 2013] Aceratherium porpani • A new species of Aceratherium (Rhinocerotidae, Perissodactyla) from the late Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand

Reconstruction of the Late Miocene habitat of Aceratherium porpani from Tha Chang area in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northwestern Thailand

Photo : Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences -- illustrated by Chen Yu

Holotype skull of Aceratherium porpani Deng, Hanta & Jintasakul 2013

Abstract

A new species of the genus Aceratherium, A. porpani sp. nov., from the Tha Chang sand pits in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northwestern Thailand, is described. It is a mid-sized rhinocerotid in the subfamily Aceratheriinae, and represents the first discovery of Aceratherium in Thailand. The material includes a well-preserved skull and mandible. A. porpani has broadly separated parietal crests, slightly expanded zygomatic arches, a straight nuchal crest, moderate supraorbital tuberosities, a flat skull roof, a deep nasal notch above the P4/M1 boundary, a moderately wide mandibular symphysis with a posterior border at the p3/p4 boundary, a short diastema between i2 and p2, absence of DP1 and dp1, strong crochets, constricted molar protocones, and long metalophs. This new species has a mixture of primitive and derived characters that differ from the known species of Aceratherium, A. incisivum, and A. depereti. The evolutionary stage of A. porpani is consistent with the latest Miocene age of the associated fauna and flora in the Tha Chang sand pits.

Etymology: In honor of Porpan Vachajitpan, who donated the studied holotype and paratype specimens of this new species

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was listening to the introduction of Dr. Deng about the holotype skull 

Tao Deng, Rattanaphorn Hanta and Pratueng Jintasakul. 2013. A new species of Aceratherium (Rhinocerotidae, Perissodactyla) from the late Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (4): 977–975. doi: dx.doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2013.748058.

http://124.16.247.212/bitstream/311034/2200/1/Deng%20et%20al,%202013%20JVP.pdf

http://www.khoratfossil.org/museum/download/abstracs/2011-p45-46.pdf

Aceratherium porpani: New Late Miocene Species of Hornless Rhino from Thailand

Paleontologists have identified a new species of hornless rhino from fossil skull and mandible found in the Tha Chang area, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand.

In the Tha Chang area, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand, several sand pits previously have yielded fossils. The area is 220 km northeast of Bangkok, and the sand pits are located next to the Mun River. The sedimentary sequence of these sand pits consists of unconsolidated mudstone, sandstone, and conglomerate, deposited by the ancient Mun River. Almost all the fossils have been found and collected by local villagers working in these sand pits, and they have been brought to public institutions such as Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University. Consequently, precise field information is unavailable for most of the fossils from the Tha Chang area, including the type mandible of the recently described new hominoid Khoratpithecus piriyai. 

Dr. DENG Tao from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his Thai colleagues from Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University studied the rhino fossils collected from the Tha Chang sand pits and described them as a new species of the subfamily Aceratheriinae, Aceratherium porpani sp. nov. Its holotype is an adult skull without premaxillae and the anterior portion of nasals, and its paratype is an almost complete mandible. Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand was interested in this study and watched the holotype of A. porpani when Dr. Deng and his Thai colleagues studied these fossils in Nakhon Ratchasima. The study is published online June 26, 2013 in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/rh/rp/201306/t20130626_105190.html

http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/science-aceratherium-porpani-rhino-thailand-01187.html

[Paleontology • 2011] ราชสีมาซอรัส สุรนารีเอ • Ratchasimasaurus suranareae • A New Iguanodontian Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation, Nakhon Ratchasima in Northeastern Thailand

Here we report a new iguanodontian dentary found from the Lower Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation, Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast Thailand. A unique character, which is an elongated and flat shape of the dentary ramus, makes it possible to assign the specimen to the new genus of non-hadrosaurid iguanodontian, Ratchasimasaurus suranareae gen. et sp. nov. R. suranareae shows both primitive and derived characters, such as a caudally inclined coronoid process and alveolar trough with a primitive crown impression, and a derived buccal shelf between tooth row and coronoid process. The discovery of a new iguanodontian from the Indochina Terrene, considering that the previously reported “Probactrosaurus-like” iguanodontian, points out a great diversity of this group in the late Early Cretaceous in Thailand, and corresponds to the Asian iguanodontian diversity at that time.

http://www.encyklopedia.dinozaury.com/index.php/Ratchasimasaurus

Masateru Shibata, Pratueng Jintasakul, and Yoichi Azuma. 2011. A New Iguanodontian Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation, Nakhon Ratchasima in Northeastern Thailand. Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition 85 (5): 969 – 976. DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2011.00230.x

[Palaeontology • 2004] โคราชพิเธคัส พิริยะอิ 'เอปโคราช' | Khoratpithecus piriyai • A new orang-utan relative from the Late Miocene of Thailand

The fossil record of the living great apes is poor. New fossils from undocumented areas, particularly the equatorial forested habitats of extant hominoids, are therefore crucial for understanding their origins and evolution. Two main competing hypotheses have been proposed for orang-utan origins: dental similarities support an origin from Lufengpithecus, a South Chinese and Thai Middle Miocene hominoid; facial and palatal similarities support an origin from Sivapithecus, a Miocene hominoid from the Siwaliks of Indo-Pakistan. However, materials other than teeth and faces do not support these hypotheses. Here we describe the lower jaw of a new hominoid from the Late Miocene of Thailand, Khoratpithecus piriyai gen. et sp. nov., which shares unique derived characters with orang-utans and supports a hypothesis of closer relationships with orang-utans than other known Miocene hominoids. It can therefore be considered as the closest known relative of orang-utans. Ancestors of this great ape were therefore evolving in Thailand under tropical conditions similar to those of today, in contrast with Southern China and Pakistan, where temperate or more seasonal climates appeared during the Late Miocene.

Systematics. Order Primates Linnaeus 1758; suborder Anthropoidea Mivart 1864; superfamily Hominoidea Gray 1825; family Hominidae Gray 1825; subfamily Ponginae Elliot 1913; Khoratpithecus gen. nov.

Type species. Khoratpithecus piriyai sp. nov.

Referred species. cf. Lufengpithecus chiangmuanensis Chaimanee et al. 2003, Middle Miocene of Thailand.

Etymology. Khoratpithecus means ape from Khorat.

FIGURE 1. Mandible of Khoratpithecus piriyai gen. et sp. nov. holotype (RIN 765).

Y. Chaimanee, V. Suteethorn, P. Jintasakul, C. Vidthayanon, B. Marandat and J.-J. Jaeger. 2004. A new orang-utan relative from the Late Miocene of Thailand. Nature. 427 (6973): 439–441. doi:10.1038/nature02245.