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Showing results for tags 'ronzotherium'.
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Ronzotherium from the Bouldnor Fm.
TXV24 posted a topic in Partners in Paleontology - Member Contributions to Science
Hi, A few weeks back I posted in the ID section about a fragment of mammal molar I had found whilst collecting at Hamstead. The Hamstead to Bouldnor coast is an Eocene/Oligocene locality and one the best sites in the UK for tertiary vertebrate remains from crocodiles, turtles, fish, and quite frequently mammals too, and was deposited in a paludal environment in the Hampshire Basin. I was aware it was a fragment of a rhinoceros tooth but couldn't be sure if it was from a more modern Pleistocene type like Stephanorhinus or a much more older rhinocerotid like Ronzotherium, an early hornless rhinoceros which is a a very rare part of the post Grande Coupre mammal fauna found in the Bouldnor Fm. Only 6 finds attributed to Ronzotherium have been discovered here since the late-19th century, the last record I can find is from 1999, all have been referred to the species romani. After the suggestions of some users on this forum and further research online I excitingly noticed some similarities to the molars of Ronzotherium. Straight away I contacted Dr Martin Munt, the curator at the Isle Of Wight's paleontological museum 'Dinosaur Isle' to bring the find to his attention in case it was from Ronzotherium. He passed the images on to colleagues at the Natural History Museum in London, who confirmed the molar as being from Ronzotherium. This was really exciting news to hear considering the rarity of material like this in the Bouldnor fm. The museum staff were really excited too and asked if it would be possible for me to bring the specimen in for them to borrow for a period and look at it in further detail. Suffice to say the molar is on it's way to the museum tomorrow afternoon to be dropped off and spend some time the laboratories there, and if needs be I'm more than happy to make a permanent donation to help learn more about the species and the UK's tertiary past. It's a really exciting find that I feel really lucky to have discovered, and definitely makes 6am starts and Saturday mornings scrambling through fallen trees and mudslides worth it! (I've attached a picture of the specimen below along with a reconstruction of the species, the proto and metaloph are present and so is an intact lingual valley, the enamel is also really well preserved)- 21 replies
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