Aralotherium is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotoids closely related to Paraceratherium, one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has ever existed. It lived in China and Kazakhstan during the late Oligocene epoch (28–23 million years ago). It is classified as a member of the Paraceratheriidae subfamily Paraceratheriinae.[1]

Aralotherium
Temporal range: Oligocene, 28–23 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Paraceratheriidae
Genus: Aralotherium
Borissiak, 1939
Type species
Aralotherium prohorovi
Borissiak, 1939
Species
  • A. prohorovi Borissiak, 1939
  • A. sui (Ye, Meng & Wu, 2003)

Two species are known, A. prohorovi and A. sui.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ E. I. Belyaeva. (1948). Catalogue of Tertiary Fossil Sites of the Land Mammals in the U.S.S.R.
  2. ^ J. Ye; J. Meng; W.-Y. Wu (2003). "Discovery of Paraceratherium in the northern Junggar Basin of Xinjiang" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 41 (3): 220–229.
  3. ^ Z. Qiu; B. Wang (2007). "Paracerathere Fossils of China". Palaeontologia Sinica. New Series C (29): 1–396.