Earliest occurrence of "dihoplus" megarhinus (mammalia, rhinocerotidae) in europe (late miocene, pannonian basin, hungary): palaeobiogeographical and biochronological implications

tIn 1979, several specimens of Rhinocerotidae were collected from the Late Miocene deposits of the ZalaSubbasin, Pannonian Basin, Western Hungary and were inventoried as Rhinoceros sp. Based on morpho-logical and metric grounds, this material is here referred to “Dihoplus” megarhinus (de Christol), a speciespreviously known only from Pliocene localities. This is the earliest record of the species in Europe. Ourresults support the hypothesis that the origin of “D”. megarhinus took place in Asia and that this speciessuccessively dispersed towards Western Europe during the end of the Miocene.