The skull of Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis (Jдger, 1839) (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) from Irkutsk Province, Eastern Siberia

Billia E.M.E.

P. 63-71

The famous skull discovered in the Irkutsk Province (Eastern Siberia), previously attributed to “Rhinoceros Merckii” [=Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis] both by Chersky (1874) and by Brandt (1877), preserved in the collections of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg, is described. It represents one of the five skulls ascribed to this taxon discovered until now in Eurasia and the only one coming from the Russian territory. A brief history of the S. kirchbergensis and some notes on three other three skulls attributed to the same species are also included. Unlike the woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis and other Plio-Pleistocene rhinoceroses, which abound in the Eurasian continent, S. kirchbergensis seems to be rare on this wide territory. This is one of the two records of this species from Eastern Siberia, and one of the very few from Russia.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.5.2.03

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