Aceratheriinae
| Aceratheriinae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Skeleton of Aceratherium (Aceratheriini) | |
| Skeleton of Plesiaceratherium gracile (basal Aceratheriinae) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
| Subfamily: | †Aceratheriinae Dollo, 1885 |
| Genera | |
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See Taxonomy | |
Aceratheriinae (from Ancient Greek ἀ- (á-), meaning "-less", κέρας (kéras), meaning "horn", and θηρίον (theríon), meaning "beast") is an extinct subfamily of true rhinoceroses (Rhinocerotidae) that ranged across Eurasia, Africa and North America from the Oligocene to the beginning of the Pliocene. Members of the group generally lacked horns, though some members of the family may have borne small horns.
The subfamily had historically been used as a wastebasket taxon for all hornless rhinocerotids, though it is now recognised that there are hornless non-aceratheriine rhinocerotids. Aceratheriinae as presently defined includes at least one tribe, Aceratheriini. It is disputed whether members of the tribe Teleoceratini also belong in Aceratheriinae or if they instead represent a distinct separate group of rhinoceroses.