Fossil Rhino (Stephanorhinus) Jaw Section - Germany

This is a 7.1" long partial lower jaw with two molars of Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis, an extinct Rhinoceros. It's Pleistocene in age or approximately 120,000 years old and comes from the gravel deposits of the Rhine River. Fossils of Stephanorhinus are much rarer than those of the Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta).

The gravel deposits along the Rhine River used to produce a large number of Pleistocene fossils while quarrying for gravel aggregate. They have become much harder to come by in recent years as the quarry operations have become more mechanized and the fossils are often destroyed in the process.

Stephanorhinus or Merck's rhinoceros is an extinct genus of rhinoceros native to northern Eurasia that lived during the Lower to Early Late Pleistocene epoch. It had two horns and was a relatively large rhino. It weighed over 3,000 kg (6,600 lbs) and measured about 2 meters (6.56 ft) tall and 4 meters (13.12 ft) in length, having a size similar to a white rhino.