Supernumerary teeth in a subadult rhino mandible (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis</Emphasis>) from the middle Pleistocene of Mosbach in Wiesbaden (Germany)

A well preserved subadult rhino mandible from Mosbach 2 can be attributed toStephanorhinus hundsheimensis based on a metrical and morphological analysis. A comparison to tooth eruption of livingDiceros bicornis suggests an individual age for the animal of about 7 years at death. The described mandible shows a significant tooth anomaly: two teeth occupy the p3 position on each side of the mandible. Comparisons with three younger juvenileStephanorhinus hundsheimensis from Mosbach 2 show the sequence of tooth eruption for the species and allow us to determine that the anomalous teeth are not persistent milk teeth but are supernumerary teeth, which are morphologically intermediate between normal p2 and p3. The animal’s occlusion was compromised to some degree by the anomaly, and the functional disadvantage may have been critical during a harsh period.