🦕 Prehistoric World Map

Aphelops fossil map

Where fossils of Aphelops have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 15 million years ago and on today’s map.

Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 15 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →

Aphelops
Image: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
GroupEarly mammals
Lived23.04–3.6 million years ago (Aquitanian to Zanclean)
PeriodsNeogene
FamilyRhinocerotidae
Named byOwen 1845
Fossil records384 occurrences at 98 locations (PBDB)
Found inUnited States
Rock formationstxn:43187, Ash Hollow, Valentine, Fleming, Olcott, Sheep Creek

About Aphelops

Aphelops (Greek: "smooth" (apheles), "face" (ops), in a reference of lacking a horn) is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotids endemic to North America. It lived from the Middle Miocene to the Early Pliocene, during which it was a common component of North American mammalian faunas along with Teleoceras.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Aphelops (revision 1357019369), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q773433.

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