Among the last members of the genus, it co-existed alongside Stephanorhinus hemitoechus (the narrow-nosed or steppe rhinoceros) in the western part of its range.

[7] Merck's rhinoceros belongs to the genus Stephanorhinus, which first appeared in Europe during the Late Pliocene, around 3.5 million years ago, and is known from fossils across Eurasia.

[10] The earliest definitive records of the species are from Zhoukoudian Locality 13, near Beijing in northern China at around the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition approximately 800,000 years ago.

[24] Stephanorhinus yunchuchenensis from Shanxi, China, likely represents a junior synonym of S. kirchbergensis, its precise age is uncertain, but it has been suggested to date to the late Early Pleistocene.

[24] Records from Migong Cave just south of the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges area in northeastern Chongqing are suggested to date to MIS 2 (29,000-14,000 years ago).

[29] Merck's rhinoceros has been interpreted as a browser or a mixed feeder, consuming both browse such as branches and leaves of trees and shrubs, as well as low-lying vegetation.

[1] Preserved plant remains found with the teeth on the arctic Chondon skull included twigs of Salix (willow), Betula (birch) and abundant Larix (larch) alongside fragments of Ericaceae (heather); sedges were notably absent.

Cut marks are known on bones of S. kirchbergensis from the Guado San Nicola site in central Italy, which dates to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 400–345,000 years ago.

[33] Remains of S. kirchbergensis with cut marks have also been reported from the Medzhibozh locality in western Ukraine, dating to MIS 11, around 425–375,000 years ago.

[34] At the collapsed cave of Payre in southeast France, dating to the late Middle Pleistocene, numerous remains of rhinoceroses, primarily S. kirchbergensis and to a lesser exent S. hemitoechus have been found, which are suggested to have been accumulated by Neanderthals, and display marks indicative of butchery.

[35] At the Grays Thurrock site in southern Britain, dating to MIS 9 around 300,000 years ago, both S. kirchbergensis and S. hemitoechus are suggested to have been butchered.

[36] At the Taubach travertine site in Thuringia, Germany, which dates to the Eemian (approximately 130,000-115,000 years ago) abundant remains of Merck's rhinoceros with cut marks are known.