Woolly rhinoceros
Woolly rhinoceros Temporal range:
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Woolly rhinoceros skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
Genus: | †Coelodonta |
Species: | †C. antiquitatis
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Binomial name | |
†Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799)
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Subspecies[1] | |
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Synonyms | |
Rhinoceros lenenesis Pallas |
The woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), simply known as woolly rhino, is an extinct species of
Taxonomy
Woolly rhinoceros remains have been known long before the species was described and were the basis for some mythical creatures. Native peoples of Siberia believed their horns were the claws of giant birds.[3] A rhinoceros skull was found in Klagenfurt, Austria, in 1335, and was believed to be that of a dragon.[4] In 1590, it was used as the basis for the head on a statue of a lindworm.[5] Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert maintained the belief that the horns were the claws of giant birds, and classified the animal under the name Gryphus antiquitatis, meaning "griffin of antiquity".[6]
One of the earliest scientific descriptions of an ancient rhinoceros species was made in 1769, when the naturalist
Evolution
The woolly rhinoceros was the most recent species of the genus Coelodonta. The closest living relative of Coelodonta is the Sumatran rhinoceros, and the genus is also closely related to the extinct genus Stephanorhinus. A cladogram showing the relationships of C. antiquitatis to other Late Pleistocene-recent rhinoceros species based on genomic data is given below.[15]
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Relationships of the woolly rhinoceros based on morphology, excluding African rhinoceros species:[16]
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The oldest known species of Coelodonta,
Description
Structure and appearance
An adult woolly rhinoceros typically measured 3.2 to 3.6 metres (10.5 to 11.8 ft) from head to tail, stood 1.45–1.6 metres (4.8–5.2 ft) tall at the shoulder, and weighed up to 1.5–2 metric tons (1.7–2.2 short tons).[21][22] Both males and females had two horns which were made of keratin, with one long horn reaching forward and a smaller horn between the eyes.[23][24] The front horn would have measured 1–1.35 metres (3.3–4.4 ft) long for individuals at 25 to 35 years of age, while the second horn would have measured up to 47.5 centimetres (1.56 ft) long.[24] Compared to other rhinoceroses, the woolly rhinoceros had a longer head and body, and shorter legs. Its shoulder was raised with a powerful hump, used to support the animal's massive front horn. The hump also contained a fat reserve to aid survival through the desolate winters of the mammoth steppe.[25]
Frozen specimens indicate that the rhino's long fur coat was reddish-brown, with a thick undercoat that lay under a layer of long, coarse guard hair thickest on the withers and neck. Shorter hair covered the limbs, keeping snow from attaching.[25] The body's length ended with a 45-to-50-centimetre (18 to 20 in) tail with a brush of coarse hair at the end.[26] Females had two nipples on the udders.[22]
The woolly rhinoceros had several features which reduced the body's surface area and minimized heat loss. Its ears were no longer than 24 cm (9+1⁄2 in), while those of rhinos in hot climates are about 30 cm (12 in).[24] Their tails were also relatively shorter. It also had thick skin, ranging from 5 to 15 mm (1⁄4 to 5⁄8 in), heaviest on the chest and shoulders.[27][24]
Skull and dentition
The skull had a length between 70 and 90 cm (30 and 35 in). It was longer than those of other rhinoceros, giving the head a deep, downward-facing slanting position, similar to its fossil relative
The nasal septum of the woolly rhinoceros was
Paleobiology
The woolly rhinoceros had a similar life history to modern rhinos. Studies on milk teeth show that individuals developed similarly to both the white and black rhinoceros.[29] The two teats in the female suggest that she raised one calf, or more rarely two, every two to three years.[33][22]
With their massive horns and size, adults had few predators, but young individuals could be attacked by animals such as hyenas and cave lions. A skull was found with trauma indicating an attack from a feline, but the animal survived to adulthood.[34]
Woolly rhinos may have used their horns for combat, probably including
Diet
Woolly rhinoceroses mostly fed on grasses and
A strain vector biomechanical investigation of the skull, mandible and teeth of a well-preserved last cold stage individual recovered from Whitemoor Haye, Staffordshire, revealed musculature and dental characteristics that support a grazing feeding preference. In particular, the enlargement of the temporalis and neck muscles is consistent with that required to resist the large tugging forces generated when taking large mouthfuls of fodder from the ground. The presence of a large diastema supports this theory.[39]
Comparisons with living
Growth
It is estimated that woolly rhinoceroses could reach around 40 years of age, like their modern relatives.[34] In 2014, Shpansky analysed the growth of woolly rhinoceros from its early life stages based on several lower jaw fragments and limb bones. A one-month-old calf was about 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in length and 72 centimetres (2.36 ft) tall at the shoulder. The most intensive growth in woolly rhinos occurred during the juvenile stage around 3 to 4 years of age with a shoulder height of 1.3 metres (4.3 ft). At 7 to 10 years of age, woolly rhinos became young adults with a shoulder height of 1.4–1.5 metres (4.6–4.9 ft). By more than 14 years of age, woolly rhinos became fully mature, old adults with a shoulder height of 1.6 metres (5.2 ft).[41]
Habitat and distribution
The woolly rhinoceros lived mainly in
By the end of the
It seemingly did not cross the
Relationship with humans
Hunting
Woolly rhinoceroses shared their habitat with humans, but direct evidence that they interacted is relatively rare. Only 11% of the known sites of prehistoric Siberian tribes have remains or images of the animal.[27] Many rhinoceros remains are found in caves (such as the Kůlna Cave in Central Europe), which were not the natural habitat of either rhinos or humans, and large predators such as hyenas may have carried rhinoceros parts there.[47] Sometimes, only individual teeth or bone fragments are uncovered, which usually came from only one animal.[48] Most rhinoceros remains in Western Europe are found in the same places where human remains or artifacts were found, but this may have occurred naturally.[49][50]
Signs that early humans hunted or scavenged the rhinoceros come from markings on the animal's bones. One specimen had injuries caused by human weaponry, with traces of a wound from a sharp object marking the shoulder and thigh, and a preserved
Both horns and bones of the rhinoceros were used as raw materials for tools and weapons, as were remains from other animals.
The Pinhole Cave Man is a late Paleolithic figure of a man engraved on a rib bone of a woolly rhinoceros, found at Creswell Crags in England.[58]
Ancient art
Many cave paintings from the Upper Paleolithic depict woolly rhinoceroses. The animal's defining features are prominently drawn, complete with the raised back and hump, contrasting with its low-lying head. Two curved lines represent the ears. The animal's horns are drawn with their long curvature, and in some cases, the coat is also indicated. Many paintings show a black band dividing the body.[59]
About 20 Paleolithic drawings of woolly rhinos were known before the discovery of the
The site of
Extinction
Analysis of the nuclear genome suggests that the woolly rhinoceros experienced a population expansion beginning around 30,000 years ago.[63] The end of the last glacial period shows a progressive contraction of the range of the woolly rhinoceros, with the species disappearing from Europe during the interval between 17-15,000 years ago, with its youngest confirmed records being from the Urals, dating to 14,200 years ago, and northeast Siberia, dating to around 14,000 years ago. The youngest records of the species coincide with the onset of the Bølling–Allerød warming, which likely resulted in increased precipitation (including snowfall), which transformed the woolly rhinoceros' preferred low-growing grass and herb habitat into one dominated by shrubs and trees.[27] Population fragmentation is likely to have played a role in its extinction.[64] A genetic study of the woolly rhinoceros remains in northeast Siberia, dating to around 18,500 years ago, a few thousand years before its extinction, found that the population size was stable and relatively large, despite long-term co-existence with humans in the region.[63] A Holocene survival of the species has been suggested by the finding of environmental DNA of the woolly rhinoceros in sediments dating to 9,800 ± 200 years ago.[65] However, it has been demonstrated that ancient DNA in permafrost can be reworked into sediment layers dating to well after the extinction of the originating species.[66][67]
Fossil specimens
Frozen specimens
Many rhinoceros remains have been found preserved in the
In October 1907, miners in
Skull and rib fragments of a rhinoceros were found in 1972 in
In 2007, a partial rhinoceros carcass was found in the lower reaches of the
In September 2014, a mummified young rhinoceros was discovered by two hunters, Alexander “Sasha” Banderov and Simeon Ivanov, at a tributary of the Semyulyakh River in the Abyysky District in Yakutia, Russia. Its head and horns, fur, and soft tissues were recovered. Some parts had been thawed and eaten since they were not covered by permafrost. The body was handed over to the Yakutia Academy of Sciences, where it was named “Sasha” after one of its discoverers.[78] Dental analysis shows that the calf was about seven months old at the time of its death.[79] With its well-intact preservation, scientists proceeded to undergo DNA analysis.[80][81]
In August 2020, a rhinoceros was found, after being revealed by melting permafrost, close to the site of the 2014 discovery. The rhino was between three and four years old and it is thought that the cause of death was drowning. It is one of the best-preserved animals recovered from the region, having most of its internal organs intact. The discovery was also notable for the preservation of a small nasal horn, a rarity as these normally decompose quickly.[82]
See also
- Elasmotherium, another Pleistocene Eurasian rhinoceros
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