Today, a huge number of animals live on earth, which impress with their beauty, uniqueness and appearance. But it is also interesting that in ancient times there were no less interesting animals that could not survive to this day. Thanks to paleontologists and scientists, we have an idea of these unique creatures and can even imagine where they lived, how they looked and what they ate. One of these amazing creatures was a woolly rhino. Now there is enough information about him to find out what he was like and to guess why his population has disappeared.
General information
The woolly rhino is a mammal. Although its
appearance is very similar to the modern representative of this family, still they have differences. In addition, to survive in cold territories, the animal was covered with warm wool. It also belonged to herbivores. Meeting people did not bring the animal anything good. Often hunters made traps in which a rhino fell, after which it was pierced with spears. The main reason why the woolly rhinoceros disappeared is, of course, climate change, but the bloodthirstiness of man played an important role in this.
Appearance
During excavations in the north, bones of a woolly rhinoceros were often found. Also in places of permafrost were discovered carcasses of this animal, which were mummified in ice. Thanks to such findings, scientists were able to well study the structure and external characteristics of the mammal. The found animal is basically very similar to the current representatives of this family. But still their physiques have differences. The ancient representative had shortened three-toed legs and an elongated body. The head also has a more oblong shape. The neck of the beast turned into a large hump, which had several functions. Firstly, he was equipped with good muscles in order to hold the horn. But besides this, he served as a "reserve" for the winter, in which there was a sufficient fat layer. The teeth of the ancient representative are very similar to the oral cavity of a modern rhino. The animal also lacked fangs, but unlike the current rhino, the other teeth were more protected by dense enamel.
Adapted to frost
The mammal was covered with a brown long hairline, it is this feature that distinguishes a woolly rhinoceros. The skeleton, of course, cannot give an idea of whether the animal had hair, but the carcasses that were found in the ice were with hair samples. So that the beast could bear the cold, under the main long cover there was a thick undercoat. The neck was wrapped with additional insulation in the form of a certain mane. Also on the tip of the tail was a stiff woolen brush. It is worth noting that the rhino had slightly shortened ears 24 cm high, while its current relative has 30. Also, the tail was shorter, only 45 cm. Less heat loss occurs through small ears and tail. The skin of the beast was thick, not less than 5 mm. On the shoulders and chest, its thickness reached 15 mm. All these data show that the animal was well adapted to survive in harsh lands.
Animal horns
Regardless of whether the male or female, they both had two horns on the bridge of the nose. The structure of these growths is practically no different from those of current animals. The horns were keratinized fibers. But they had a slightly different shape. If the rhinos familiar to us wear more rounded horns, then in the ancient representatives of the fauna they are flattened from the sides. The length of such a growth was impressive, and especially the long horns had a curved back shape. More often, the horn was a little more than one meter, but there were exceptions in which the growth reached 1 m 40 cm. The woolly rhinoceros carried about 15 kilograms on its nose. But to this mass it is worth adding the weight of the second horn, which was half shorter, usually it did not exceed half a meter. To withstand such a load, the nasal septum of the ancient mammal was all ossified. The modern representative of this species does not observe such advantages.
Animal size
If we compare the ancient and modern rhino, then in their parameters they practically do not differ from each other. In 1972, a mummified woolly rhinoceros was found in Yakutia. The length of the carcass reached 3 m 200 cm. The height measured at the shoulders was 1 m 50 cm. Both horns remained intact, the main growth was 1 m 25 cm. According to modern estimates, large individuals could weigh 3.5 tons. But more often they didn’t reach such a figure, and therefore the average weight is equal to the black rhino, the larger individuals had the same mass as the modern white rhino. The woolly rhinoceros at that time in size was second only to mammoths, and even now these land loses in size only to elephants.
Lifestyle
It seems that the behavior of the ancient rhinos was no different from their current brethren. They wandered one at a time, not grouped into herds, during the rutting season they fought for females and most of the time lived on pastures. The structure of the upper lip indicates that the animal predominantly fed on grass and cereals. Once every three years, males came to females. For about a year and a half, the female was bearing offspring. Judging by the nipples (there were only two), one cub was born at a time. For about two years, the baby stayed near his mother. During her life, the female brought about seven cubs. This indicates a weak population growth. Most likely, the mammal lived a life of 40 years, after which it grew old and died, unless of course the hunters had killed it before.
White woolly rhino in computer games
Since this animal has remained in the deep past, various abilities can be attributed to it today. For example, they decided to use his image in the modern entertainment industry, and therefore he appears in some computer games, where he is awarded with additional features and extraordinary power. So, many people know the woolly rhino "WWII", which was added in update 3.3.5. Here he acts not only as an animal for riding, but also for conducting battles. In this game, he received such recognition due to his large size.