A display of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), an extinct species of rhinoceros that was prevalent in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene epoch.
This is an extraordinary and significant find in the world of paleontology.
The discovery of a nearly perfectly preserved woolly rhinoceros in the Siberian permafrost provides an unprecedented opportunity to study this extinct species.
The preservation of soft tissues, including skin, fur and internal organs, is incredibly rare and offers a wealth of information that cannot be gleaned from bones alone.
The woolly rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene era.
The woolly rhinoceros was covered with long, thick hair that helped it survive in the extremely cold, harsh steppe tundra.
It had a large hump up to its shoulders and ate mainly herbaceous plants growing in the steppe.
They possessed a large hump on their shoulders and primarily consumed herbaceous plants found in the steppe.
An adult woolly rhinoceros typically measures 3.2-3.6m from head to tail, stands 1.45-1.6m tall at the shoulder, and weighs up to 1.5-2m tons.
Surprisingly, it may not be the heaviest among the rhinoceros species. It used to be a very heavy animal in its own right.
Less known is that both male and female woolly rhinoceroses have two horns made of keratin, with a long horn facing forward and a short horn between the eyes.
For woolly rhinoceroses aged 25 to 35 years, the front horn is 1-1.35m long, while the second horn is up to 47.5cm long.
Scientists have claimed that the woolly rhinoceros became extinct about 10,000 years ago due to combination of factors, including climate change (warming temperatures at the end of Last Ice Age) and human hunting, which led to population decline and habitat contraction.
Mummified carcasses preserved in permafrost and numerous bone remains of woolly rhinoceroses have been discovered, providing valuable insights into their lives.
Researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of Copenhagen used computer models, fossils and ancient DNA to trace the 52,000-year population history of woolly rhinoceros in Eurasia, which was not previously thought possible.
Scientists believe this rhinoceros, a young one between 3-4 years old, likely drowned, which contributed to its remarkable state of preservation.
The permafrost acted as a natural deep-freeze, sealing the animal in a time capsule for millennia.
The specimen was found in the Abyisky district of Yakutia, Russia, and is considered one of the best-preserved woolly rhinoceros specimens ever discovered.
This discovery is not only a fascinating glimpse into the past but also a crucial tool for scientific research.
Researchers can use this specimen to learn more about the animal's diet, the environment of the late Pleistocene, and the factors that led to the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros and other Ice Age megafauna.
It's a reminder of how climate change, in this case, the thawing permafrost, can reveal secrets of our planet's history, even as it poses a threat to the modern world.
The Pleistocene, referred to colloquially as the Ice Age, is the geological epoch that lasted from c. 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations.
It was a dynamic period characterized by glacial cycles, significant evolutionary changes in both humans and other animals, and ultimately, a major extinction event that reshaped the planet's fauna.
