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Published: 2021-05-05 17:33:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 12704; Favourites: 67; Downloads: 5
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Description
The Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis)^^^ NEW PROFILE
Ice Age Eurasia was a hotspot for countless species of Megafaunal Mammals that roamed the Mammoth Steppe that stretched from Portugal to the Bering Strait. Arguably one of the most recognizable was Coelodonta antiquitatis, better known as the Woolly Rhinoceros.
Around the same size as the modern white rhino of Africa, if not slightly bigger, it was about 4-6.6 feet tall and weighed up to 3 tons. The front horn of this rhino was about 3 feet long but could have reached sizes upwards of 4 feet. Its horn was used to dig for vegetation under the snow and functioned as a display/combat device between rival males.
Similar to the White Rhino, the Woolly Rhino was primarily a grazer. A sharp contrast with most extant rhino species, which are browsers. Like the modern White Rhino, the animal had a square lip ideal for gripping onto masses of grass and sedges on the steppe and processing it with its teeth. Further analysis on the teeth indicates that they'd shift their diet to consume more shrubbery and woody plants during winter when most of their main food source was under the snow.
They were likely territorial and solitary animals. The only times you'd find them together is if they came to mate and/or having a mother care for its young. They probably were not herding animals like the modern white rhino. Injuries found on rhino skulls resemble impact wounds from other rhinos. It's thought these injuries were from territorial disputes or mating competitions for mates.
This rhino co-existed with humans when they first arrived in Europe, and our ancestors left us images on cave walls depicting these magnificent beasts. Most paintings exist in Chauvet Cave in south-eastern France. Rouffignac and Lascaux have found other paintings featuring these rhinos. Interestingly, most of the paintings across various cave systems show a distinctive black band on the back of the animals. These are found across various cave systems in different regions and likely from different tribes. This is possibly depicting how these animals looked.
Frozen specimens of this Rhino have been uncovered across Eurasia. Analysis of the specimens indicates that the coat of this rhino was reddish-brown in color. The coat was composed of a thick undercoat to keep them warm and guard hairs thickest on the shoulders. The hair was shorter around the legs, likely to prevent snow from attaching to the legs.
As previously mentioned, it likely had a band of dark hair running from the back of its forelimbs before tapering off near the hindlimbs. The extent of this darker hair and how often it was found on animals likely varied from individual to individual.
Aside from the iconic coat these animals possessed, they had a host of other adaptations to protect against the cold climate. Like other ice age Megafauna, they had thicker hide designed to combat the cold environment.
They also had shorter ears, only around 7-9 inches long compared to modern rhinos, which can have ears up to a foot long. They had shorter tails designed to help swat away flies and was covered in hair designed to keep the tail warm and insulated. The reason for these reduced extremities was because a shorter surface area means less heat loss. Paleontologists see this in other animals like the Woolly Mammoth, who had smaller ears and tails.
In terms of its closest relatives, DNA analysis reveals closest cousin is the critically endangered Sumatran Rhino, fitting since the Sumatran Rhino has the most hair coverage of any modern rhino.
Aside from human hunters, a fully grown, healthy adult had few predators. However, younger animals could have been taken by lions or scimitar cats. A fossil skull of a Woolly Rhino described in 1997 shows a puncture mark on the roof of the skull near the parietal bone. A mark that fits the canine of a large Steppe Lion. The wound healed, which means the rhino survived the encounter, and tissue formed to heal the wound. The altercation could have happened when the animal was a calf, and its mother chased away the attacker.
In terms of human predation, finds showing human predation are rare. However, they definitely happened. Near the Kolyma river, a Rhino skeleton was found wounds on the shoulder and thigh. Wounds that fit a spear impact perfectly. Moreover, a preserved spear was found in association with the carcass. This is pretty solid evidence that humans hunted these creatures. Their massive bones housed succulent marrow that gave humans a massive dose of calories, vital for ice age winters. Their horns were used to make spear throwers (atlatls) for hunting big game on the steppe. In fact, a 13,300 year-old spear thrower was found on a northern island of Russia, the northernmost human artifact found.
These animals vanished at the dawn of the Holocene. Climate change and human predation marked the end for these animals. Today, their habitat is almost non-existent, found in isolated pockets across Eurasia on Plateaus. What was once vast grasslands filled with Megafauna now are forests and taiga.
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This was just a minor mod to Lgcfm and Ulquiorra's Woolly Rhinoceros. I just made the torso and parts of the legs darker, and boom. I got an accurate Woolly Rhino. I'm now really leaning into going to Eurasia for Past Meets Present, however, I can't decide if I should include this as an animal I should have the team rescue, or just feature it in a couple of scenes. The reason I'm choosing this over North America is that I just found myself more attached to the megafauna of Eurasia.
Original Animal by Lgcfm and Ulquiorra, skin modified by me:
Woolly Rhinoceros (Lgcfm & Ulquiorra) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom
For Past Meets Present:
Past Meets Present (Pt4 is Up) - The ZT2 Round Table
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adamnofal [2021-05-05 22:30:47 +0000 UTC]
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