Have you heard of the woolly rhinoceros? It may sound familiar to you, but I doubt very much that you have seen any alive. This majestic animal became extinct a long time ago, but thanks to various remains that were found, experts have been able to find out many things about this species ancestor of the rhinos we know today.
If you are interested in the subject and want to know more about the woolly rhino, I recommend that you continue reading. we'll talk a little about the characteristics of this animal, what it ate and we will explain some theories related to its extinction.
What is the woolly rhino?
Let's start with the most important thing: What is a woolly rhinoceros and what are its characteristics. Well, the scientific name of this animal is Coelodonta antiquitatis. It is the closest extinct relative to the Rinocerontes that we know today. It lived during the Pleistocene until the last glacial period in the regions of present-day Europe and in the northern parts of Asia. There is no doubt that the woolly rhinoceros was the largest ever to walk the earth. It used to measure between 3 and 3,8 meters long and its weight ranged between 2700 and 3200 kilos. As for his life expectancy, experts speculate that it was around 40 to 50 years.
The reason why it receives its characteristic name "woolly" is due to its fur, which was very thick. Thanks to this characteristic, the woolly rhinoceros was capable of surviving in the tundra and in the steppe with very low temperatures, getting to have snow and even ice. As for its legs, these were very short, while its front horn is very striking for its length, reaching up to 61 centimeters in length. On the other hand, the horn behind her was much smaller and was between her eyes.
But what is its relationship to the rhinos we know today? Let's see, it's about their ancestor, the closest. According to several studies, scientists have come to the conclusion that the living rhino with the most characteristics in common with the extinct woolly is the Sumatran rhino. We can find this animal in Southeast Asia.
What did woolly rhinos eat?
Now that we know a bit about the general characteristics of the woolly rhino, let's talk about what they eat. While it is true that this is still not entirely clear, there are theories. There is research that seems to indicate that this animal fed mainly by grazing herbs. They also indicate that he could supplement this diet with tree leaves. What the experts do agree on is that their natural habitat was cold, arid steppes. Therefore, the herding theory does not seem to be going astray at all.
According to various analyzes carried out on fossils, the theory that the woolly rhinoceros grazed makes even more sense. Everything seems to indicate that this extinct animal used to consume grasses with high levels of cellulose, but with little protein content. Consequently, the amounts he had to ingest to keep his large body functioning were very high. To carry out this work, most likely it used its long horn to push away the snow and thus be able to feed on the grass which was below. Therefore, he did not need to migrate like many other animals of that era.
What was the cause of the extinction of the woolly rhino?
Knowing a little about what the woolly rhinoceros was like, how did it become extinct? Like everything related to this animal, there is no answer that we know to be 100% true, they are all theories that are based on various studies and research. Nevertheless, There is much evidence to suggest that hunting by Homo sapiens and Neanderthals played a very important role. in his disappearance.
Other theories different from this one indicate that hunting did not have as much impact and that the woolly rhinoceros became extinct. because of climate change, which caused the glaciers to disappear. Regarding these speculations, it should be noted that there is concrete data according to which the mass extinction of these animals did not occur at the end of the Ice Age. However, it does coincide with the existence of a very severe climate change that caused the cooling of the Earth. This cooling lasted about a thousand years and probably caused the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros, and many other species. On the other hand, some experts believe that could be due to the onset of a serious illness that wiped out this entire species.
As you can see, there are several theories, but none achieve a scientific consensus. Perhaps it was a mix of all that made so many species disappear? Maybe there was something else we don't know about? We don't know, but science is advancing more and more, discovering and improving methods to analyze and reconstruct the past.