Mary Allen
The woolly rhinoceros was a relative of today’s rhinoceros. It had two huge horns on its snout and thick fur. After the end of the last Ice Age about 11,700 years ago, this mammal became extinct. What the woolly rhino looked like can be seen in cave paintings made by people from back then.
Woolly rhinos lived from at least three million years ago to around 11,700 years ago. Remains of woolly rhinos have been found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Some of these remains were frozen in ice, others in permafrost. From this, the scientists were able to get a fairly accurate picture of the woolly rhinoceros. In 2014, a spear was found on an island in Siberia. Humans made it from woolly rhinoceros horn 13,300 years ago.
The woolly rhino was similar in size to today’s white rhino. It was about four meters long and two meters high. Of the two horns on its head, the front horn was larger than that of extant rhinos. It was almost a meter long. The woolly rhino had a very large, stout body with four short, stocky legs. Its shaggy fur and thick body helped it survive in cold climates.
The woolly rhino fed mainly on grasses. It also ate other small plants, thin trees, lichens, and mosses. Like today’s rhinos, the woolly rhino lived alone or in small family groups. It was hunted by early humans.