| Woolly Rhinoceros Temporal range: Late Pliocene–Late Pleistocene | |
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| An artist's interpretation of the Woolly Rhinoceros | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
| Genus: | †Coelodonta |
| Species: | †C. antiquitatis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Coelodonta antiquitatis (Bronn, 1831) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) is a species of rhinoceros that lived during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs of the Cenozoic era. It lived in Europe, northern Africa, and Asia. It most likely evolved from Dicerorhinus in northeast Asia and then migrated to where the fossils were found.
Description[]
Wooly Rhinocerous skeleton.
Structure and appearance[]
An adult Woolly Rhinoceros can grow up to be 3.8 meters (12.5 feet) in length and weight about 1,800-2,700 kilograms (4,000-6,000 lbs).
Revival of the Woolly Rhinoceros?[]
Most specimens of Coelodonta antiquitatis were frozen carcasses. It may be possible to extract DNA from these carcasses and fill in missing parts with Sumatran rhinoceros DNA, thus bringing back this animal from extinction.
Behaviour[]
Coelodonta would not only have used its horns in mating displays, but also to clear away snow and reach the grass underneath.
In popular culture[]
- Two Woolly Rhinos appeared in the 1966 Film Journey to the Beginning of Time.
- The Woolly Rhinoceros appeared in the Discovery Channel documentary Land of the Mammoth.
- The Woolly Rhinoceros appeared in the documentary series called Walking with Beasts.
- A few Woolly Rhinos appeared in the 2007 PBS NATURE Program Rhinoceros.
- A Woolly Rhinoceros appeared as a ghost next to a Sumatran Rhino in the documentary Mutant Planet 2.
- The Woolly Rhinos appeared in the 2018 Film Alpha.
- Four Woolly Rhinos appeared in the 1st episode of the Second episode of LaBrea.
- The Woolly Rhinoceros appears in the game Jurassic World:Alive as a Epic
- The Wooly Rhino is the only species of Coelodonta in Prehistoric Kingdom.