Woolly Rhinos Reveal Clues Into Past
The remains of four woolly rhinos found in a quarry in central England will provide important new clues about the Ice Age, scientists said Wednesday.
Scientists say the group found at Whitemoor Haye in Staffordshire county is "extraordinary" and one of the best Ice Age discoveries of its type in Northern Europe in recent years.
One of the rhinos has plant material stuck to its teeth, giving clues to its diet.
Researchers have also found a range of well-preserved plants and insects as well as the remains of bones from a mammoth, reindeer, wild horse, bison and a wolf.
Scientists said the finds should enable archaeologists to build a detailed picture of what life was like in central England 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.
"We'll be able to piece together the whole Ice Age environment in that area," Simon Buteux, director of the field archaeology unit at the University of Birmingham, was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corp as saying.
"The plants in particular are beautifully preserved; they look as if they were buried last week, quite frankly. And in amongst them are remains of beetles which are very sensitive to the climate, so this will give us good clues to what the local environment was back then."
Woolly rhinos, or Coelodonta antiquitatis, are known to have lived along the River Trent in Staffordshire during the Ice Age. Scientists believe they may have survived until as recently as 10,000 years ago.
Researchers have recovered most of the front end of one of the beasts and say it is the most complete woolly rhino specimen found in Britain in modern times.
"This is the best example of a woolly rhino I have ever seen," said Andy Currant, paleontologist and Ice Age expert from the Natural History Museum in London, where the bones have now been taken.
"The bones are exceptionally well preserved. Usually, remains have been scavenged by predators and only fragments survive."
Archaeologists believe the animal was saved from predators because it froze soon after death.