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Prehistoric rhino reveals secrets
BBC News ^ | 12-6-2012 | Matt Walker

Posted on 12/08/2012 2:19:44 PM PST by Renfield

The preserved body of a woolly rhinoceros has revealed new insights into how this now extinct giant animal once lived.

The woolly rhino was once one of the most abundant large mammals living in Eurasia, but only a handful of preserved carcasses have been found.

Now an analysis of a female woolly rhino found preserved in Siberia reveals that the animal was a herbivore that grazed mainly on cereals, and was similar in size to today's Javan rhino.

However, it was slow to reproduce, had a short stubby tail and ears, and was likely driven to extinction in part due to its inability to wade through deeper blankets of snow, which became more common as the climate changed, say scientists....

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; paleontology; pleistocene; rhinnos; rhino; rhinoceros; rhinos; unicorn
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1 posted on 12/08/2012 2:20:17 PM PST by Renfield
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To: Renfield

What secrets could John McCain have?


2 posted on 12/08/2012 2:21:02 PM PST by Viennacon
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To: Renfield

“Grazed mainly on cereals” - Frosted Flakes?


3 posted on 12/08/2012 2:22:33 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Viennacon

I thought this was an Alan Simpson thread.


4 posted on 12/08/2012 2:22:56 PM PST by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: Renfield

“The animal was a herbivore” - ohhhh......they were gay.


5 posted on 12/08/2012 2:24:46 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Renfield

John McCain?


6 posted on 12/08/2012 2:24:57 PM PST by Wyrd bið ful aræd (Gone Galt, 11/07/12)
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To: Renfield

George Romney?


7 posted on 12/08/2012 2:25:38 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Renfield
...due to its inability to wade through deeper blankets of snow, which became more common as the climate changed, say scientists.

Those dang velociraptors and their SUVs.

8 posted on 12/08/2012 2:27:15 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Don't tax me bro! Tax that guy over there!)
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To: Renfield

They call it a “giant animal” and then write that it probably died off because it was too short to plow through the snow. I guess everyone else had snowmobiles.


9 posted on 12/08/2012 2:28:51 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Renfield

10 posted on 12/08/2012 2:32:27 PM PST by JohnBrowdie (http://forum.stink-eye.net)
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To: Renfield
As the late Pleistocene gave way to the early Holocene, climate warming and moistening created deeper layers of snow in winter.................

That's a load of hog wash. We all know climate warming didn't start until the introduction of the internal combustion engine, coal fired power plants and the back yard bar-b-que, so sayeth Swami Algore!!!

11 posted on 12/08/2012 2:36:38 PM PST by varon (Given a choice, I'll take the Mafia over the Feds anytime)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

Not likely. The face looks like a snow plow.


12 posted on 12/08/2012 2:50:45 PM PST by Average Al
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To: Renfield

It looks a bit like a wild boar.


13 posted on 12/08/2012 2:58:46 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: blueunicorn6

“Frosted Flakes”
Good one.


14 posted on 12/08/2012 3:03:40 PM PST by MCF
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To: Renfield
...was likely driven to extinction in part due to its inability to wade through deeper blankets of snow,...

Strange. It's about the size and build of a modern American bison which existed in staggering numbers on the Great Plains precisely because it dealt so well with intense blizzard conditions. Hmm.

15 posted on 12/08/2012 3:39:04 PM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: TigersEye

Bison evolved to deal with such conditions, specifically a large square head to plow under snow to search for food. But the major strategy they used to survive winter was to migrate south as winter arrived, and then move north as grasses began to sprout in the spring. It should also be noted, that although winter on the Great Plains can be bitterly cold, it really doesn’t snow much - drifts may be deep, but that’s about it. About 60 miles from where I sit on the other hand, it really snows - Mt Baker has had 6 and half feet this week alone. It averages about 55 feet a year, and a few years back they ended up with 95 feet of snowfall. It that case, it doesn’t matter how long your legs are...


16 posted on 12/08/2012 3:54:13 PM PST by stormer
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To: SunkenCiv

Ping

I should know better than to post something about Rhinos here...


17 posted on 12/08/2012 4:04:49 PM PST by Renfield (Turning apples into venison since 1999!)
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To: stormer

So why didn’t rhinos evolve to deal with it? That big horn would be as good of or a better plow than a bison’s head. Bison did not migrate south in any particular pattern. The Canadian Woods Buffalo lives around the Arctic Circle. The Mountain Buffalo lived in the high country of the Rocky Mountains.


18 posted on 12/08/2012 4:10:16 PM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: stormer

Thank goodness it doesn't snow much on the Great Plains.

19 posted on 12/08/2012 4:16:40 PM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
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To: TigersEye
"...So why didn’t rhinos evolve to deal with it? ..."

Sometimes punctuated-equilibrium doesn't "punctuate".

20 posted on 12/08/2012 4:20:04 PM PST by Does so (Dims don't think ... they PLOT!)
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