Woolly Rhinoceros

This name comes from the Greek words κοιλος (koilos, "hollow") and ὀδούς (odoús "tooth"), from the depression in the rhino's molar structure, giving the scientific name Coelodonta antiquitatis, "hollow-tooth of antiquity".

• Singular: Rhinoceros, Rhino

• Plural: Rhinoceroses, Rhinos

The woolly rhinoceros was covered with long, thick hair that allowed it to survive in the extremely cold, harsh mammoth steppe. It had a massive hump reaching from its shoulder and fed mainly on herbaceous plants that grew in the steppe.

Woolly rhinos may have used their horns for combat, probably including intraspecific combat as recorded in cave paintings, as well as for moving snow to uncover vegetation during winter. They may have also been used to attract mates.

Fossilized skulls reveal traces of injury from other rhinos' front horns, while lower jaws and back ribs exhibit signs of breaking and reforming, suggesting that fighting may also be to blame. When compared to more recent rhinos, there appears to have been more intraspecific fighting. This is likely due to the last glacial period's rapid climate change, which put the animal under more stress due to competition with other large herbivores.

The woolly rhinoceros had a similar life history to modern rhinos. Studies on milk teeth show that individuals developed similarly to both the white and black rhinoceros. The two teats in the female suggest that she raised one calf, or more rarely two, every two to three years. With their massive horns and size, adults had few predators, but young individuals could be attacked by animals such as hyenas and cave lions. A skull was found with trauma indicating an attack from a feline, but the animal survived to adulthood.

Woolly rhinoceroses mostly fed on grasses and sedges that grew in the mammoth steppe. Its long, slanted head with a downward-facing posture, and tooth structure all helped it graze on vegetation. It had a wide upper lip like that of the white rhinoceros, which allowed it to easily pluck vegetation directly from the ground. Pollen analysis shows it also ate woody plants (including conifers, willows and alders), along with flowers, forbs and mosses. Isotope studies on horns show that the woolly rhinoceros had a seasonal diet; different areas of horn growth suggest that it mainly grazed in summer, while it browsed for shrubs and branches in the winter.

Reproduction

Probably similar to modern rhinos:

• Gestation ~15–18 months.

• Usually 1 calf at a time.

• Calves stayed with mothers for several years.

• Growth was slow, and sexual maturity may have been reached around 5–7 years.

Like their modern counterparts, bull woolly rhinos were likely territorial, protecting themselves from rivals, especially during the rutting season. Woolly rhinos used their two horns to clear snow, defend themselves, and spar during mating competitions. These rhinos moved seasonally in search of grazing grounds, following Ice Age resource patterns.

Woolly rhinos would behave similarly to current rhinos: not pleasant, not tame, and potentially dangerous if approached. They would avoid humans but may charge if attacked. Paleolithic humans might safely observe them from a distance, but close engagement would be difficult without the risk of hunting.

The woolly rhinoceros went extinct around 14,000 years ago.

Main causes:

Climate warming at the end of the Ice Age:

• Rapid warming transformed their grassland habitat into moister tundra, forests, and wetlands.

• Their specialized grazing diet had fewer suitable plants.

Habitat fragmentation:

• Open steppe shrank into isolated patches, reducing population size.

Low genetic diversity:

• Likely made them vulnerable to environmental change.

Human hunting (secondary factor):

• Evidence suggests humans hunted them, but climate-driven habitat loss was probably the main cause.

The woolly rhinoceros lived mainly in lowlands, plateaus and river valleys, with dry to arid climates, and migrated to higher elevations in favourable climate phases. It avoided mountain ranges, due to heavy snow and steep terrain that the animal could not easily cross.

• Movement Pattern: Nomadic

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: ???

• Locomotion: Terrestrial

• Habitat: Polar; Tundra; Taiga; Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests; Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Graveyard Vale; Mountain.

• Earth: 

  • Extinct: Andorra; Albania; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; China (mainland); Croatia; Czechia; Denmark; Estonia; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iran; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Netherlands; North Macedonia; Norway; Poland; Romania; Russia; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Tunisia; Turkiye; United Kingdom; Ukraine

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Bereshit - 75,000 BCE

Unlike most Pleistocene animals, woolly rhinos are died out due to climate change associated with the receding Ice age and the hyperdisease hypothesis. Other cold-adapted species, such as reindeer, muskox and wisent, survived this period of climatic change and many others like it, supporting the 'overkill' hypothesis for the woolly rhino as main completion.

The First Civilization race, also known as the Isu race, which had been hunting woolly rhinos for sport from prehistoric times on both Earth and Everrealm, wiped them out before Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure series and the sequels related to Rapunzel. Before humans and elves existed, exotic animals from all over the world—such as elephants, mammoths, mastodons, monitor lizards, panthers, sabertooth cats, hippos, bears, ground sloths, toxodonts, terror birds, kangaroos, crocodiles, and other larger fauna like Elder Dragons—were confiscated and brought to what may have been West Asia for use in hunting games called venationes.

• 18/8/2021 - This woolly rhino have this Disney style fonts like Beauty and the Beast font style for characters, animals, monsters, and extraterrestrials only.

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• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_rhinoceros

• https://walkingwith.fandom.com/wiki/Woolly_Rhinoceros

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Woolly-Rhinoceros-889024054