Harrow and Hillingdon Geological Society

Previous Meetings

The Life and Death of a Woolly Rhino

Danielle Schrieve gave us a wonderful account of how the Woolly Rhino skeleton was found in a quarry, how it was excavated, and how research on the other fossils found, both micro and macro, could tell us about the conditions in which the Whoolly rhino lived.

It was during the Devensian , 60,000 - 25,000 years ago and during the last cold stage, that the Rhino walked our countryside. It was like the tundra, but with a much richer vegetation. The Rhino is estimated to have been about 30 years old when it died. The rear portion of the skeleton is missing, and it is thought that long after burial the skeleton was eroded by a river and the hind quarters washed away.

	Partial skeleton of woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) on the day of its discovery in September 2002, Whitemoor Haye, Staffordshire. Courtesy G. Coates, University of Birmingham
	Rhino Skull Courtesy P.Crabb, Natural History Museum

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