LOOKING FROM THE TOP DOWN ON PERFECT UNWORN CUSP OF THIS JUVENILE TOOTH
VIEW OF BOTTOM OF MOLAR SHOWING NO ROOTS HAD YET DEVELOPED SINCE ANIMAL WAS JUVENILE
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EXTREMELY RARE JUVENILE WOOLLY RHINO MOLAR FROM CAVE DEPOSIT Undisclosed Cave in the Ardennes Forest, Belgium LATE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD: 150,000 years ago This will be one of the rarest and most unique Woolly rhinoceros fossils we will ever be able to offer. It has a highly unique and unusual provenance that demonstrates predator and prey relationships in the final European Ice Age. Its educational value and display appeal are immense and make this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a Pleistocene vertebrate fossil of the highest caliber. This is a perfect and unworn molar cap from a juvenile Woolly rhinoceros that was found in a 150,000 year Pleistocene cave layer in the Ardennes Forest, Belgium. The cave layer where this specimen was dug from contained long-term evidence of cave hyena habitation. In the layer were found numerous fossils from Ice Age wild boar and we extracted those fossils as well, and as of this listing, they are offered in THIS SECTION. The layer demonstrates occupation by cave hyenas that preyed upon wild boar predominantly, killing them and dragging back some remains to this cave for further feeding. This was the ONLY Woolly rhino fossil that was discovered. Remarkably, it survived the environment of the cave and burial in perfect state. The roots are not present as shown above and the cusps are unworn, traits of juvenile teeth. This amazingly rare fossil tooth tells a tale of the sad fate of a baby Woolly rhinoceros having been taken from its mother or scavenged after an unfortunate death. Its color and condition can only be found in a cave deposit. Rare beyond measure and recommended! This tooth is INTACT and with NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. Beginning in eastern Asia about 1.8 million years ago, the giant Woolly rhinoceros, known scientifically as Coelodonta antiquitatis, migrated into Europe and became well-suited to the harsh environment there that existed in our last Ice Age. The animal's massive body and long, shaggy fur allowed it to withstand the severe cold and barren land as it fed on vegetation of the steppe and tundra of Eurasia. The Woolly rhino grew to 11 feet in length and stood 6 feet at its shoulders. It had a huge pair of horns that grew inline on its snout. The front horn grew to lengths in excess of 3 feet. Like modern rhinos, Woolly rhinoceros had horns composed of keratin. Unlike the hollow horns of cows, rhino horns are made of fused hair that are solid throughout. The fibers are attached to the snout by skin supported by a raised, roughened area on the skull. An interesting feature of the Woolly rhinoceros' anterior horn is that it was flat from side to side, rather than round like the horn of the modern rhinoceroses.
Woolly rhinoceros are clearly shown in cave paintings made by Neanderthals in southern France around 30,000 years ago. Hunting these animals would have been extremely dangerous given the beast's violent temperament and size coupled with its weaponry of its two horns. Like the cave bear, these deadly creatures were revered and were quite a trophy upon a successful hunt. Their eventual extinction is believed to have been caused by their inability to cope with the warming climate that marked the close of the last Ice Age. Today, the family Rhinocerotidae contains only five living species in the wild, two in Africa and three throughout Asia. All but the Sumatran rhinoceros are virtually hairless except for the tip of the tail and a fringe on the ears. The Sumatran rhinoceros is thought to have been stranded on the island of Sumatra during the retreat of the last ice sheet. This amazing animal is covered with a fairly dense coat of hair and is believed to be the closest living relative of the Woolly rhinoceros. ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME SPECIMEN DEMONSTRATING PREDATORY BEHAVIOR BETWEEN CAVE HYENAS AND WOOLLY RHINOS DURING EUROPE'S FINAL ICE AGE - PERFECT AND WHITE FROM CAVE PROTECTION! 1.8" in length x 1.4" wide SOLD LM12-012 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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Woolly
rhino fossils can be found throughout Europe and Asia.
Well-preserved remains have been found frozen in ice and buried in
oil-saturated soils. At Staruni in what is now the Ukraine, a
complete carcass of a female rhinoceros was found buried in the mud. The
combination of oil and salt prevented the remains from decomposing
allowing the soft tissues to remain virtually intact. This
specimen is currently mounted in the Paleontological Museum in Krakow,
Poland.