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FINEST EVER COMPLETE INTACT WOOLLY RHINOCEROS CERVICAL VERTEBRA North Sea, Holland LATE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD: 40,000 to 25,000 years ago Fine grade Woolly rhinoceros fossils are found in much less numbers than Woolly mammoth fossils. Very seldom do Woolly rhino fossils of fine preservation ever reach the market. A complete cervical vertebra with all the processes intact such as this specimen represents a very rare quality and a unique chance at adding such a top-grade example to a private collection. This is a neck vertebra from the giant European Woolly rhinoceros, known scientifically as Coelodonta antiquitatis. Only on one other occasion many years ago have we had a Wooly rhino vertebra of this quality and that was an atlas vertebra whereas this is more rare because usually, the spines are broken off or the entire cervical vertebra is found in pieces. Of the limited number of Woolly rhinoceros fossils that are found each year in the North Sea, specimens of this quality an completeness are HIGHLY UNUSUAL. Only very extreme tip regions of some processes show any erosion. This vertebra is INTACT and with NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. Only a clear protective sealant has been applied to protect its remarkable state of preservation.
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 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. 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. RARE IN SUCH A COMPLETE AND PERFECTLY PRESERVED STATE - FIRST TIME WE HAVE HAD THIS VERTEBRA IN THIS QUALITY! 7.5" high x 7" wide SOLD LM12-021 Actual Item - One Only |
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TYPICAL DUTCH NORTH SEA FISHING TRAWLER WITH BOTTOM DRAG NETS THAT THESE FOSSILS FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR ARE BROUGHT UP IN |
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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. 