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RARE EUROPEAN WOOLLY RHINOCEROS LEFT JAW WITH ORIGINAL TEETH Vistula River, Poland 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. This is a spectacular and RARE offering! Unlike Woolly Rhino remains from Siberia where they are plentiful and of a typically smaller animal, European specimens are EXTREMELY SCARCE and much more valuable. It is the European Woolly Rhinoceros that is depicted on the famous cave paintings in France. It is the European Woolly Rhinoceros that was hunted and revered by the classic Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon humans of western European during the Ice Age. European fossil remains of this animal are rarely available on the market compared to the constant supply of Russian \ Siberian material. This spectacular specimen is a near complete left mandible with all ORIGINAL teeth of a giant European Woolly rhinoceros, known scientifically as Coelodonta antiquitatis. Many fossil jaws are "improved" by the addition of teeth that were not original to the jaw. This superb specimen displays only its original molars as it was found. Color of the bone is beautiful in a light taupe which contrasts wonderfully to the blue and creams of the large molars. Back portion is missing but jaw is largely intact with a small repair at the anterior end to reattach a small part of bone. Pleistocene fossils are uncommon from Eastern Europe and most fossils found of this Ice Age beast are limited to isolated teeth so a near complete side of a jaw with original molars is really a rare find! A unique chance at adding such a top-grade example to a private collection. NO FABRICATION. This specimen would also make a great compliment to a primitive man stone tool and weapon collection as they lived alongside each other at one point in history and were hunted and revered by both Neanderthal man and Cro-Magnon man.
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 STATE WITH ALL ORIGINAL TEETH AND BEAUTIFUL COLOR - UNCOMMON EUROPEAN PROVENANCE! 16" in length SOLD LM12-022 Actual Item - One Only |
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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.