Woolly rhino remains found in melting Siberian permafrost
Similar finds in Russia's vast Siberian region have happened with increasing regularity as climate change.
By REUTERSA horn of a juvenile woolly rhinoceros, the carcass of which was found in permafrost in august 2020 on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh river in the region of Yakutia in eastern Siberia, Russia, is seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters(photo credit: DEPARTMENT FOR THE STUDY OF MAMMOTH FAUNA OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF SAKHA (YAKUT)
MOSCOW - Russian scientists are poring over the well-preserved remains of a wooly rhinoceros that likely roamed the Siberian hinterland more than 12,000 years ago after it was found in the diamond-producing region of Yakutia.Similar finds in Russia's vast Siberian region have happened with increasing regularity as climate change, which is warming the Arctic at a faster pace than the rest of the world, has thawed the ground in some areas long locked in permafrost.The rhino was found at a river in August complete with all its limbs, some of its organs, its tusk - a rarity for such finds - and even its wool, Valery Plotnikov, a scientist, was quoted as saying by Yakutia 24, a local media outlet.Plotnikov said the wooly rhino may have lived in the late Pleistocene era, which ended 11,700 years ago. The beast appeared to use its tusk to gather food, judging by the erosion marks found on it, the scientist said.
