Remember the rhino monster in Journey to the West? The Ice Age really existed!

In the vast river of evolution

The rhino family has had countless strange-looking members.

Some of them look like a horse (running rhinoceros)

Some grew long trunks and tried to pretend to be elephants (Carthaginian rhinoceros)

Some have turned into beer barrels (Teleoceraurus)

Among so many strange ancient rhinos, the three rhinos of the Ice Age are extremely well-known, corresponding to the three kings Bi Han, Bi Shu and Bi Chen respectively.

Various types of rhinos in history Source: Reddit

King Bichen is a rhinoceros with a "huge horn that reaches the sky".

Elasmotherium is the largest rhinoceros species that has ever appeared, with a tonnage comparable to that of the Asian elephant. Its most distinctive feature is the large horn on its forehead that is like a "lightning rod". This frontal horn is actually a merger of the nasal horn and the frontal horn.

At the same time, according to fossils, the crowns of the teeth of Elasmotherium are generally very high, and the enamel wrinkles on the tooth surface are very complex, which shows that they are creatures adapted to the open, dry and cold grasslands, where dust would fly from time to time. The Elasmotherium deserves the name of the King of Dust!

Elasmotherium Source: Twitter

The two-meter-long horn of the Elasmotherium is so majestic and cool that many cryptozoology enthusiasts firmly believe that the so-called unicorn in European mythology is actually a "recollection" of the prehistoric Elasmotherium. However, some new evidence shows that the Elasmotherium probably did not have such a huge horn.

The new (top) and old (bottom) restored Elasmotherium Source: Twitter

A study two years ago analyzed the exaggerated "big forehead" of the Elasmotherium, and found that there were almost no "grooves" on the surface that could provide support. This is enough to show that the weight of the Elasmotherium's horn is at least not as heavy as previously thought.

In addition, the load-bearing capacity of the forehead of the Plasmotherium itself has been overestimated. There is a large cavity inside the forehead of the Plasmotherium, and the average thickness of the outer wall of the cavity is only about 1 cm, which is unable to bear the extremely heavy horn.

Reconstruction based on this studySource: Twitter

In fact, no matter what the horns of the Elasmotherium should look like, it is a very fascinating ancient creature. There are still too many mysteries about the Elasmotherium that are difficult to solve. Perhaps the truth of many questions will accompany the extinction of the Elasmotherium and sleep forever underground.

The hypothesis that the Elasmotherium is the prototype of the legendary unicorn is currently just wishful thinking. Source: Wikipedia

King of the Cold

The woolly rhino: a small but powerful force

When it comes to the reasons for the extinction of the Elasmotherium, in addition to the potential impact of climate change and ancient humans, there is another major culprit, which is the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta), the biggest competitor of the Elasmotherium. Its thick hair can withstand the blizzards in the north, making it worthy of being the king of cold-proofing.

The woolly rhinoceros originated in my country's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 5-4 million years ago, and left the plateau in the Early Pleistocene 3-2 million years ago, going deep into the grasslands of northwest my country and Hebei, and then moving towards the high-latitude extremely cold regions, eventually evolving into the most adaptable to cold environments in the history of the rhinoceros family - the last woolly rhinoceros.

Unlike the other two kings, this prehistoric creature was born in a bitterly cold land and several well-preserved frozen corpses have been unearthed. Some of them even contain hair that is difficult to preserve and complete rhinoceros horns. It is one of the few prehistoric creatures whose exact appearance is known.

Woolly rhinoceros restored based on murals painted by ancient humans Source: Facebook

Compared with the elasmodon, which is 2.5 meters tall at the shoulder and weighs 3-5 tons, the woolly rhino is a level lower in tonnage. Its shoulder height is generally around 1.8-2 meters and its weight is about 1.8-2.7 tons, which is roughly the same as the modern white rhino. If the two met, the woolly rhino would probably have to stay away from it, or even be driven away by the elasmodon.

So what was the reason that allowed the woolly rhinoceros to successfully win big with a small investment and eliminate the arrogant Elasmotherium?

Elasmotherium (front), woolly rhinoceros (back) Source: Reddit

In fact, despite its huge size, the Elasmotherium is a weak clay-foot giant. Its seemingly huge head hides a fatal weakness that is not conducive to its survival.

If we look down at the skull of the Elasmotherium, we can see that its jaws are very thin. It is estimated that the snout of the Elasmotherium should have been relatively sharp when it was alive, reminiscent of today's black rhinoceros. However, the black rhinoceros is a rhinoceros that mainly feeds on branches and leaves, and according to the analysis of the teeth with particularly high crowns and tooth wear marks, the main food of the Elasmotherium should be rough grass, just like the woolly rhinoceros. In this way, the thin snout of the Elasmotherium made them very inefficient in eating grass, and it is reasonable that they were defeated by the woolly rhinoceros with a wide snout.

The "cherry mouth" of the Elasmotherium is obviously not as efficient as the large mouth of the woolly rhinoceros in eating. Source: References

In addition, the woolly rhino's particularly large nose horn was not just for fighting or showing off. When the snow was thick, the woolly rhino could use its nose horn to sweep away the snow and find snow-covered plants. This is something that the Elasmotherium could not do no matter what the horn looked like.

Woolly rhinoceros scavenging snow for food Source: References

Eventually, as the ice age became more and more intense, the woolly rhinoceros gradually gained the upper hand, while the Elasmotherium, which was relatively adapted to the warm and humid environment, went completely extinct. Although the Elasmotherium was eliminated, the woolly rhinoceros could not sit back and relax, because during their conquest of Eurasia, they encountered a strong rival - Stephanorhino.

Stephenrhinoceros (front), woolly rhinoceros (back) Source: Reddit

The King of Summer

Stephen Rhino, born in a gentle land

Compared to the woolly rhino, which suffered the harsh trials of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during its childhood, Stephanorhinus can be said to have grown up in a gentle environment. If the woolly rhino visited it, it would probably suffer from heatstroke.

Because of this reason, some restored images show them with little or no hair, which put them at a disadvantage in the face of the expansion of woolly rhinoceros. However, with the advent of the Pleistocene Ice Age, the climate quickly turned cold, and the mild environment in which Stephanorhino lived no longer existed. However, they did not become extinct, but instead performed an inspirational script, moving into cold environments to catch up with the woolly rhinoceros.

The climate in Europe during the Early and Middle Pleistocene was relatively mild, creating conditions for the survival of the warm-loving ancient hippopotamus and Stephanorhino

Source: Twitter

The late Kishbergrhinoceros (S. kirchbergensis) was a very successful species. Its distribution range extended from Western Europe in the west to Shennongjia and the Three Gorges area in my country in the south, and even to the Arctic Ocean coast in the Russian Far East in the northeast. It can be said that it was distributed throughout the middle and high latitudes of Asia and Europe. Moreover, in mid-latitude regions like China, its adaptability was far greater than that of the woolly rhinoceros. Its fossils have been found in many places in North China, Central China and Northeast my country.

Stephanorhino is the most widespread rhino in history Source: Twitter

In the cold regions of Asia and Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, Stephanotherium often shared the same habitat with the last woolly rhinoceros. The reason why the two rhinoceroses of similar size could coexist harmoniously may be mainly because of their different food. The short and stocky woolly rhinoceros ate a lot of grass on the ground, while the tall Stephanotherium could use branches, shrubs, and some grasses. However, the number and density of their fossils are significantly less than that of the woolly rhinoceros, perhaps because they were greatly constrained by the limited food resources in the cold environment.

Stephanopsinus's long legs helped it to eat high branches and leaves

Source: References

The Final Chapter of the Ice Age Three Rhinos

After the defeat of the Elasmotherium, the Woolly Rhino and Stephanotherium continued to fight each other, and both sides continued to upgrade their hardware. However, no matter what period, their own efforts could not challenge the general trend of the environment.

With the end of the Pleistocene, the climate gradually warmed up, and the vast grasslands in the cold high-latitude regions were replaced by coniferous forests. The nutrients in coniferous trees were very poor, and most herbivorous animals could hardly use them as food. Therefore, this was a disaster for the large animals in the high latitudes at that time. In addition, with the influence of humans, the woolly rhinoceros and Stephanorhino also went extinct during the transition period from the end of the Pleistocene to the Holocene. There was no winner in this competition.

The three rhinos of the Ice Age, once famous Source: DeviantArt

Today, the last close relative of the woolly rhino and Stephanorhino surviving in the world is the Sumatran rhino, a small two-horned rhino in the jungles of Southeast Asia. From the hair covering its body, one can vaguely see some of the style of the woolly rhino.

Historically, the Sumatran rhino was once widely distributed, and in my country it once reached southern Henan. However, human bows and hunting rifles cut off the woolly rhino's last hope of recovery. Today, the Sumatran rhino is on the verge of extinction, with perhaps only a few dozen individuals, and no hope of increasing its number. Its future is bleak.

It's not just the Sumatran rhino. All five of the remaining species are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

If no action is taken to protect the existing rhinos, perhaps the legend of the glacial rhinoceros will become extinct in the near future, buried forever under the dark ice.

Rhinos in dire straits Source: Reddit

References:

1. Large mammals were the architects in prehistoric ecosystems

2. "Mammoths, sabertooths, and hominids: 65 million years of mammalian evolution in Europe"

3. Ancient Woolly Rhino Points to Himalayas、

4. The experience in reconstructing of the head of Elasmotherium (Rhinocerotidae)

5. Neogene Rhinoceros of China

6. Ice Age: Prehistoric Animals Revealed 2

Author: Xie Honghan, popular science author

Editor: Guru