Big bones

Clearly I need to rethink my mental image of my beloved woolly mammoths trudging through the snow, because they were accompanied by numerous other species:

• Scientists led by Professor Danielle Schreve from Royal Holloway, University of London, have published the results of their study of a preserved woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) skeleton discovered in a quarry at Whitemoor Haye, Staffordshire, U.K. The animal apparently died accidentally and still had plant remains in its teeth (portion of skull pictured above). It roamed the tundra 42,000 years ago, during the middle part of the last Ice Age. "Woolly rhinoceros' stocky body, thick, woolly coat and short tail and ears helped them thrive in cold, dry conditions. However, this dense body shape may have led to the beasts' eventual extinction: it would have been almost impossible for the animals to cope in the deep snow that arrived as the climate became warmer and wetter."
• Researchers including Dr. Mike Buckley of the University of Manchester, U.K., have discovered the remains of a giant camel in Canada's High Arctic. The animal, which lived about 3.5 million years ago, is an ancestor of today's species. It was 30% larger and probably much shaggier. "The scientists believe that the camel's hump (which stores fat, not water as is sometimes thought) could provide the reserves needed for an Arctic six-month winter. Their large eyes would have helped them to see in the low light, and their flat feet would have been just as useful for walking on snow as they are on sand."

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