Frozen Mummy of a Subadult Woolly Rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799) from the Late Pleistocene of Yakutia

Abstract

In this study we describe a newly found frozen mummy of a young woolly rhinoceros (4–4.5 years old), dated to the Karginian Interstadial of the Late Neopleistocene (32 440 ± 140 years ago). The dimensional characteristics of this specimen are compared to those of 1- to 1.5-year-old juvenile, as well as adults, of Coelodonta antiquitatis found previously. Studies of the new find allowed to fill some of the information gaps concerning the features of the ontogenesis of the woolly rhinoceros, illustrate age-related changes in the color of its fur, and reveal a new anatomical peculiarity of C. antiquitatis—the presence of a fatty hump. Numerous remains of microscopic crustaceans were found in the wool, including representatives of the genus Moina (Cladocera: Moinidae), currently absent in the region. The latter were relatively common in Pleistocene temporary water bodies of Yakutia. The carcass of the rhinoceros was buried in a shallow (apparently temporary), fishless reservoir.