Page 55 - Prehistoric Animals

Elas-Mother-Eum

Elasmotheriurn

Elasmotherium (Thin Plate Beast) is an extinct
genus of large rhinoceros. It roamed the planet from the
Late Miocene Era until near the end of the Pleistocene,
which ended around 11,000 years ago. There are five
confirmed species of the genus. (Sibiricum, Caucasi-
cum, Chaprovicum, Peii, and Primigenium). Fossil
finds of the species have been found across Eurasia
from Eastern Europe to China. It’s believed to have
gone extinct around 48,000 years ago.

The best known of the five species is, E. sibiri-
cum, who was, like the others, a grass grazing herbivore
and was about 5 meters long, 2.5 meters in height, and
weighed around 3 to 5 tonnes. It had long legs and was
believed to have a horse like walk (Some think it could
gallop like a horse) earning it the nickname the Siberi-
an unicorn; it’s also believed to be the source of the
mythical Russian, Indrik-Beast.

Since being named by Gotthelf Fischer von
Waldheim in 1808, Elasmotherium has not been with-
out its controversy. Both the Indrik-Beast and the Uni-
corn have a large horn protruding from their heads,
leading people to believe Elasmotherium also had a
large horn. However, no horn has ever been found and
it’s not present on any of the fossilized heads. There is
however, a low bony ring protruding from forehead of
the fossilized remains. Could the horn have grown out
from this ring? Some say it did, but not made of bone
but a much softer material; keratin. They claim Keratin
would have decomposed and disappeared long before
the head was fossilized.

Another bone of contention is the skin of Elas-
motherium. This was a time of severe cold and a time
when the giant Woolly Mammoth roamed the planet.
Many believe that Elasmotherium must have had a
woolly coat to keep it warm or it would never have sur-
vived the intense cold. The evidence does not support
this. Studies have shown the Elasmotherium skin was
very similar to the present day rhino; a distant relative
of the Elasmotherium. 40 million years ago, it’s be-
lieved they split into two groups which are the founda-
tions of the present day genus Elasmotherium and the
genus Rhinocerotinae