'Oldest' woolly rhino discovered
LONDON. September 2. KAZINFORM A woolly rhino fossil dug up on the Tibetan Plateau is believed to be the oldest specimen of its kind yet found.
According to BBC News, the creature lived some 3.6 million years ago - long before similar beasts roamed northern Asia and Europe in the ice ages that gripped those regions.
The discovery team says the existence of this ancient rhino supports the idea that the frosty Tibetan foothills of the Himalayas were the evolutionary cradle for these later animals.
The report appears in Science journal.
"It is the oldest specimen discovered so far," said Xiaoming Wang from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, US.
"It is at least a million years older, or more, than any other woolly rhinos we have known.
"It's quite well preserved - just a little crushed, so not quite in the original shape; but the complete skull and lower jaw are preserved," he told BBC News.
The rhino was found in Tibet's Zanda Basin. The area is rich in fossil beds, and this specimen was unearthed along with examples of extinct horse, antelope, snow leopard, badger and many other kinds of mammals.
For full version go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14754317