Rhinoceroses, turtles, and tortoises have lived in the nowadays Yukon region, in Canada, according to a recent study issued in the journal American Museum Novitates. And that because the climate was unlike the one we witness today.
“It was probably much more like parts of the southern United States, where you have swamps throughout the whole year that probably didn’t freeze over,” explained Grant Zazula from the Yukon government. As the winters were darker than today, so “really interesting situation for these animals” has occurred back then.
Back then, the winters were darker than we experience nowadays, so rhinos and the other animals were affected by those problems. The new survey was conducted on some fossils found by a Saskatchewan woman who bumped into them in 1973. Since then the scientists have struggled to learn more about the ancient history of the region.
Rhinos Were Common In Yukon Millions Of Years Ago
“It was so inviting for us just to climb up. The fossils were “interesting, nice to look at, wonderful to feel,” said Joan Hodgins, the one who found the fossils. She retrieved the fossilized remnants to Saskatchewan and placed the remains into jam cans. They remained there for tens of years.
When a new colleague came in, Hodgins showed him the samples, and he was quick to realize that there is something significant with those fossils. Accordingly, the scientists found out that rhinos were common in Yukon millions of years ago. Also, they were accompanied by turtles and tortoises.
Back then, the rhinos were approximately two-meter tall and about three-meter in length, as per scientists. Accordingly, rhinos were the most massive animals that live in North America at those times. The scientists are now continuing to research the area to retrieve more fossils to find out more about life on Earth during that period.