Scientists found bones of ancient rhinoceros during rafting in Bashkiria

UFA, 3 July 2019. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

INTERFAX.RU reports that the biologists of the Yangan-Tau Geopark found more than ten bones of ancient animals during the rafting down the Ay River. As the rafting member, Candidate of Biological Sciences Polina Polezhankina told the agency, among the finds were the bones of an ancient woolly rhinoceros extinct 8-14 thousand years ago.

"This is an ancient species that inhabited the territory of modern Russia and, in particular, Bashkiria," said Polina Polezhankina, having added that during the expedition they also found "a dozen obviously ancient bones". She also informed that the territory of the geopark was recognized as promising for finding remains of the Pleistocene megafauna representatives - mammoths, woolly rhinos, large-horned deer. “The bones of ancient animals are well preserved in clays. They are found along the banks of rivers, in caves, ”the scientist noted. As explained by the agency, the Pleistocene is the era of the Quaternary period, which began 2.588 million years ago and ended 11.7 thousand years ago.