The collection of the Kaliningrad World Ocean Museum has been expanded by a rare artifact – the skull of a fossil woolly rhinoceros, which became extinct about 8 to 14 thousand years ago.
Press service of the World Ocean Museum
The special value of the skull is its excellent condition.
This unique antique was confiscated at the border by Kaliningrad customs agents in December last year. A Russian citizen sent this skull by package from Yakutia to the US via Kaliningrad without any permission.
The examination recognized the fossil as cultural value and the court decided to convert the find into state property. By decision of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, the relic was transferred to the state museum-reserve “Museum of the World Ocean” by the head of the department of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation for the North-Western Federal District, Andrei Ermakov.
According to experts, the special value of this skull is its excellent condition. Several teeth are completely preserved. The exhibition will complement the museum’s extensive paleontological collection.
“Soon, the skull of a fossil mammal can be seen in the main building of the museum, and then it will be presented in the exhibitions of the Planet Ocean building, where it will illustrate the history of climate change on the planet. ”said Denis Mironyuk, general director of the museum.
The skull will be presented in the exhibitions of the Planet Ocean building. Photo: Press service of the World Ocean Museum.
The woolly or hairy rhinoceros is a typical representative of the mammoth fauna. Externally similar to modern rhinos, but with a more elongated body and covered with long, thick hair, these animals lived in a vast tundra-steppe area, which included almost all of Eurasia north of the tropical zone, starting from the last ice. . age.
The length of the body reached 3-4.5 meters, the height at the withers was up to two meters, the weight could range from one and a half to three and a half tons.
