Saturday 8 December 2012

NEWS ARTICLE- Prehistoric rhino reveals secrets: By Lim Kay Ray

Summary:
An analysis of a female woolly rhino showed that it was a herbivore which mainly grazes on cereal and was similar in size to today's Javan rhino. However, the cause of it to become was that it was slow to reproduce. It had a short stubby tail and ears and was likely driven to extinction in part due to its inability to wade through deeper blankets of snow. The rhino's thick skin and long fur helped it to adapt to the initial cold and dry climate.

Opinion:
I think that the woolly rhinos became extinct because of its inability to reproduce quickly. It only could give birth to a one, or occasionally two calves as its udder has only two nipples. As it has short legs and a considerably heavy body weight, it will have difficulty to tackle the deep snow. Once the snow reaches these animals' bellies, they will become almost helpless. This is an important factor that caused the woolly rhinos to become extinct. The climate warming causes these thick layers of snow to melt and increasingly pitted with hollows and boggy banks, forming natural traps which the rhinos might have found impassable.

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