Budding Paleontologist Discovers Ice-Age Fossil

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Five-year old Emelia Fawbert and her dad James, were out on a group fossil hunting trip at a newly excavated site in Gloucestershire, England, when she noticed something stuck in the mud. Using a trowel, she and her dad gently excavated an almost perfect fossil.

While it looked interesting and special, neither knew how significant the find was until they took it to the experts. It turned out that five-year old Emelia had unearthed the Atlas vertebra (the bone supporting the neck) of a Woolly Ice-Age Rhinoceros.

The 16-inch fossil has been carefully wrapped up in protective covering, and will soon be donated to a museum.

The Woolly Rhino, which were native to Europe and Asia, lived on Earth between 20,000 - 50,000 years ago. They were herbivores, who like their modern day relatives, lived alone or in really small family groups. They had long gray-brown shaggy hair and two horns both made out of matted hair.

The descriptions of what this creature looked like have been gleaned from cave paintings made by early humans, who hunted them for food. It is believed that the rhinos were unable to cope with the climate change and became extinct about 20,000 years ago, towards the end of the Ice Age. There are currently five descendents of the Woolly Rhino left in the world. The closest one is a rhino species that lives on the island of Sumatra .

Emelia, who wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up, was very excited with her find, especially because this was her first ever-fossil hunting trip. Other interesting items found by members of the group included a leg bone and vertebra of an ice-age deer, and the remains of squid-like creatures from 150 million years ago.

source: BBC.Co.Uk, Dailymail.co.uk

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85 Comments
  • Lauraover 9 years
    What an incredible experience for that little girl!
    • MARIOover 9 years
      Huston we have a problem
      • Wowover 9 years
        Wow that is amazing and she is only five years old
        • ijover 9 years
          she was very lucky to find something like that
          • hemmguin
            hemmguinover 9 years
            And she was only five... this is amazing!
            • toedrag42almost 10 years
              i would not want to eat it
              • bibliophile
                bibliophilealmost 10 years
                Good for you!!!
                • kell-bell
                  kell-bellalmost 10 years
                  O-O WHAAA??? SHE is AMAZING!!!!
                  • tdm1234
                    tdm1234almost 10 years
                    awesome looking mammal i would ride on it everyday after school and pretend we are on a adventure.
                    • tomboy201
                      tomboy201almost 10 years
                      Love that little girl