(Image source: io9)

BY TRACY PFEIFFER

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

You're watching multisource science news analysis from Newsy.

Researchers in Tibet have unearthed the fossil of a primitive wooly rhino. They believe it suggests the area was a “cradle of evolution.”

It’s a find that scientists say-- could change the way we understand how big creatures survived and spread to other areas during the Earth’s big cool.

Researchers in Tibet have discovered the remains of what they believe is a primitive wooly rhinoceros.
They say it had evolved a shovel-like horn to dig through snow for food-- before the Earth’s last Ice Age.
io9 explains the significance.

“This new find could go a long way to clarifying how megafauna like the woolly rhinoceros - which aren't generally known for their ability to quickly adapt to changing environmental conditions - were able to not just survive but thrive... It's possible that almost all of the giant mammals that dominated Europe and Asia during the ice age had their start in the brutal winters of a relatively small area of the Himalayas.”

So it’s possible that many big creatures that survived the Ice Age-- originally came from Tibet.
Basically, they were already prepared.
And if you’re not completely familiar with the Earth’s various atmospheric cycles, Science News explains more.

“Ice ages have struck North America and northern Eurasia every 100,000 years or so since about 2.8 million years ago. Many of the large creatures roaming the landscape during these cycles, including woolly mammoths, mastodons, and saber-toothed cats, mysteriously went extinct about 10,000 years ago... But when and where many of those megafauna originally evolved has been an even larger mystery.”

And a University of California paleontologist tells NPR-- the idea of a quote- “cradle of evolution” isn’t just for the history books.

Dr. ANTHONY BARNOSKY (Paleontologist, University of California): “The interesting thing is, on earth today, we have biodiversity isolated in certain spots, and you just never know which of those isolated places is going to be the cradle of evolution for the next big environmental change coming down the pike.”
CHRISTOPHER JOYCE, NPR: “The only problem is, to be ready, you have to know what the next environment will be like, or just be very lucky.”

Still not impressed? An expert from London’s Natural History Museum tells the BBC-- it’s pretty spectacular that they found the remains in the first place.

"Woolly rhino were preyed on by spotted hyenas and they were eaten pretty thoroughly; the hyenas liked the bones.”

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