The woolly rhino was a member of an ancient group dating back 40 million years, which also includes today's critically endangered Sumatran rhino that also has reddish hair.

Pronunciation of scientific name
see-loh-DON-tah

Statistics
2m at the shoulder.

Physical description
The horns of the woolly rhino were often found in Russia during the 19th century, but because they are so strange-looking, many people believed that they were the claws of giant birds! Frozen carcasses of woolly rhinos were occasionally found in Siberia, although often without their horns or hair, but eventually it was realised that the two belonged together.

Habitat
The plains of Europe.

Diet
Woolly rhinos grazed grass.

Behaviour
Woolly rhinos' horns are worn down on the surface that touches the ground suggesting that they swept them back and forth sideways on the ground. This may have been to help clear snow off the grass, or as part of a ritual display, as is done by some modern rhinos today.

Conservation status
Extinct.

History
They lived 500,000-10,000 years ago. Rhinos evolved from a group of tapirs in the late Eocene, and became diverse plains-living animals. Some of them also live in forests, as do a couple of modern rhino species today.

Closest relative
Sumatran rhino.