WOOL, SABRES AND BONE-CRUSHERS: AN ICE AGE MEET-AND-GREET

Woolly rhinoceros, Coelodonta antiquitatis

Travelling widely is one of the great pleasures of our age. Modern transport makes trips hither and thither much easier than in the past.

You discover new possibilities, see exciting new things and get to see the weird and wacky around the globe. As you know, I love a good museum and greatly enjoy the creativity that goes into making a compelling museum display.

There are museum displays that invite quiet contemplation.

And then there are museum displays that seem to say, “Welcome to the Pleistocene. Please keep your hands, snacks and easily punctured body parts to yourself.”

At the Shanghai Natural History Museum in China, three magnificent mammals stand together in skeletal splendour: the woolly rhinoceros, Coelodonta antiquitatis; the sabre-toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis; and the spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta.

It is an impressive gathering of horn, fang and bone-cracking confidence. But before we imagine the three of them meeting at an Ice Age watering hole and arguing over who had the most intimidating dental plan, there is an important palaeontological detail to address.

They did not all live together.

The woolly rhinoceros and prehistoric populations of spotted hyenas inhabited parts of Eurasia, but Smilodon fatalis lived in the Americas. 

The Shanghai display brings these animals together as representatives of the Pleistocene world, not as a reconstruction of one prehistoric ecosystem. Think of it as an international Ice Age convention—everyone belongs to the same broad geological era, but they arrived from different continents.

And what a convention it is.

Image: Asset id: 2481462139. Shanghai China Jun 11th 2024: the fossil in Shanghai Natural History Museum: Woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), Saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon fatalis) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta).