Abstract
IT is a well-known fact that carcases of extinct animals, such as the Mammoth (Elephas primigenius) and Tichorhine Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros tichorhinus) are obtained in a more or less perfect state of preservation in the frozen tundras of Siberia. A memoir recently presented by Dr. Leopold von Schrenck to the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg,1 informs us that the most recent discovery of this nature (which took place in 1877) is of a specially interesting character. The remains found upon this occasion turn out, not to belong to either of the above-named animals, but to a distinct species of Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros Merckii (better known in England as Rhinoceros leptorhimis of Owen), which had never been known previously to occur in such a condition. Unfortunately full advantage has not been taken of this extraordinary discovery. Although the carcase, as already mentioned, was found in 1877, it was not until March, 1879, that it came to the knowledge of the Imperial Academy. At the same time the sad fact was communicated that only the head and one foot of the whole body of this extinct monster had been preserved, all the remaining portions having been allowed to drift away into the River Yana, upon the banks of which it had first come to light.
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References
"Das erste Fund einer Leiche, Rhinoceros Merckii, Jaeg." Von Dr. Leop. v. Schrenck (Mém. Ac. Imp. Sc. St. Pet., viie série, vol. xxvii. No. 7, 1880).
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The Recent Discovery of the Body of Rhinoceros Merckii in Siberia . Nature 23, 466 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/023466a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/023466a0