The rhinoceroses are also odd-toed animals, and there are many
interesting and well-known fossils in this group. The _woolly
rhinoceros_ (Pl. 49) was a Pleistocene two-horned form that ranged from
southern France to northeastern Siberia. The woolly rhinoceros is well
known from complete carcasses recovered from the frozen tundra of
Siberia and from remains that were found preserved in an oil seep in
Poland. These unusual specimens plus cave paintings made by early man
have given a complete and accurate record of this creature. Although the
woolly rhinoceros has not been reported from Texas, other fossil
rhinoceroses have been found in the High Plains and Gulf Coastal Plain
of Texas. These fossils have been found in rocks ranging from Middle
Oligocene to late Pliocene in age.
_Baluchitherium_, the largest land mammal known to science, was a
hornless rhinoceros that lived in late Oligocene and early Miocene time.
This immense creature measured approximately 25 feet from head to tail,
stood almost 18 feet high at the shoulder, and must have weighed many
tons. Remains of these creatures have not been discovered in North
America, and they appear to have been restricted to Central Asia.