Researchers discover a skeleton from an extinguished rhino species from 160,000 years ago in Castelldefels

These findings took place in the Cave of the Rhinoceros, a site where researchers had already found two skeletons of these species in 2015.
These findings took place in the Cave of the Rhinoceros, a site where researchers had already found two skeletons of these species in 2015.
Research
(17/07/2018)

Researchers from the research group Quaternari-Serp (from the Seminar on Prehistoric Studies of the Universitiy of Barcelona, GRQ-SERP) found in Castelldefels, a skeleton of a rhinoceros from about 160,000 years ago, belonging to an extinguished species (Stephanorinus hundsheimensis) which would be similar to the current African black rhinos. These findings took place in the Cave of the Rhinoceros, a site where researchers had already found two skeletons of these species in 2015.

These findings took place in the Cave of the Rhinoceros, a site where researchers had already found two skeletons of these species in 2015.
These findings took place in the Cave of the Rhinoceros, a site where researchers had already found two skeletons of these species in 2015.
Research
17/07/2018

Researchers from the research group Quaternari-Serp (from the Seminar on Prehistoric Studies of the Universitiy of Barcelona, GRQ-SERP) found in Castelldefels, a skeleton of a rhinoceros from about 160,000 years ago, belonging to an extinguished species (Stephanorinus hundsheimensis) which would be similar to the current African black rhinos. These findings took place in the Cave of the Rhinoceros, a site where researchers had already found two skeletons of these species in 2015.

The remains include fore limbs, ribs, a part of the backbone and the cranium with two jaws. Researchers believe the animal would have fallen accidentally in the cave, where it died. Its teeth suggest it was young, about 7 years old, since it still shows some deciduous teeth. The skeleton also suggests these animals lived in open spaces.

The Cave of the Rhinoceros is an archaeological site with a large chronological sequence that covers from the 200,000 to the 80,000 years old. Such sites are not abundant in the Mediterranean area, especially those with a complete stratigraphic sequence. There were other well preserved remains in the site. In 2012, researchers found a skeleton of a baby elephant and two skeletons of young rhinos in 2015. It seems this cave, in Garraf, was a trap for many species, especially for the young ones that fell in the cave. Other lytic remains were also found in the site.

At the moment, the cave is vertically segmented due the last exploitation in the stone pit in ca nʼAymerich in Castelldefels. The stone extraction altered the original relief and destroyed a great part of the Cave of the Rhinoceros, as well as the original entrance. Therefore, the entrance of the cave is now through a scaffolding that enables researchers work on their archaeological studies.

The remains will be extracted from the cave this summer and will be studied by the researchers. The town council of Castelldefels expects to hold an exhibition in the city about the site in the Cave of the Rhinoceros to see part of the found skeletons in these archaeological excavations.

These archaeological excavations are part of the project “Els canvis climàtics durant el plistocè superior a la costa central catalana i lʼimpacte en les poblacions neandertals i humans anatòmicament moderns” carried out by the Quarternari-SERP research group of the University of Barcelona, led by researchers Joan Daura (University of Barcelona) and Montserrat Sanz (Complutense University of Madrid). The excavations are funded by the Town Council of Castelldefels and the Department of Archaeology and Palaeontology of Generalitat de Catalunya.