BEIJING, Oct. 10-- Archaeologists in East China's Shandong Province have excavated a fossilized pregnant hornless rhinoceros thought to have lived 18 million years ago.

They dug out the fossil during a recent excavation at the Shanwang Ruins of Ancient Extinct Life, 22 kilometres northeast of Linqu County in central Shandong. The Shanwang ruins are the only well-preserved geological ruins of the Miocene Epoch(from 25 million to 13 million years ago) in East China.

The rhinoceros, 2.7 metres long and 1.7 metres high, was well-preserved. The foetus, inside its mother's belly, was only 0.7 metres in length. Its teeth and skeleton were almost fully developed.

It is thought the creatures died eight months before the baby was due to be born, said Li Fenglin, a professor with China Geological University, who took part in the excavation.

"It is rare to discover a pregnant fossilized rhinoceros anywhere," he said.

Hornless rhinoceroses were the ancestors of the modern beast, which is a mammal. The hornless rhinoceros has short limbs, three toes on each foot and a thick armour-like hide. The animal gives birth to one baby at a time with pregnancy lasting between 15 and 18 months.

The Shanwang ruins are in a region which saw active volcanic activities in the Cenozoic Era, about 20 million years ago. The dead rhinoceros might have been the victim of a volcanic eruption.

Li and his colleagues have also found other fossils, including those of ancient deer, spiders and scorpions. Altogether, they have discovered about 700 kinds of animals and plants.

The fossil of the pregnant rhinoceros is now at the Linqu County Museum and will soon be on show to visitors. Enditem

(Source: China Daily)