Thursday 12th September 2024  

Woolly rhinoceros discovered in Quorn

Loughborough Echo - 18th August 1939

Now on view in Loughborough Library is the complete upper jaw of a woolly rhinoceros which was discovered in the Quorn gravel pits of Wm Moss and Sons in March last year.

Since the removal of the discovery it has been under skilful treatment at the Leicester Museum.

Owing to its delicate condition it was at one time thought it would not be possible to maintain it for exhibition, but Mr W E Mayes, sub-curator of the Leicester Museum, and his staff have succeeded in a very difficult task.

The specimen discovered at the scene of several other important finds was buried 15 feet below the surface of the gravel pit. It is approximately 2ft 6in long and contains four teeth practically intact on either side of the jaw.

It was a find of unique character in the county of Leicestershire, although parts of the anatomy have been found in Soar gravels before, but none during the past fifty years. Some of these remains are on view in the Loughborough Library museum.

The woolly rhinoceros jaw is a relic of the late Ice Age.

Submitted on: 2009-07-30 Submitted by: Kathryn Paterson Artefact ID: 434 Artefact URL: www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=434 Print: View artefact in printer-friendly page or just on its own (new browser tab).