How did the premaxilla structure in *Coelodonta antiquitatis* differ from its modern relatives, and what linked this difference?
Answer
It was proportionally smaller, linked to its cropping grazing diet.
A significant anatomical divergence from modern rhinos involved the premaxilla, the bone structure comprising the front of the upper jaw. In the Woolly Rhino, this structure was proportionally smaller than in its modern cousins. This reduction is directly linked to its feeding ecology; browsers need elongated muzzles and protruding lips to grasp twigs and leaves, whereas grazers, like the Woolly Rhino and the modern White Rhino, possess shorter muzzles that terminate in a broader, flatter surface perfectly adapted for cropping grasses very close to the ground.
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The MANY Interpretations of the Woolly Rhino! (Coelodonta)
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