What differentiates the locations where woolly rhinos were *living* during the Pleistocene from locations where fossils are *found* today?

Answer

Living locations were dynamic, following resource availability; fossil locations are defined by optimal paleontological preservation

A critical distinction must be made between the animal's historical range when alive and the current locations identified by paleontologists. While the woolly rhinoceros populations were alive during the Pleistocene, their locations were dynamic, constantly shifting across glacial landscapes in pursuit of necessary resources and grazing opportunities. In contrast, the locations where we find their fossils today are defined by different criteria: where paleontological preservation happened to be optimal over millennia, or where significant excavations have successfully been conducted, which can be influenced by factors like geology, not just population density at the time of death.

What differentiates the locations where woolly rhinos were *living* during the Pleistocene from locations where fossils are *found* today?

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