Scientists have found the skeleton of an unknown extinct rhinoceros in the High Arctic

Scientists from the Canadian Museum of Nature have identified a new species of extinct rhinoceros, named Epiatheracerium itjilik. The fossil skeleton of an animal, characterized by a high degree of preservation, was discovered in the sedimentary rocks of an ancient lake in the Haughton crater in Nunavut. This was reported on March 24 by Science Daily magazine.

The name of the species itjilik means "frosty" in the Inuktitut language. The name was chosen in consultation with Inuit elder Yarloo Kiguktaka. The skeleton is 75% preserved, which is rare for paleontological finds of this age.

The animal lived in the Early Miocene epoch, about 23 million years ago. This is the northernmost species of rhinoceros ever documented by science. It was relatively small in size, comparable to a modern Indian rhinoceros, and had no horn. Analysis of the teeth showed that the found specimen died at a young or middle age. Unlike today's Arctic desert, the animal's habitat at that time was a temperate forest.

"Today, only five species of rhinoceros live in Africa and Asia, but in the past they were found in Europe and North America, and more than 50 species are known from fossil finds. The addition of this Arctic species to the rhino family tree now opens up new perspectives for understanding their evolutionary history," said Danielle Fraser, lead author of the study and head of the Department of Paleobiology at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

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The discovery allowed us to revise the theories about the settlement of ancient mammals. The analysis showed that E. itjilik is the closest to the species that lived in Europe. This confirms the hypothesis that the land bridge across the North Atlantic (via Greenland) has been in operation for much longer than previously thought. Previously, scientists believed that the route closed about 56 million years ago, but new data indicate that animals continued to migrate along it until the Miocene epoch.

The significance of the sample was confirmed in July 2025, when a separate study was published in the journal Nature. A group of scientists managed to extract proteins from the tooth enamel of this rhino, which significantly expanded the time frame for analyzing ancient biomolecules and studying the evolution of mammals.

On March 15, Popular Science magazine reported the discovery of rare blue whales in the waters south of Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Marine biologists spotted the first Balaenoptera musculus whale on February 27, and for the second time two mammals were spotted 24 km south of Martha's Vineyard.

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