Researchers at the Canadian Museum of Nature have identified a previously unknown extinct rhino species in the high Arctic. This amazingly well-preserved fossil skeleton was discovered in ancient lake sediments in Horton Crater on Devon Island, Nunavut. This discovery represents the northernmost species of rhinoceros ever recorded.
Rhinos have a long evolutionary history spanning more than 40 million years and once lived on nearly every continent except South America and Antarctica. The newly identified “Arctic rhinoceros” lived during the early Miocene epoch, about 23 million years ago. It is most closely related to species that lived in Europe millions of years ago.
named species Epiatheracerium Ijirik (eet-jee-look) is natural ecology and evolution.
“Currently, there are only five species of rhinos in Africa and Asia, but they were once found in Europe and North America, and more than 50 species are known from the fossil record,” said Dr. Daniel Fraser, lead author of the study and head of paleontology at the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN). “The addition of this arctic species to the rhino family tree provides new insights into our understanding of the rhino’s evolutionary history.”
The study also presents a revised rhino family tree, suggesting that this arctic species reached North America via a land bridge. This route may have remained active for land mammals much later than previously thought.
Small, hornless arctic rhinoceros
Rhinocerosids range in morphology from large, bulky animals to small, hornless species. Epiatheracerium Ijirik It is relatively small and light, comparable in size to the modern Indian rhinoceros, but without horns. This individual likely died in early to middle adulthood, as the cheek teeth are moderately worn.
The name “Ijilik”, which means “chill” or “frost” in Inuktitut, reflects the species’ Arctic origins. To come up with the name, researchers worked with Jaroo Kigkutak, an Inuit elder and former mayor of Griesfjord, Canada’s northernmost Inuit community. He visited fossil sites and participated in several Arctic paleontology expeditions.
Most of the fossil material was collected in 1986 by Dr. Mary Dawson, curator emeritus of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a pioneer in arctic paleontology. She recovered important anatomical features, including teeth, a jawbone, and part of the skull, and scientists were later able to identify the specimen as a new species.
“What’s remarkable about the arctic rhinoceros is that the fossil bones are in excellent condition. They are three-dimensionally preserved, with only some minerals replacing them. About 75 percent of the skeletons found are incredibly complete for a fossil,” says study co-author Marisa Gilbert, a paleontologist and senior research assistant at CMN.
Gilbert then joined an expedition to Horton Crater in the late 2000s led by CMN researcher and co-author Dr. Natalia Rybshinsky. These field studies also led to the discovery of the ancestor of another species, the migratory seal. Puigilla Darwin.
additional ruins E. Isilik It was discovered during a follow-up investigation involving Dawson, Rybczynski, and Gilbert. Dawson, who died in 2020 at the age of 89, is credited as a co-author of the study.
Arctic fossils reveal rhino migration routes
The discovery prompted researchers to take a closer look at the rhinoceros’ evolutionary history and geographic spread. Biogeography examines how species evolve over time and move through different regions.
To place this species on the rhino family tree, Fraser and her team analyzed 57 other rhino species, most of which are extinct. Their study combined museum collections, published research, and large datasets.
Each species was mapped to one of five continental regions. The researchers used a mathematical model to estimate how often rhinos migrate between continents within the rhinoceros family.
Their findings suggest that rhinos used the North Atlantic land bridge to migrate between North America and Europe through Greenland.
Previous research thought the land bridge stopped serving as a migration route about 56 million years ago. However, new analysis shows that these movements may have continued much later, perhaps into the Miocene.
Ancient proteins and new evolutionary insights
the importance of Epiatheracerium Ijirik This received further attention when another study published in Nature in July 2025 reported that partial proteins were recovered from animal tooth enamel. The study, led by postdoctoral researcher Ryan Sinclair-Patterson at the University of Copenhagen, extends the time horizon for obtaining meaningful protein sequences by millions of years. This opens new opportunities to study ancient biomolecules and track mammalian evolution.
“Descriptions of new species are always exciting and informative, but there is much more to be gained from identifying new species. Ephiaceratherium Ijirik“Our reconstruction of rhino evolution shows that the North Atlantic played a much more important role in rhino evolution than previously thought,” Professor Fraser said. “More broadly, this study confirms that the Arctic continues to provide new knowledge and discoveries that expand our understanding of mammalian diversification over time.”
The fossil is now in the collection of the Canadian Museum of Nature, but preparatory work was done at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Funding for the research came from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation. Field work and logistics were supported by multiple organizations in Nunavut, with permission from territorial authorities and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
Horton Crater Fossil Site in the Arctic Highlands
Horton Crater, 23 km in diameter, is the northernmost known Miocene (approximately 23 million to 5.6 million years ago) fossil site. This was a time when many groups of modern mammals diversified and spread across continents.
The crater then filled with water, forming a lake that protected the flora and fauna that inhabited the area. Geological and fossil evidence indicates that this region was once covered by temperate forest, very different from today’s cold, dry permafrost landscape.
Seasonal freezing and thawing of the ground caused the fossils to break apart and migrate toward the surface through a process known as cryoturbation. bones of E. Isilik It was recovered from a relatively small area of ​​approximately 5 to 7 square meters.
