Pleistocene is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2.5 million to 11,000 years ago. It is distinguished by major cooling trends and the retreat of thermophilic flora and fauna of Eurasia and North America to the south. During the epoch, coniferous and deciduous forests, having gained a lot resemblance to current forests of the Variable Zone, distributed widely. Also, many mammal genera which exist today emerged. Several species of the genera have not survived to this day, though.

Woolly rhinoceros, a typical representative of the so-called ‘mammoth fauna, ’ was one of those. Now, you can merely imagine these mighty giants who lived throughout Eurasia during the Last Glacial Period. We only know of their existence thanks to cave paintings and skeletons preserved in permafrost.

They were no smaller than modern rhinoceros. The largest specimens were up to 2 meters high at the shoulder and 4 meters long. They weighed about 3,500 kilos. They also had a hump containing strong muscles. The hump also had a fat reserve to aid survival through the desolate periods.

The woolly rhinoceros was covered with thick hair. As seen in a few existing samples, it was red and brown in color, at times with a yellowish tint. The animal resembled both a modern rhinoceros and a mythic unicorn. Both males and females had two horns. The front horn, in some specimen, was over 1 metre long. While the back horn was about 50 centimeters.

The average lifespan of woolly rhinoceros was 45 years. They inhabited open spaces of the steppes and forest-tundra and fed on herbs. 

The Syzran museum collection features skulls, vertebrae, and limb bones of woolly rhinoceros discovered within the city and the district.