Scientists have described Epiaceratherium itjilik, a previously unknown rhinoceros that lived about 23 million years ago on what is now Devon Island in Nunavut. The fossil is the northernmost rhinoceros species known from the record, and its unusually complete skeleton comes from a lake environment far warmer than today’s Arctic tundra.
What was the Arctic rhino?
Epiaceratherium itjilik was an extinct rhinoceros species from the Early Miocene. Canadian Museum of Nature researchers describe it as relatively small and slight, roughly comparable in size to a modern Indian rhinoceros, and without a horn. The museum glosses the species name itjilik as “frost” or “frosty” in Inuktitut.
The fossil was found in lake deposits at Haughton Crater on Devon Island. Its diagnostic remains include teeth, mandibles and parts of the cranium. The researchers also describe distinctive features in the upper and lower teeth, jaw, and limb bones that help distinguish the species from other rhinoceroses. The museum says about 75% of the skeleton was recovered and that the bones are preserved in three dimensions; the fossil is curated in its collection. Canadian Museum of Nature, “A rhino from the Arctic”; “Discovery of an extinct rhino from Canada’s High Arctic”.
Where and when did it live?
The species lived about 23 million years ago, during the Early Miocene. Its fossil came from Haughton Crater, an impact crater on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This makes it the northernmost rhinoceros species currently known from the fossil record, not evidence that rhinoceroses lived in the modern Arctic climate.
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At the time, the crater held a lake whose sediments helped preserve fossils. Plant evidence indicates that the landscape was much warmer and more temperate than Devon Island is today, where Arctic tundra conditions prevail. The Haughton deposits also preserve many other organisms, offering a broader view of this ancient environment. Canadian Museum of Nature, “The Haughton Crater: An Arctic hotspot for fossils”.
What does the fossil reveal about rhino evolution?
The species description is part of a wider analysis of rhinoceros relationships and geographic distributions. The team’s phylogenetic work included 57 rhinocerotid taxa and proposed new hypotheses about how the group evolved and spread. The study identifies multiple dispersals between Europe and North America during the Oligocene and Miocene.
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The authors argue that their results are consistent with the North Atlantic Land Bridge remaining crossable by mammals at least 20 million years longer than previously considered. That is a model-based biogeographic interpretation drawn from relationships among fossils and their locations; it is not direct evidence that this individual rhino crossed the Atlantic region, nor does the fossil record a particular migration journey. Fraser et al., “Mid-Cenozoic rhinocerotid dispersal via the North Atlantic,” Nature Ecology & Evolution (2025).
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known about proteins from its tooth?
A separate 2025 study, “Phylogenetically informative proteins from an Early Miocene rhinocerotid,” is reported by the Canadian Museum of Nature as having recovered scientifically relevant partial proteins from the tooth enamel. This is a related finding about the specimen, distinct from the species description and the land-bridge analysis. The museum’s account does not establish further methodological details or broader implications here. Canadian Museum of Nature, “A rhino from the Arctic”.
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