Menoceras

Menoceras. . This is the southwestern edge of the prehistoric waterhole. The bones of an ancient two-horned rhinoceros called Menoceras were found in enormous numbers during the excavations conducted here. It is believed that these rhinoceroses were water-dependent mammals vulnerable to periodic droughts on the Miocene grasslands. Scientists speculate that these rhinoceroses sought refuge in the warm muddy waters of the waterhole, and in their weakened condition died there., Captions , Lower Left: The Carnegie Hill fossil bones belonged primarily to Menoceras. Several hundred Menoceras skulls were recovered from the bonebed. Scientists estimate that the entire bonebed may contain as many as 1600 individuals. , Upper Right: Menoceras is the name of the pony-sized rhinoceros that scientists commonly referred to as Diceratherium throughout the excavations in the early 1900s. It is now known that there are actually two types of rhinoceroses. Almost all rhinoceros bones in the waterhole bonebed belonged to Menoceras. Some bones of the larger Diceratherium were found with those of Menoceras but were very rare. . This historical marker was erected by Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, National Park Service. It is in Agate in Sioux County Nebraska