Unicorns may have actually existed and shared the Earth with human beings.
A fossilized skull discovered in Kazakhstan had researchers rewriting the timeline of the Siberian unicorn, known scientifically as Elasmotherium sibiricum. Previously thought to have become extinct 350,000 years ago, the unicorn is now believed by scientists from Tomsk State University in Russia to have actually found its last refuge only 29,000 years ago.
This real-life unicorn is a far cry from the prevailing fairytale image we have of the creature. It is closer to a rhino than a horse in looks, and measures up to 6.5 feet in height, nearly 15 feet in length. The Siberian unicorn could weigh up to a whopping 9,000 pounds.
The animal, which lived in the vast region spanning from the Don River in Russia to the east of Kazakhstan today, is most recognizable for its single horn that could stretch several feet long.
The fossilized skull found in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan showed that the unicorn, which first appeared in the fossil record about 2.5 million years ago, might have even met humans, since the latter started to move across Asia over 50,000 years earlier and probably arrived in Siberia about 35,000 years ago.
The skull — a well-preserved one with cracks but without signs of gnawing and exfoliation — was analyzed through radiocarbon AMS-method analysis at a Queen’s University Belfast laboratory in the United Kingdom. It emerged to have belonged to the animals that disappeared 29,000 years ago.
"Most likely, it was a very large male of very large individual age (teeth not preserved). The dimensions of this rhino today are the biggest of those described in the literature, and the proportion are typical," says study author and paleontologist Andrey Shpanski of the rhino species, whose remnants showed a long existence in the southeastern part of the West Siberian Plain.
But how did a Siberian unicorn live so long after its species was believed to perish? There are a number of theories, including migrating to and dwelling for a long time in the more southern places.
"Most likely, the south of Western Siberia was a refúgium, where this rhino persevered the longest in comparison with the rest of its range,” explains Shpanski.
For the authors, these findings encourage the mass radiocarbon analysis of the fossils of more mammals thought to be ancient and extinct over 100,000 years ago. The results could help modern humans more accurately predict natural processes as well as assist in the fight against climate change, the paleontologist added.
The findings were published last February in the American Journal of Applied Science.
