The Siberian Unicorn Went Extinct 29,000 Years Ago
Trending News: Meet The Siberian Unicorn - The Real Animal Behind The Myth
Why Is This Important?
Because it's high time we stop using unicorns as a stand in for something that doesn't exist.
Long Story Short
A newly discovered fossil proves that unicorns were once real — kind of. An animal thought to have gone extinct 350,000 years ago actually walked the Earth as recently as 29,000 years ago.
Unicorns are, mostly, the butt of jokes. For instance, if your buddy's trolling the dance floor looking for a hot Asian girl with a British accent who also shares his affinity for playing Pokemon as an adult, you might say he's searching for a unicorn. But a new fossil discovery proves that characterization may not be entirely fair. Not only were unicorns (kind of) real, but they were around a lot more recently than anyone previously thought.
Known as the "Siberian Unicorn," the creature was believed to have gone extinct about 350,000 years ago. But after examining a skull fossil, researchers from Tomsk State University actually hung around until about 29,000 years ago — well within the range of anatomically modern humans.
"Most likely, the south of Western Siberia was a refúgium, where this rhino persevered the longest in comparison with the rest of its range. There is another possibility that it could migrate and dwell for a while in the more southern areas," Andrey Shpanski, a paleontologist at TSU told PsyPost.
Oh yeah, about that — a rhino. It turns out the Siberian Unicorn was less a winged pegasus and more a larger, single-horned version of what we now call a rhinoceros. It over 6 feet tall, about 15 feet long and weighed about 8,000 lb — even if our ancestors came across one, they sure as hell weren't riding it.
Still — it's a reminder that paleontology is a very cool field, and one that's constantly evolving.
Own The Conversation
Ask The Big Question: Could this creature be the root of modern unicorn myths?
Disrupt Your Feed: I guess there's a nugget of truth to every legend.
Drop This Fact: The Siberian Unicorn's legs were longer than other rhino species, adding to the mythology of it being mistaken for a horse.