The modern rhino is what is left of the ancient beast we would today consider a unicorn. The rhino used to be an incredibly diverse species, with more than 250 known species identified. Now there are a mere five different species. Back in the Miocene period, which was around 23 million years ago, the rhino made up a reasonably large portion of the mammal fauna in countries such as Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
Analysis of rhino fossils has determined two distinct lineages of the ancient beast: one being Rhinocerotinae, which is comprised of modern rhinos as well as the recently extinct woolly rhino, and the second being the extinct Elasmotheriinae. Studies suggest that these two groups diverged pretty early on, around 35 million years ago. Elasmotheriinae eventually gave rise to what today we would think of like a unicorn!
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if creatures from mythology roamed the Earth? Think no more! Recent evidence suggests that animals similar to our ideas of the mysterious unicorn wandered our lands right around the time of humans. Though they may not, in essence, be the same creature from legend, it comes strikingly close. It is possible that our ancestors once saw these beasts and morphed their image into what we see today. Let us take a closer look at this ancient creature and hopefully develop a new appreciation for the animal.
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Origins
While we may not know precisely where these beautiful beasts came from, what we do know is that what we now know as a unicorn was an ancient version of a rhinoceros. This old soul had only one horn on the top of its head, just like the unicorns of today.
Elasmotherium is also known as the Giant Siberian Unicorn and is thought to have been alive during the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene eras. The oldest fossils show that they were active as long as 2.6 million years ago, but the most recent findings show that they went extinct only 30,000 years ago. The best-known species is Elasmotherium sibiricum, which was the size of a mammoth, covered in hair with one horn adorning its head.
Stories have circulated throughout history about the existence of unicorns; the first known mention of a unicorn comes from India. These stories depicted a creature with four legs with hooves, long manes, long fur, and one horn on the top of the head. Greek literature also points to a single-horned animal living in India.
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Unicorns have also been sighted by Arabic travelers, who claim they have witnessed with their own eyes a creature with the body of a mule and the head of a camel, which is adorned with a single horn. The Arab-Persian culture used to view Elasmotherium as the bringer of truth and goodness to the world.
Chinese literature also mentions sighting a beast with the body of a deer with a single horn on its head, which they termed “K’i-lin.” During the Warring States period, a bronze statue was constructed that depicts a one-horned animal, much like Elasmotherium would have looked like.
It is also believed that the Bible may have mentioned the existence of a unicorn-like creature that was similar to a wild ox. In the context of Christianity, the one horn was thought to symbolize monotheism.
Then came the Middle Ages. Back then, the unicorn was actually viewed as a symbol of purity and was often associated with virgins. This is evidenced in the art that came from this time period. Also noteworthy during this time is that people would sell narwhal horns as unicorn horns to gullible buyers due to the magical properties they were thought to possess.
In 1866, a man by the name of Vasily Radlov uncovered a legend in the land of Siberia; according to the story, a “huge black bull” was killed by a single spear; the beast had a single horn, and it was transported back to camp via sled.
From Russia comes more news of this ancient mystery. In a collection of ballads is found mention of an animal, dubbed the Indrik, that resembles the unicorn. However, their version of the hairy unicorn is not as lovely as it is today. Their version, which was often depicted in battle, is a symbol of lies. It was said the creature resided in the mountains and was believed to give birth to all other animals. They thought the beast saved the Earth from drought and that it roamed around at night.
Today, we don’t overthink these creatures; they are most beloved by little girls with wild imaginations.
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Proof Of Existence
There is no guesswork when it comes to the existence of these prehistoric rhinos. Actual fossil evidence has been collected around the world to prove that these beings once roamed the Earth.
Scientists have physical proof of three different species of the rhino, which is scientifically named Elasmotherium (this term means “thin plate beast”). The first evidence was uncovered in Siberia and Russia in the 19th century when teeth, jaws, and other bones were unearthed. About 100 years later, more evidence was discovered in Asia. The study of the skulls has led researchers to believe that these guys were a predecessor to the modern rhino.
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Elasmotherium was common throughout Europe and Asia. While no complete skeletons have ever been uncovered, enough bones have been found to point to their existence. What convinced scientists that these guys resembled our ideals of a unicorn? The skulls that have been examined feature a round dome on the forehead area, which is indicative that horns once grew there.
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Appearance
As we said before, Elasmotherium resembles a rhino more than it does a magical horse. These creatures were once covered in thick hair, much like the woolly mammoths. Due to their diet, these guys had broad, flat teeth as they were mostly herbivores. Looking at partial skeletons, scientists have discovered that these animals put most of their weight on their front legs, giving them the appearance of a bison. Their legs were built for galloping: the front feet were larger and had four toes while the back feet were smaller and had three toes. These guys could measure up to 16 feet long with a shoulder height of 7 feet and could reach weights up to 10,000 pounds.
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It was also determined from skeletal remains that Elasmotherium carried its head lower than other similar animals such as a bison. This means that the Siberian Unicorn fed close to the ground. Another intriguing physical adaptation of Elasmotherium comes from its teeth; these beasts have ever-growing cheek teeth, which points to an increase in the consumption of dust or grit.
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Age
How long ago did Elasmotherium exist and thrive? Best estimates place them as having been living between 29,000 and 39,000 years ago. How was this determined? A complete skull found in 2016 in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan went under radiocarbon dating, which placed them at 29,000 years old instead of the 350,000 years they were previously thought to be.
The skull was determined to be that of a mature male, but his cause of death could not be discovered. The head was found in a Siberian cave, which leads investigators to believe it was dragged there by a predator. The newly determined age of the skull means that humans coexisted with these creatures, which could point to how our legends of the unicorn came about.
It has been determined that Elasmotherium lived on Earth for a staggering 2.6 million years, from the Late Pliocene era to the Late Pleistocene period.
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Horn
The iconic horn is what places this rhino above all the rest. It is believed that the horn is made of keratin, just like human fingernails. This helps explain why no horns have ever been discovered; it dissolves at a much faster rate than bone. Best estimates place the length of the horn at 6 feet long.
Horns served Elasmotherium many purposes: it was used to find food and water, self-defense, to attract mates, and fight off other males for female attention. It is unlikely that the horn was ever used to attack and kill prey as the ancient rhino was a herbivore, much like its contemporary counterpart. The horn could also be used to sweep away snow from the grass to make access more available as well as to poke holes in the ice for a drink of water.
Whether or not this animal had one or more horns is still under debate, but strong evidence suggests that the creature did have at least one. A skull was discovered in the 19th century that had evidence of a frontal protuberance; this is indicative that there was a place for the base of a horn. Other evidence suggests that the horn would not have been circular; this was determined from a fossil that had a partially healed puncture wound that was not circular. This wound is indicative of a duel between two males, possibly for females.
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Myths About Unicorns
Not everything surrounding this mythical creature is all facts. Legend has it that no human could ever tame a unicorn, which is good because they are also one of the only beings from the myth that do not want to harm us either. There are other myths swirling around the one-horned creature, but let’s discuss the truth about the beast, including its inevitable extinction.
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Extinction
All good things must come to an end, and this did not escape the fate of Elasmotherium.To be quite blunt, scientists are not exactly sure how or why these creatures were phased out. The best explanation given thus far is that the beings evolved into something else. This comes from the fact that for the past 10,000 years, wall art has depicted animals that were similar to Elasmotherium.
Environmental changes seem to be the leading theory behind why this exotic species became extinct. This, combined with the animals’ small geographical range, small population size, and slow reproductive rate, ended in the overall extinction of this species. It is also theorized that their extinction was fast-tracked due to human hunting.
Scientists believe that if the extinction of Elasmotherium could be understood, it would help to save the remaining rhino species here on Earth. According to experts, the disappearance of the current rhino species is a concern due to their picky eating habits, which is tied into one of the leading theories as to why Elasmotherium died out.
It is believed that picky eating indeed was their downfall. Around 40,000 years ago, the Earth started to warm up and emerge from the Ice Age, which inevitably caused grasslands to shrink. With its primary source of food dwindling, it was only a matter of time before Elasmotherium disappeared. And that is precisely what they did. This was not an uncommon occurrence; hundreds of large mammalian species similar to Elasmotherium died out after the Ice Age caused by extreme climate change and habitat changes.
What exactly did climate change do? It cooled summers down all across Northern Europe and Asia, which mainly caused grasses and herbs to become more sparse while mosses and lichens flourished.
At around this same time, other mammals started to change their diets to accommodate the changing climate. Instead of eating grasses, these mammals began to munch on herbs and shrubs. But not Elasmotherium; they continued to graze on grass, which in part was due to their anatomy. If the animal had such a large horn as most experts believe, it would have made higher foliage inaccessible to them. Researchers believe that permafrost eventually set in and killed off the staples of Elasmotherium’s diet.
Another theory states that a meteorite explosion was responsible for the extinction of Elasmotherium, which is evidenced in embedded micrometeorites in some skull fragments that have been recovered.
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History
The species was first named and discovered by a man named Johan von Waldheim in 1808 while he was working at the Natural History Museum at Moscow University. The only proof he had at the time was a lower jaw bone, which had been donated by a private citizen. This started the exploration into the existence of ancient unicorns.
While it has been mostly teeth and skull fragments that have been discovered thus far in search of the ancient unicorn, almost entirely preserved skeletons have also been uncovered.
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Habitat
Evidence suggests that Elasmotherium stretched from the Don River to the east of what is today known as the country of Kazakhstan. It seems they were likely to spend most of their time in the southeast of the West Siberian Plain. Researchers are looking into this habitat to try to find clues as to why this species went extinct.
While most records come from Kazakhstan, other remains indicate that Elasmotherium also roamed in western and central Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and some isolated evidence comes from Mongolia and China. It is most likely that these animals traveled in herds to protect themselves from predators.
The fact that remains were found in the southern part of the West Siberian Plain points to the type of climate this animal preferred. It was believed that Elasmotherium was partial to warmer climates. This would mean that Siberia would have to be warmer than initially thought due to the remains found in this area.
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Species
As stated earlier, there are three known species of Elasmotherium. The first species to be discovered was named Elasmotherium caucasicum; this particular Siberian Unicorn was found in the Caucasus region of Central Asia during the 20th century. The next species would not be seen until 2004; this time, they came up with the name Elasmotherium chaprovicum, which turned out to be a reclassification of some Elasmotherium caucasicum remains. The third and final species that has been uncovered so far goes by the name Elasmotherium sibiricum, which has been found in multiple sites in Siberia and Russia in the 19th century.
It is believed that all three species evolved from another similar mammal that was present in Eurasia during the same time called Sinotherium. Sinotherium also lived in the Pliocene epoch.
Elasmotherium sibiricum was the last surviving member of this ancient rhino lineage. This guy was the largest of all three species uncovered so far and differed in anatomy compared to the other two: this particular species had slender legs for running despite its heft. Elasmotherium sibiricum had no incisors or canines and also had constantly growing cheek teeth that were covered in convoluted enamel plates. Different from other mammals of the time, it seems that Elasmotherium sibiricum inhabited open steppe habitats in the southern Trans-Urals area.
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Divergence
As was discussed previously, the ancient rhino evolved into two distinct subspecies: Rhinocerotinae and Elasmotherium. Before we look at how they diverged, let us look at how they started.
The first known fossils to be classified as Elasmotheiinae were Subhyracodon occidentalis and Penetrigonias dakotensis which are thought to be around 38 million years old. The earliest Rhinocerotinae fossils were determined to be that of Epiaceratherium naduongense; this fossil is believed to be about 39 million years old. It is believed that the divergence between Elasmotheriinae and Rhinocerotinae seems to have taken place around 47 million years ago.
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Diet
Elasmotherium kept its diet simple: this species specialized in eating grass and underground parts of plants. They were also partial to rhizomes of sedges, cattail, and reed. Due to its diet and stature, this mammal often survived starvation that other animals did not. Due to their long, slender legs, Elasmotherium could travel in long grasses, through watershed, and up elevated prairie lands in search of food. If need be, they were even capable of migrating to the south in search of a meal. They were especially partial to coastal rivers and lakes where their foodstuffs were abundant.
Elasmotherium would be classified as an herbivore. Herbivores can themselves be divided into two groups: they can be either a fore-gut fermenter or a hind-gut fermenter. The difference between the two groups comes down to weight; fore-gut fermenters can weigh up to 2,600 pounds while anything over that would be considered a hind-gut fermenter. The way the herbivore grazes also makes a difference: fore-gut fermenters must take time to forage for their food to find what is most nutritious. They must also ruminate to accommodate their shorter digestive tract. On the other hand, hind-gut fermenters eat everything in sight, mostly foods low in nutritional value due to their longer digestive tract where food takes longer to process.
Since the main staple in their diet was grass, most experts believe this species to be a grassland grazer. This means that Elasmotherium would travel long distances to maintain their diet.
Another main component of Elasmotherium’s diet was tubers and plant bulbs. This meant that the animal would use its singular horn to dig into the ground for its sustenance. It is theorized that this ancient rhino would burrow into the ground to obtain edible roots. Because this creature had no incisors or canines, they would use their hard horny lips to dig into the ground for food in addition to using their massive horn(s).
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Brain
Often the size and other characteristics of the brain can bring much insight into the habits of an animal. This is no exception for Elasmotherium. The mind of the Siberian Unicorn was not highly developed and would be considered low on a scale of organization. The main features of skulls found are vast olfactory areas (this indicates that the animal had a keen sense of smell) that are located in front of a small and underdeveloped forebrain.
Later, skulls thought to be from the Miocene era show brains more like that of a modern rhino, with more complexity, which would have been responsible for things such as quick orientation and mobility. In the latest stages of development, the Elasmotherium brain shows that the species became more reactive, agile, aggressive and smart.
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Human Interaction
Now that we know Elasmotherium survived up until 39,000 years ago, we can also infer that humans did see these creatures in their natural habitats. There is also a current theory out there that human hunting may have caused the extinction of the great Siberian Unicorn since it is now known that the species survived a few ice ages.
Whatever the involvement humans had in the daily lives of these ancient rhinos, it is clear from cave drawings and various art and literature from around the world that at least some interaction was present. At the very least, humans observed these creatures and noted their existence.
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Fur
As stated previously, Elasmotherium was thought to be covered in fur; while remains may not physically determine this, it can be inferred due to a close relative to the ancient rhino: the woolly rhinoceros. The habitat thought to be occupied by the Elasmotherium species would also have been quite chilly, which is another indicator that they could have been covered in fur.
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Teeth
While the precise dental configuration of the Siberian Unicorn has been discussed, it is worth further mention here. Remains show that Elasmotherium had three well-developed molar teeth and two premolars, but no canines or incisors, which is often indicative of a herbivore. The dental pattern researchers have identified in Elasmotherium is oddly close to that of a horse.
This precise dental pattern indicates that the rhino fed on dry, tough grasses. Scientists are reminded of rodent teeth when looking at the teeth of Elasmotherium: they both have continued growing and multi-folded teeth. Remember that the cheek teeth are the only teeth Elasmotherium has that are always growing; this anatomy sets them apart from other rhinos during that time and much later.
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Radiocarbon Dating
This is a process done to date ancient bones. The procedure looks for the amount of Carbon-14 still left in the sample. Carbon-14 is a naturally radioactive isotope of carbon that is found in plants and plant-eating animals. Due to the diet of Elasmotherium, it is no wonder that this process was adapted to the skeletal remains being worked with.
When an organism dies, the Carbon-14 contained within will start to decay at a predictable rate. Therefore, by looking at how much of the isotope is left within a fossil, it can be determined with accuracy how old the remains are.
Radiocarbon dating was how scientists finally determined the exact age of fossils found of Elasmotherium. Scientists had 25 samples to work with but could only use 23, as some of the other bones had been contaminated. Also, enough collagen must be present for the samples to be analyzed properly. Analysis of these 23 samples showed that they were only 39,000 years old, much newer than was anticipated.
Experts say that the remains of rhinos are often hard to find, so it may be possible that the creatures existed longer than 39,000 years ago; the skeletons have simply not been found, or they may have vanished. The evidence thus far supports the theory that the latest Elasmotherium was around approximately 20,000 to 25,000 years ago.
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European Unicorn
Now that we know all there is to know about the Siberian Unicorn let us take a look at unicorns in other periods to get an idea of the impact this real creature had on the imaginations of others.
The European unicorn was depicted usually with a white coat (some authors would describe unicorns as either yellow, red, or brown) with the body of a horse. Of course, they had the iconic one horn atop their heads and also typically had the beard of a goat and the tail of a lion.
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Christian Unicorn
This creature did not escape the clutches of religion: Christians viewed the unicorn as a symbol of Christ for thousands of years. The connection here is demonstrated through the myth that a unicorn could use its horn to purify water, much like Christ himself did.
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Asian Unicorn
As this beast was known to inhabit this area, it is no wonder that this culture created its own version of the unicorn. A personal account claims that the unicorn looked similar to a deer, except that it was covered in shining scales like that of a dragon. Of course, the animal had the iconic single horn and was thought to be covered in strange symbols across its back.
Accounts of creatures similar to those mentioned above have been recorded in Asia since 2700 BC. In all accounts, the beast is shown to symbolize power and wisdom. Stories tell of the beasts’ benevolence and tenderness. Since they were not sighted often, it was believed to be a sign of a good omen when you could lay your eyes upon one.
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Other Species
Looking at other species that were alive at the same time as Elasmotherium may help point to why they went extinct. During the time that the Siberian Unicorn predominated Eurasia, two other species existed that were comparable to this more massive beast; these two were the woolly rhino and the saiga. Of particular interest is the diet of these two mammals as compared to Elasmotherium.
Before 36,000 years ago, all three species had roughly the same diet. However, after that period, things started to change, particularly for the saiga. After this time, the saiga began to expand its food beyond grasses. The woolly rhino also had a more diverse menu, so when climate change killed off specific fauna, the species was not driven to extinction.
The Siberian unicorn faced more pressing problems: not only did their head hang lower than these close relatives, but their ever-growing cheek teeth proved to be a challenge when faced with a diet change. These teeth were explicitly designed for more robust plant material and were of no use for the fauna that survived climate change. The story of the ancient rhino is a good case study for the remaining five species: something as insignificant as a small climate change can be the difference between life and death for this delicate species.