Unicorns WERE Real But Not What We Hoped

I have to admit, I got chills when I heard that there were really unicorns…until I saw the photos. My heart sank a bit--as I am sure anyone who ever wished unicorns or pegasi were real felt too. The Elasmotherium, or as some call him, the “Siberian unicorn,” is not a new discovery. The creature had one single thick, large horn on it’s head, just like our mythical unicorns.

But that’s where the similarity ends. The extinct Siberian unicorn is a giant rhinoceros that is related to the rhinos we have now. He most likely weighted around 9,000 pounds (imagine a horse that big!!). It did have longer legs than modern rhinos, which allowed it to gallop with a horse-like gait (www.wikipedia.com).

A new skull found in Kazakhastan may prove that these “unicorns” – originally thought to be extinct long before humans were on this Earth – may have actually been around a lot longer. It was originally believed they had disappeared around 350,000 years ago. However, according to a study in this month’s American Journal Of Applied Sciences, the new skull that was found shows they were around just 29,000 years ago, and that they may have co-inhabited with man after all.

What do you think? Would you have still been enamored with unicorns if this was what was depicted in your childhood fairy tales, such as The Last Unicorn? Not the beautiful creature we are used to, that’s for sure. Still, he’s cute in his own right. If only he had a rainbow tail, at least...