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Related: About this forumWe learned Unicorns and Humans once coexisted. ("Siberian unicorn.")
Last edited Fri Apr 22, 2016, 11:16 AM - Edit history (2)
The Elasmotherium sibiricum is a creature often described as the "Siberian unicorn." For a long time, scientists thought it went extinct some 350,000 years ago well before humans ever came to the Siberian plains. Until recently, that is.
In March 2016, a study in the American Journal of Applied Science described a skull discovered in Kazakhstan that suggests that a subpopulation of, uh, "unicorns" still roamed the Earth just 29,000 years ago. They may have even coexisted with humans. Scientists are now trying to figure out just how the animals in this particular region survived for so much longer than the rest of their bretheren.
That said, "unicorn" seems like a bit of a misnomer. Here's how Ellen Brait describes it in the Guardian: "It was about 6 feet tall, 15 feet long, and weighed about 9,000 pounds, making it more comparable to a woolly mammoth than a horse."
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11380048/earth-day
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We learned Unicorns and Humans once coexisted. ("Siberian unicorn.") (Original Post)
Donkees
Apr 2016
OP
Donkees
(31,418 posts)1. This must be a Donkees Ancestor :) Happy Earth Day Elasmotherium sibiricum !
Joob
(1,065 posts)2. Guess we do believe in unicorns! Just like Bernie's plans!
Early palaeontologists who first put forward the idea that it had a horn also described how they had heard stories among the Tatars of Siberia about a unicorn with a horn so large it needed a sledge to transport it.
It is thought the animals may have used these enormous horns to drive away competitors and even sweeping snow from the grass in winter.
It also had long legs, which would have allowed the animal to gallop much like a horse rather than the lumbering trot seen in modern rhinos.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3504408/A-real-life-unicorn-Bizarre-horned-beast-lived-time-humans-legendary-myth.html#ixzz46Zb4Embs
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