Siberian unicorns were the last species in a distinctive, ancient linage when they disappeared from the Eurasian plains about 30,000 years ago.
Artist’s rendering of Elasmotherium sibiricum, also known as the “Siberian unicorn.”
In today’s world, there are five species of rhinoceros left on the planet. However, at different times in the past, there were up to 250 different species of the animal. One of these —easily the most impressive— was Elasmotherium sibiricum, or the “Siberian unicorn”.
These beasts were comparable in size to today’s elephants and the largest modern rhinoceros; the greater one-horned rhino. They could stand up to 6.5 feet tall at the shoulder, were up to 15 feet long, and weighed roughly three tons.
It may seem that calling Siberian Unicorns a real-life myth is an oxymoron. While they were real creatures, there is also some evidence that the different, horse-like unicorns from the land of fantasy are based on early accounts of this rhino.
ell-r-brown/FlickrA Miracinonyx (American Cheetah) and Elasmotherium (Siberian Unicorn) statue at the Ice Age: The Lost Kingdom feature at Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
A Revised Timeline Puts “Siberian Unicorns” Co-Existing With Humans
The scientific community has been aware of the mysterious beast since the late 1800s. However, until recently, scientists believed Siberian unicorns went extinct between 200,000 to 100,000 years ago. Now, upon the radiocarbon dating of several fossilized remains, the data shows the bones are only 39,000 to 35,000 years old. This suggests that they co-existed with Neanderthals and early modern humans.
Andrei Shpansky and others from Russia’s Tomsk State University published the new evidence in the American Journal of Applied Sciences after studying a recently unearthed “Siberian unicorn” skull found in Kazakhstan.
Elasmotherium sibiricum
This leads to the big question: How did early humans get along with the “Siberian unicorn”?
While that’s an even harder question to answer, it’s possible that Elasmotherium sibiricum co-existed with humans more recently than the new study claims. Writings and artwork, not to mention folk tales and ballads, from the final years B.C. may allude to the creature’s existence back then.
Sadly, there is no fossil evidence to confirm that the Siberian unicorn and humans had any meaningful interactions. However, the chances are highly plausible given the revised timeline and geographical placement of both species.
reddit/megalophobiaMen shown next to a model of a Siberian unicorn.
Description And Lifestyle Of The Siberian Unicorn
While these giant animals (similar in size to woolly mammoths) seem like they would be carnivores, they in fact were herbivores. They had a downward-angled head for ease for grazing. Dental evidence shows ever-growing molars and folded enamel on teeth so they could eat tough, dry grass.
The elasmotherium also had a prehensile lip to strip plants and possibly also root for tubers and underground food sources.
They roamed a large part of Eurasia; from southwest Russia and Ukraine eastward to Kazakhstan and Siberia. They lived mainly in open grasslands and inhabited steppe environments.
It is unknown whether they had a thick coat as woolly mammoths did, or were more smooth-skinned like modern rhinos. They had a sizeable shoulder hump, and were faster than they’d seem to be — due to legs adapted for running.
A large, bony dome on their head strongly suggests a large horn right above the eyes, but such a horn has never been found.
Just how big could that horn have been? The short, disappointing answer is that because the necessary melanin and calcium fossil evidence just aren’t available after so many thousands of years. Therefore, science can’t yet determine how large the horn actually was.
Wikimedia CommonsCave art from Rouffignac, France, thought to depict the extinct one-horned rhinoceros Elasmotherium.
Extinction Of The Siberian Unicorn
DNA evidence suggests that he ancient rhino group split from the modern group about 43 million years ago. This indicates Siberian unicorns were the last species in a distinctive, ancient lineage when they disappeared from the Eurasian plains about 30,000 years ago.
This places them in the Late Pleistocene era; a time that saw the disappearance of many large species. They likely went extinct because of environmental factors like a cooling climate that caused habitat (and food) loss due to the shrinking grasslands.
Data suggests that the Siberian Unicorn was already a fairly rare animal. Couple that with its relatively small amount of homeland — and the reasons behind its extinction is not hard to understand.
One thing we do know is that the chances this animal was hunted out of extinction is very, very low. There is no archeological evidence that humans had any negative impacts on the lives of the Siberian unicorn.
Prof Adrian Lister, Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, notes that “There is no evidence at all that people had anything to do with it. You can’t rule it out, but we don’t have any archaeological association of this animal with people in any way at any sites known so far”.
Public Domain‘Elasmotherium’ (circa 1920) by Heinrich Harder.
The Legend Of The Unicorn
The stories of unicorns, or large beasts with one single horn, have been told for millennia. In China, the “K’i-lin” refers to a similar animal, and it was translated into Turkish and Mongolic languages. While many of the authors in these languages did not have words to describe beast, a common theme among them was a large stature and a single horn.
A bronze vessel from around 475–221 B.C. shows a creature much like the cave paintings in France that are presumed to be elasmotherium. A beast with its head down, grazing; a horn emerging from its forehead, and humped shoulders.
Then, in 1866, Vasily Radlov uncovered a legend among Siberian Yakuts of a “huge black bull”. The marvelous creature a single horn so large that they needed to transport it by sled. Other tales circulate in this area, usually featuring a huge white or blue woolly bull with a single large horn.
Northern Russia has its own legends, referenced in a collection of ballads. These narrative, musical poems depict a righteous unicorn battling a lion. The horned animal dug springs of pure water with its horn, saving the world from drought. During the dark night, the beast forged a path through the plains with its magical horn.
After learning about Elasmotherium sibiricum, the fabled Siberian unicorn, discover some amazing cryptids besides Bigfoot. Then, meet the “baby dragons” that recently hatched in Slovenia, and learn whether or not scientists may soon be able to bring another prehistoric rhinoceros (and some other creatures) back to life via de-extinction.
