From the fairy tales that are read to us when we were little, to modern sagas, like that of Harry Potter, unicorns they are one of the fantastic animals most famous in literature.
Well fantastic nothing. It turns out that, although today they are extinct, existed a few thousand years ago. Yes, his appearance was not exactly what you have in your head right now.
In fact, it has little to do with it, although it does not cease to be interesting; because the recent discovery of the fossilized skull of one of these specimens can give us a lot of information about the future that awaits our own species.
What was the Unicorn of Siberia like?
It is not the first time that remains of the Siberian unicorn, a prehistoric animal who was so named because of the horn protruding from his skull gave him more of the appearance of a hairy rhino than that of a horse.
According to the fossils found to date, I measured some two meters high and four and a half long and weighed four tons, approximately. As you can see, these dimensions are much closer to the description of a mammoth than to that of a horse, however disappointing it may be that it is not like that of stories.
That is, despite their monstrous size, it seems that they were herbivoresSo animals smaller than him could live peacefully in his presence.
So what is new?
Until now, it was thought that the last copy was extinct more than 350,000 years, but a group of researchers of the Tomsk University, in Siberia, has discovered through techniques based on the radiocarbon that the age of a skull, found in Kazakhstan, is much more modern, specifically from 29,000 years.
Although they do not know how he died male to which the skull belonged, its discovery is of great importance, since it can help to discover how the migration of some individuals could lead them to survive for many more years than other specimens of the same species. And it not only applies to these animals, but can also be used to know which variants will affect the future survival of others, such as humans.
Of course, this animal will not be like the one in the legends, but it is less corny and more useful. Much better, right?
Siberian unicorn picture: Science Alert
