The Siberian Unicorn
A giant woolly rhinoceros with a single, enormous horn on its forehead lived alongside early humans. Did it inspire the unicorn?
What was reported
Elasmotherium was a huge relative of the rhinoceros that lived on the grasslands of Eurasia. It was about the size of a mammoth and had a large bony dome on its forehead, which supported an enormous horn, perhaps a metre or more long. It's often called the 'Siberian unicorn'.
It was once thought to have died out hundreds of thousands of years ago, but in 2016 a skull found in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan was dated to about 29,000 years ago, and later studies suggested it survived until around 39,000 years ago, when modern humans were living in the region.
Explanations offered
Elasmotherium was real, and early humans may have seen it. Some have suggested that memories of such animals could have fed into legends of single-horned beasts in Russian folklore, such as the Indrik, but there's no direct evidence. The unicorns of European legend probably have many sources, including narwhal tusks.
- When
- Survived until about 39,000 years ago
- Where
- Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
- Witnesses
- Fossils and the early humans who shared its world
- Status
- Extinct
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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