A new study in the American Journal of Applied Science suggests that the ‘Siberian Unicorn’ may have existed alongside humans. The Elasmotherium sibiricum, whose sizeable horn gives it its nickname, was previously thought to have become extinct 350,000 years ago, but a recent discovery of a skull in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan provides new evidence that the creatures only died out about 29,000 years ago, and that they may have coexisted alongside humans.
Despite its nickname, the Siberian Unicorn is believed to look more like a woolly mammoth with a horn than the mythical white horse, standing at about 6 feet tall, 15 feet long and weighing 9,000. Researchers are now looking into how this creature may have survived longer than the rest of its kind.
Archaeology and Anthropology, Biology and History students should investigate the study further and consider how new archaeological discoveries can affect both scientific and historical understanding. English and Classics applicants should look more into the myth of the unicorn, and consider how the new discovery that humans could have existed alongside these ‘unicorns’ may have contributed to the legend.
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