'Siberian unicorn' walked Earth with humans

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kudzu

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'Siberian unicorn' walked Earth with humans
BBC News· 6 hours ago
A giant rhino that may have been the origin of the unicorn myth survived until at least 39,000 years ago - much longer than previously thought. Known as the Siberian unicorn ...

A giant rhino that may have been the origin of the unicorn myth survived until at least 39,000 years ago - much longer than previously thought.

Known as the Siberian unicorn, the animal had a long horn on its nose, and roamed the grasslands of Eurasia.

New evidence shows the hefty beast may have eventually died out because it was such a picky eater.

Scientists say knowing more about the animal's extinction could help save the remaining rhinos on the planet.

Rhinos are in particular danger of extinction because they are very picky about their habitat, said Prof Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum, London, who led the study.

"Any change in their environment is a danger for them," he told BBC News. "And, of course, what we've also learned from the fossil record is that once a species is gone, that's it, it's gone for good."

Weighing in at a mighty four tonnes, with an extraordinary single horn on its head, the "Siberian unicorn", shared the earth with early modern humans up until at least 39,000 years ago.

continued

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46358789


_104508799_vandermerweimage.jpg
 
What do we know about the ancient rhino?
The rhino, Elasmotherium sibericum, was thought to have become extinct between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago.

By radiocarbon-dating a total of 23 specimens, researchers found the Ice Age giant in fact survived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia until at least 39,000 years ago.

They also isolated DNA from the ancient rhino for the first time, showing it split from the modern group of rhinos about 40 million years ago.

The extinction of the Siberian unicorn marks the end point of an entire group of rhinos.

Why might it have gone extinct?
The study also involved examining the animals' teeth, confirming they grazed on tough, dry grasses.

"It was walking along like a kind of prehistoric lawnmower really...it's just grazing along the ground," said Prof Lister.

The rhino's specialised diet may have been its downfall. As the Earth warmed up and started to emerge from the Ice Age around 40,000 years ago, grasslands started to shrink, likely pushing the animal to extinction.

Hundreds of large mammal species disappeared after the last Ice Age, due to climate change, loss of vegetation and human hunting.

What does it tell us about the fate of modern rhinos?
Today there are just five remaining species of rhino. Very few survive outside national parks and reserves due to persistent poaching and habitat loss over many decades.

By studying fossilised rhinos, scientists can learn more about the fate of the many prehistoric rhino species that once roamed the planet and how they adapted to climate change and human pressures.

Where do unicorn myths come from?
Legends of the unicorn, or a beast with a single horn, have been around for millennia.

Some have argued that the horn of the rhino may have been the basis of myths about unicorns, although other animals - such as the tusked narwhal - are more likely contenders.
 
We've had about 20 so-called Ice Ages over the last 2 million years. I'm not sure why the author decided the last one killed off the Siberian rhino when it survived the previous 19.

Modern rhinos are being poached into extinction ... while Al Gorians tell everyone to look up at the sky :palm:
 
Weighing in at a mighty four tonnes, with an extraordinary single horn on its head, the "Siberian unicorn", shared the earth with early modern humans up until at least 39,000 years ago.
Click to expand...

It is curious that many of the megafaunal extinctions that occurred in the last 50,000 years seem to occur when human migrations show up in the various regions of the Earth.

I chalk it up to the fact that these large mammals had no experience with humans, and did not have the instincts to treat them as a mortal threat.

I am thus assuming that giant sloth burgers were a staple of Paleolithic peoples of North America. Bon appetit!
 
Bigdog said:
We've had about 20 so-called Ice Ages over the last 2 million years. I'm not sure why the author decided the last one killed off the Siberian rhino when it survived the previous 19.

Modern rhinos are being poached into extinction ... while Al Gorians tell everyone to look up at the sky :palm:
Click to expand...


I'd give you two hours, Tops, in the Attic :cool:
 
Bigdog said:
We've had about 20 so-called Ice Ages over the last 2 million years. I'm not sure why the author decided the last one killed off the Siberian rhino when it survived the previous 19.

Modern rhinos are being poached into extinction ... while Al Gorians tell everyone to look up at the sky :palm:
Click to expand...

Worked on Don, stupid fuck stares at eclipses.
 
Cypress said:
It is curious that many of the megafaunal extinctions that occurred in the last 50,000 years seem to occur when human migrations show up in the various regions of the Earth.

I chalk it up to the fact that these large mammals had no experience with humans, and did not have the instincts to treat them as a mortal threat.

I am thus assuming that giant sloth burgers were a staple of Paleolithic peoples of North America. Bon appetit!
Click to expand...

I think that is a valid assumption. Today's megafauna mostly exist in Africa ... where they evolved alongside humans.
 
Bigdog said:
We've had about 20 so-called Ice Ages over the last 2 million years. I'm not sure why the author decided the last one killed off the Siberian rhino when it survived the previous 19.

Modern rhinos are being poached into extinction ... while Al Gorians tell everyone to look up at the sky :palm:
Click to expand...

Never occurred to me that there have been that many ice ages.
 
kudzu said:
Never occurred to me that there have been that many ice ages.
Click to expand...

This is the Vostok ice core data from the last 400k years or so ...

vostok_ice_core_data.png


Technically, we are still in an Ice Age, one of 3 "Ice House" Earth events, the last one being about 260 million years ago. The current Holocene warmth is referred to as an interglacial period.
 
For an even broader perspective, we can look at the last 600 million years when complex life existed on Earth (Phanerozoic eon) ...

ccip-fig-2.jpg
 
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yea, and if Al Gore was one of my heroes, alongside the likes of Bill Clinton and Teddy Kennedy, I would question my judgement, but hey, whatever turns nut-bags on
 
"'m not sure why the author decided the last one killed off the Siberian rhino when it survived the previous 19." -Big fool.

assuming the form was the same for 2 million long years, probably because they all died during the last one. THINK!:whoa:
 
kudzu said:
'Siberian unicorn' walked Earth with humans
BBC News· 6 hours ago
A giant rhino that may have been the origin of the unicorn myth survived until at least 39,000 years ago - much longer than previously thought. Known as the Siberian unicorn ...

A giant rhino that may have been the origin of the unicorn myth survived until at least 39,000 years ago - much longer than previously thought.

Known as the Siberian unicorn, the animal had a long horn on its nose, and roamed the grasslands of Eurasia.

New evidence shows the hefty beast may have eventually died out because it was such a picky eater.

Scientists say knowing more about the animal's extinction could help save the remaining rhinos on the planet.

Rhinos are in particular danger of extinction because they are very picky about their habitat, said Prof Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum, London, who led the study.

"Any change in their environment is a danger for them," he told BBC News. "And, of course, what we've also learned from the fossil record is that once a species is gone, that's it, it's gone for good."

Weighing in at a mighty four tonnes, with an extraordinary single horn on its head, the "Siberian unicorn", shared the earth with early modern humans up until at least 39,000 years ago.

continued

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46358789


_104508799_vandermerweimage.jpg
Click to expand...

Who took that picture? :)
 
Bigdog said:
I think that is a valid assumption. Today's megafauna mostly exist in Africa ... where they evolved alongside humans.
Click to expand...

Well, I cannot take credit.

It is a widespread theory among paleoanthropologists that megafauna who had not evolved within a human presence, and were unfamiliar with hominids as predators, usually made for easy hunting and killing.

I believe conventional wisdom are that Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens were in northern Europe and Siberia by at least 40k year ago. Which is curiously right about the time these unicorn thingys disappeared from the fossil record.
 
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