'Siberian unicorn' may have lived alongside humans

An extinct mammal nicknamed the "Siberian unicorn" is believed to have survived 300,000 years longer than previous evidence suggested, potentially changing scientists' perception of the prehistoric world.

Researchers analysed a well-preserved skull fragment from an Elasmotherium sibiricum recently discovered in Kazakhstan and dated it to around 29,000BC. Previous fragments indicated that the animal died out hundreds of thousands of years earlier.

The new research, published in the American Journal of Applied Science by a team at Tomsk State University in Russia, suggests it walked the Earth at the same time as modern humans. The oldest known homo sapiens remains have been dated to around 195,000BC, but behaviourally and cognitively "modern" humans are generally thought to have first appeared in 50,000BC.

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Despite its nickname, the Elasmotherium sibiricum was more comparable to a rhino than a horse, with a shaggy coat and tough keratin horn. Although the "Siberian unicorn" might not have looked quite like the horned horse of legend, its stature was certainly of near-mythical proportions - scientists estimate it stood six-feet tall and weighed around 9,000lbs.

It's thought the skull fragment came from an outlier, perhaps one of a handful of the animals who managed to far outlive the rest of their species.

Palaeontologist Andrei Shpanski, the study's lead researcher, told Phys.org that the animal probably formed part of an enclave in the south of Western Siberia, which was somehow able to far outlast other members of the species, whose remains have been discovered in Eurasia. He is now encouraging mass carbon dating on remains of other mammals presumed to have gone extinct more than 50,000 years ago.

"Our research makes adjustments in the understanding of the environmental conditions in the geologic time in general," he said. "Understanding of the past allows us to make more accurate predictions about natural processes in the near future - it also concerns climate change."