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New Fossils Show That ‘Unicorns’ Walked the Earth 29,000 Years Ago

A research out of Russia’s Tomsk State University is claiming that unicorns really did exist, according to Refinery29. Well, if you consider a large, rhino-like animal with one horn a ‘unicorn.’


Still, the “Siberian Unicorn” as it’s being called, was a pretty cool animal, even if it didn’t possess any magical powers. A fossilized skull of one of the animals was discovered in Kazakhstan’s Pavlodar region, which is revealing some interesting facts about the species.

It was likely about six feet tall, weighed 9,000 pounds, and roamed the Earth 29,000 years ago. It looked like a rhino (being part of the giant rhinoceros family) and was about the size of a woolly mammoth, but hey, a unicorn’s a unicorn. What’s so cool about this finding is that until now, scientists believed that this type of giant rhino had gone extinct 350,000 years ago.

These Siberican Unicorns survived for an extra 320,000 years—so maybe it’s too soon to rule that magical creature theory out.

For now, let’s just enjoy the fact that next time someone tells you unicorns aren’t real, you’ll have an awesome comeback. 

Julia is an all around urbanite and current Junior at NYU. She is studying Screenwriting, The Entertainment Business, Italian, and Dance. You'll often find Julia in her favorite coffee shop, working on her latest article or screenplay. She enjoys blogging, cooking delicious vegetarian food, jamming on her guitar, and watching the seasons change. She'll forever be dancing through life. Find her on Instagram and Twitter @jkrom19