THE EXTICTION SERIES: SIBERIAN UNICORN

If you grew up a fan of fantasy novels or films, chances are you have already heard about mystical creatures known as unicorns. While depictions of these creatures vary from culture to culture, they are mostly described as a mythical horse like creature that was often potraid as white in colour with a one relatively long horn protruding from its forehead. The Siberian unicorn is neither a mythical creature or the size of a horse. Once upon a time, about 36,000 years ago, colossal unicorns frolicked across the Siberian plains. They were huge—3.5 metric tons apiece—with a single horn protruding majestically from between their ears. Elasmotherium sibiricum, or the Siberian unicorn, as it’s sometimes called, looked much like today’s living rhinos, but larger, shaggier, and with a decidedly larger horn. Theories about the function of this horn include; defense against predators, attracting mates, driving away competitors, sweeping snow from the grass in winter, and digging for water and plant roots. The horn was presumably taken to grow as long as 1.5 meters Like all rhinoceroses, they were herbivorous. Unlike any other rhinos, its high-crowned molars were ever-growing. Its legs were longer than those of other rhinos and were adapted for galloping, giving it a horse-like gait. The Siberian unicorns grew to be the size of mammoths when fully matured.

Now, according to an international team of researchers from Adelaide, Sydney, London, the Netherlands, and Russia, we have a better idea of why we no longer see these monstrous creatures snacking on Siberian grassland. In new research published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, the scientists say the Siberian unicorn seems to have become extinct during the Ice Age, when climate change reduced its grassy habitat around present-day Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Northern China. The Siberian unicorn appears to have been badly hit by the start of the ice age in Eurasia when a precipitous fall in temperature led to an increase in the amount of frozen ground, reducing the tough, dry grasses it lived on and impacting populations over a vast region. Other species that shared the Siberian unicorn's environment were either less reliant on grass – like the woolly rhino – or more flexible in their diet – like the saiga antelope – and escaped the Siberian unicorn's fate, though the woolly rhino eventually became extinct 20,000 years later.

The study hypothesizes that the animals died out around 165,000 years later than originally thought, meaning that they roamed the Earth at the same time as Neanderthals and our human ancestors. But, for once, this is a case where we don’t seem to have been at fault for an extinction.

By analyzing the animal’s DNA, the researchers discovered that, despite appearances, the Siberian unicorn was only a very distant relative of today’s living rhinos, and in fact the last surviving member of a unique mammal family. The ancestors of the Siberian unicorn split from the ancestors of all living rhinos over 40 million years ago, according to researchers from University of Adelaide .

fossil of Siberian unicorn

So why learn about an animal that has already gone extinct . Well its quite simple extinction of the Siberian unicorn is able to show us what would happen to its closest related family that is the rhinos. Climate change is still being experienced today but unlike the times of the Siberian unicorn now climate change is about increased temperatures, prolonged drought and melting of ice. All this contribute towards extinction of Rhinos who just like their distant cousins may face extinction as a result. Coming up with measures to combat effects of climate change or reduce it will go a long way in ensuring existing endangered species are protected.

Below is a short video describing the Siberian unicorn and its existence and eventual extinction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M34s6Dm4wSY