A giant Unicorn roamed the Earth 39,000 years ago

A prehistoric 3.5 tonne Siberian unicorn roamed the Earth, 39,000 years ago.

The Siberian Unicorn – Elasmotherium sibiricum – is a giant woolly rhino, previously thought to have died out 200,000 -100,000 years ago, but newly fossils and DNA extraction found it that lived far more recently.

The herbivore 3.5 tonne beast lived alongside prehistoric humans, before being wiped out by the Ice Age, 39,000 years ago.

A giant Unicorn roamed the Earth 39,000 years ago

E. sibiricum survived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia until at least 39,000 years ago, corroborating a wave of megafaunal turnover before the Last Glacial Maximum in Eurasia, in addition to the better-known late-glacial event.

Images credit Van der Merwe

source Nature Ecology and Evolution