unicorns did exist but were hunted to extinction for thier horns

Think about it we have creatures with horns or tusks or antlers. It is possible to have a horse like creature with a horn on it that was prized heavily among the people of the region and as such this animal was hunted to extinction.

Possible reason why there is no fossil evidence could be do the horn being constructed of a hair or other material that simply would biodegrade. Perhaps it would fall apart and scatter about once the animal died, giving it a certain allure or further reason for humans to prize it so much.

Its slightly possible right?

Yes it is "slightly" possible?
I mean, there probabely was some sort of creature with horse characteristics and features and possibly a horn(s) thousands of years ago.
Or maybe there wasn't.
Unicorns are, to point out, creations by the human mind for fantasy tales but may be similar to extinct creatures.
Until eligible proof is discovered I won't dedicate my time to matters involving unicorn unless the matter itself is evidence including encounters, fossils etc.
Not that I am skeptical.

I found this site:
www.southcom.com.au...

and here is a quote from the site about the hunting theory:
"Because the horn was also thought to prevent plague,
epilepsy and other diseases, powders said to be made
of unicorn horn were in great demand."



[edit on 6-1-2009 by Unknown_Significance]

[edit on 6-1-2009 by Unknown_Significance]

[edit on 6-1-2009 by Unknown_Significance]

[edit on 6-1-2009 by Unknown_Significance]

It's a good thing, too, because as we all know the Unicorn was exceptionally dangerous. Once sighted they were well known to impale a human as to remain anonomous. They were a very secretive group of animals.

Yes, it's slightly possible, but not likely.

The problem I see with your biodegradable horn made of hair theory is, were it true, the horn on the living animal would be too weak to perform its assumed function (i.e. impaling other animals, impaling prospective riders who weren't virgins, etc).

Even were the horn to degrade too fast to allow fossil formation of that specific part, you would still have a hole in the front of the skull at the base of the horn. Assuming that unicorns are exactly like horses except for the horn, then they would be a relatively recent evolutionary development and hence we should see plenty of good quality fossils around with this feature. If there weren't enough of them to produce enough fossils to have found one yet, then you encounter the problem of an insuffient breeding population to carry on the species.

Maybe they simply ceased to exist when all the pure virgins disappeared.







[edit on 2009-1-6 by wecomeinpeace]

reply to post by Desolate Cancer


I think its possible. I can't see why not. Isn't there a whale that has a single horn exactly like a unicorn?

reply to post by Desolate Cancer


Unicorns exist. Close your eyes and watch them.

thats totally not true....a porcipines spikes..are modified hair follicles..basically take a bunch of your hair..or someones long hair and squish it together..and that makes up a porc's spike....the ones they throw out and stick into other animals....so if it were as big as it should have been on a horse..they would have no problem sticking someone or something with it, but then it still be degradeble as hair is.

Some Rhinoceros are unicorns. It could be possible that something horse like existed with a horn similar to the one of the Rhino.

In my mind, Elasmotherium would be a good candidate for the unicorn. Early members, like Homo Erectus, would have been around to see them. Pockets of them could have survived into the timeframe of early Homo Sapiens.

cormac

Originally posted by drock905
reply to post by Desolate Cancer

 

I think its possible. I can't see why not. Isn't there a whale that has a single horn exactly like a unicorn?

Narwhal. It's a tooth that looks like a horn.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS

Porcupine quills...interesting, but they are not rigid and rooted in the skeleton, they are simply embedded in the porcupine's skin. They're not designed to withstand forces from charging and impaling a victim, they simply stick into an attacker's skin and detach when touched. And they can't be "thrown out" either.

Secondly a little googling reveals that porcupine spines are formed from keratin, the same substance which makes up feather quills, bird beaks, and other animal parts that "survive" the fossilisation process. So one would expect keratin unicorn horns to do so as well.

And whatever the horn is made of, it still doesn't negate the hole in the skull issue...

Here:
blog.wired.com...

Unicorns Are Real!

Maybe unicorns aren't wholly mythological: a one-horned deer has been spotted in a nature reserve near Florence, Italy. And it's not merely a case of having one weird antler off to one side; it's a horn poking straight out of its forehead.
"This is fantasy becoming reality," said Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center for Natural Sciences in Prato, to the Associated Press.
Tozzi believes it's a genetic anomaly, and suggests that historical accounts of unicorns were based on similar creatures. (Some deer have also been observed with three antlers -- but rather than being symbols of all that humanity holds rare and special, they're just freaky, and Boone and Crockett won't even score them.)

Of course, Tozzi and others appear to have discarded out of hand the possibility that this single-horned creature isn't a year-old roe deer, but a real unicorn. Unless they've sent a virgin out to pat it, how can really they be sure?

I can see the murderous look in that deers eyes. I knew I was right.

the hole in the skull is a good point.... one would have ot believe that their would be some sort of indication of a horn in the skull. If it was to have served a functional purpose which there is no reason it wouldn't have.

Only thing I can think of is that as retarded as it sounds perhaps there was something very unique about the unicorn and and its horn, which is why it was so romanticized by humans.

It's interesting how legends are formed. Many mythological monsters, for example trolls in caves that ate children, could perhaps have come from deformed/leprous persons banished from the village and living in a cave in the mountains. Time and progressively outrageous story-telling would turn these people into fantastical creatures. Perhaps the legend of the unicorn comes form something similar; maybe a "birds and the bees" story told to young, curious virgins. Something about riding a strong stallion with a single horn...





[edit on 2009-1-7 by wecomeinpeace]

Yeah it's possible, but wouldn't there have been references to this sort of beast in the past? There are always signs or literature left by previous civilizations about prominent sights in their culture, particularly of something they hunt.. For example, the cave drawings of Wooly Mammoths from prehistoric men.

And as for that dear, I can't believe that is a modern day unicorn. It is likely just a product of inter species breeding or problems with genes...

Well at the same time not all animals are represented on cave paintings. But there are some references to unicorns in ancients history and even prehistory.

www.allaboutunicorns.com...