The prehistoric giant rhinoceros, known as the Siberian unicorn, became extinct much later than previously thought. This conclusion was reached by specialists from the universities of Adelaide and Sydney, who, together with Russian colleagues, conducted a large-scale study. His results were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
New data has clarified the fate of one of the most mysterious animals of the Ice Age. Previously, it was believed that Siberian unicorns died out more than 200 thousand years ago, but additional radiocarbon analysis of the found fossil remains of 23 individuals suggests that they lived no earlier than 39 thousand years ago, which means they could coexist over vast areas of the European part present-day Russia with Neanderthals and even with the first people.
One of the key conclusions of scientists is to accurately determine the degree of relationship between Siberian unicorns and modern rhinoceroses. “The Siberian unicorn and all modern rhinoceroses turned out to be much more distant relatives than we previously thought. Their ancestors split and took different evolutionary paths more than 40 million years ago, that is, they are even more distant from each other than, for example, monkeys and people.” “says one of the study authors, Dr. Kieren Mitchell, who analyzed the DNA of the Siberian unicorn.
Today there are only five species of rhinoceroses left on the planet, although in the past there were about 250 of them, and the Siberian unicorn was one of the largest - its weight reached 5 tons, and there was a heavy horn on its face. Genetic analysis conducted at the Australian Center for DNA Research at the University of Adelaide (ACAD) showed that the Siberian unicorn was the last representative of a unique family of rhinoceroses that went extinct about 39-36 thousand years ago. These data refute the previously existing theory that the Siberian unicorn was a close relative of the extinct woolly rhinoceros and the living Sumatran rhinoceros.