4 ms·

What if unicorns at one point existed, but were hunted for the superstitious power of their horns, leaving only the hornless to reproduce and eventually elimina

What if unicorns at one point existed, but were hunted for the superstitious power of their horns, leaving only the hornless to reproduce and eventually eliminate the gene? How would we know?

pm215 5y ago
I think we'd expect to see vestiges of the no-longer-outwardly-visible horn in the skeleton and perhaps during fetal development, like with human tails.
max_ 5y ago
There is anthropological work claiming that unicorns were actually a mis-depiction of the single horn rhinoceros.
Apocryphon 5y ago
Where are all of the heirloom artifacts made from unicorn ivory?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
xupybd 5y ago
The fossil record. If they were hunted then there might be a cultural record as well.
BitwiseFool 5y ago
There are plenty of horses and horse-ancestors in the fossil record. We would at least expect to see some horn material preserved. Failing that, there would be evidence on the skull itself due to how the attachment of the horn would leave evidence of its existence on the bone of the skull. You would probably also expect to see some horns in archaeological caches. I know they sometimes find narwhal tusks in burial sites. Interestingly enough, there was a creature that very much looks like a unicorn, but it is a rhinoceros and not an equine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasmotherium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasmotherium
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  There's also no cultural record of legends of "unicorn hunts" unlike say hunting the white stag.
  - mysterydip 5y ago
    There are plenty of stories of unicorns, though. Why them and not some other animal?
    - Apocryphon 5y ago
      There are plenty of stories of dragons, too.
      - theaussiestew 5y ago
        So why are there so many stories of dragons, even across cultures that had little to no contact whatsoever?
        Apocryphon 5y ago
        There's a very interesting (but somewhat contrived) anthropological hypothesis that dragons are composites of various predator creatures that were a danger to our ancestors- birds of prey, great cats, and pythons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Instinct_for_Dragons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Instinct_for_Dragons
- theduder99 5y ago
  As a kid being taught evolution, I made the natural assumption that many transitional forms of animals would be found in the fossil record in order to support the theory. However that is not the case(to put it mildly). When confronted with this fact, "scientists" created a new theory called punctuated equilibrium. what a house of cards..
  - 5y ago
gowld 5y ago
Unicorns don't exist because they were arrogrant, unserious creatures who refused to fall in line with the other animals: Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=shel+silverstein+unicorn https://www.google.com/search?q=shel+silverstein+unicorn
gpm 5y ago
On the topic of unicorns existing... > There are wild elephants in the country, and numerous unicorns, which are very nearly as big. They have hair like that of a buffalo, feet like those of an elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead, which is black and very thick. They do no mischief, however, with the horn, but with the tongue alone; for this is covered all over with long and strong prickles and when savage with any one they crush him under their knees and then rasp him with their tongue. The head resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it ever bent towards the ground. They delight much to abide in mire and mud. 'Tis a passing ugly beast to look upon, and is not in the least like that which our stories tell of as being caught in the lap of a virgin; in fact, 'tis altogether different from what we fancied - Macro Polo https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Book_3/Chapter_9 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Boo... They're hunted for their horns too... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#Ways_to_prevent_poaching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#Ways_to_prevent_poa...
deleted 5y ago
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vincengomes 5y ago
No. They evolved to become fat and became rhinoceros

What if unicorns at one point existed, but were hunted for the superstitious power of their horns, leaving only the hornless to reproduce and eventually eliminate the gene? How would we know?

pm215 5y ago

I think we'd expect to see vestiges of the no-longer-outwardly-visible horn in the skeleton and perhaps during fetal development, like with human tails.

max_ 5y ago

There is anthropological work claiming that unicorns were actually a mis-depiction of the single horn rhinoceros.

Apocryphon 5y ago

Where are all of the heirloom artifacts made from unicorn ivory?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

xupybd 5y ago

The fossil record. If they were hunted then there might be a cultural record as well.

BitwiseFool 5y ago

There are plenty of horses and horse-ancestors in the fossil record. We would at least expect to see some horn material preserved. Failing that, there would be evidence on the skull itself due to how the attachment of the horn would leave evidence of its existence on the bone of the skull. You would probably also expect to see some horns in archaeological caches. I know they sometimes find narwhal tusks in burial sites. Interestingly enough, there was a creature that very much looks like a unicorn, but it is a rhinoceros and not an equine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasmotherium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasmotherium

Apocryphon 5y ago
There's also no cultural record of legends of "unicorn hunts" unlike say hunting the white stag.
- mysterydip 5y ago
  There are plenty of stories of unicorns, though. Why them and not some other animal?
  - Apocryphon 5y ago
    There are plenty of stories of dragons, too.
    - theaussiestew 5y ago
      So why are there so many stories of dragons, even across cultures that had little to no contact whatsoever?
      - Apocryphon 5y ago
        There's a very interesting (but somewhat contrived) anthropological hypothesis that dragons are composites of various predator creatures that were a danger to our ancestors- birds of prey, great cats, and pythons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Instinct_for_Dragons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Instinct_for_Dragons
theduder99 5y ago
As a kid being taught evolution, I made the natural assumption that many transitional forms of animals would be found in the fossil record in order to support the theory. However that is not the case(to put it mildly). When confronted with this fact, "scientists" created a new theory called punctuated equilibrium. what a house of cards..
- 5y ago

gowld 5y ago

Unicorns don't exist because they were arrogrant, unserious creatures who refused to fall in line with the other animals: Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=shel+silverstein+unicorn https://www.google.com/search?q=shel+silverstein+unicorn

gpm 5y ago

On the topic of unicorns existing... > There are wild elephants in the country, and numerous unicorns, which are very nearly as big. They have hair like that of a buffalo, feet like those of an elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead, which is black and very thick. They do no mischief, however, with the horn, but with the tongue alone; for this is covered all over with long and strong prickles and when savage with any one they crush him under their knees and then rasp him with their tongue. The head resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it ever bent towards the ground. They delight much to abide in mire and mud. 'Tis a passing ugly beast to look upon, and is not in the least like that which our stories tell of as being caught in the lap of a virgin; in fact, 'tis altogether different from what we fancied - Macro Polo https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Book_3/Chapter_9 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Boo... They're hunted for their horns too... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#Ways_to_prevent_poaching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#Ways_to_prevent_poa...

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

vincengomes 5y ago

No. They evolved to become fat and became rhinoceros