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Fossilized remains reveal the 'Siberian unicorn' was still on earth 29,000 years ago

Scientists are intrigued as to how it survived so much longer than originally thought

(CNN) —

New research has revealed the ‘Siberian unicorn’ roamed the planet far more recently than we originally thought.

The bad news is it looked nothing like the mythical creatures portrayed in so many fairy tales.

PHOTO: DiBgd at the English language Wikipedia

Real unicorns -- not so pretty.

It was fatter and furrier, and in reality more rhino than stallion. It did, however, have a huge horn.

This real unicorn, or ‘Elasmotherium sibiricu’, was originally thought to have gone extinct 350,000 years ago.

Brains before brawn: How the T. rex became king

But a well-preserved fossilized skull found in Kazakhstan reveals the shaggy creature was still alive and walking this earth a mere 29,000 years ago, according to a study published this month in the American Journal of Applied Sciences.

There is now some mystery surrounding how it survived so long.

01:20 - Source: KTRK

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“Most likely, the south of Western Siberia was a [refuge], where this rhino had preserved the longest in comparison with the rest of the range,” said Tomsk State University scientist Andrei Shpansky, who published the findings.

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