Unicorns really too much of stretch?

[Friendly Lich]

Ok hear me out please. Excluding magical powers I don't see how a unicorn is so unbelievable. From a biological standpoint whats so crazy about a horse with a horn? I mean rhinos have horns, there are wasps that look like flowers, and have you seen some of the creatures in the deep ocean? A horse with a horn doesn't seem that wild to me. I know little or no evidence exists about unicorns but I think they just might have existed or could have existed with the right conditions.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

 

[BeeGeenie]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

The thing about evolution is that not everything has to have a point. We have an appendix, a horse could hypothetically have a horn on it's head as long as it's not severely reducing its survival rate.

But the most likely reason would be attracting a mate.

So yeah, I see no biological reason that they couldn't exist, if evolution had randomly gone that way.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

The thing about evolution is that not everything has to have a point. We have an appendix, a horse could hypothetically have a horn on it's head as long as it's not severely reducing its survival rate.

But the most likely reason would be attracting a mate.

So yeah, I see no biological reason that they couldn't exist, if evolution had randomly gone that way.

I thought we used that to digest tree bark at some point... and then at some point we were all like "Cocoa Puffs? FUCK YEAH!!" and didn't need it anymore.

 

[Screamarie]

Oh I don't think unicorns all that unbelievable. In fact, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised in a unicorn skeleton was to be found, because it if wasn't an evolutionary thing, a mutation of some sort could have happened. *shrugs.* The fact that something like doesn't seem to have been found though, is why I kind of think they probably didn't exist, but you never know.

There's a lot we don't know about the world.

 

[Rawne1980]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

It would be used for shit puns from regular horses.

The could shout out "OI, YOU LOOK HORNY".

 

[triggrhappy94]

It's not that it's impossible. It's that it doesn't exist.
I think zoologist or whoever have decided that the idea of unicorns (in Western Europe) came from the Simitar Horned Oryx, who's horns would be bound together when they were young so they made one horn.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

The thing about evolution is that not everything has to have a point. We have an appendix, a horse could hypothetically have a horn on it's head as long as it's not severely reducing its survival rate.

But the most likely reason would be attracting a mate.

So yeah, I see no biological reason that they couldn't exist, if evolution had randomly gone that way.

I thought we used that to digest tree bark at some point... and then at some point we were all like "Cocoa Puffs? FUCK YEAH!!" and didn't need it anymore.

Far as I know, it's a part of the immune system. Not an essential part, but a working one.

 

[Redingold]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

The thing about evolution is that not everything has to have a point. We have an appendix, a horse could hypothetically have a horn on it's head as long as it's not severely reducing its survival rate.

But the most likely reason would be attracting a mate.

So yeah, I see no biological reason that they couldn't exist, if evolution had randomly gone that way.

Evolution doesn't go randomly. If the horn has no use, then evolution will get rid of it, because it takes resources to make a horn and these resources could really be put to some better use, so unneeded structures tend to degrade and become vestigial. The appendix might not even be useless, anyway. I think the current scientific opinion is that it recolonises the guts with bacteria after infection or trauma.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

... The same as a rhino would?

Why would a rhino have a horn and a horse wouldn't?

Last I checked, Rhinos didn't eat meat.

So horns can be used for defense. Charging and stabbing would have the same effect as a bayonet charge. Get em in the ribs and you would likely hit a vital organ.

I would wager a unicorn horn would probably be the best weapon a fast animal could have.

Rhino's are like walking battle tanks though... Plus the placement of their horn makes sense as an offensive weapon against predators.

I don't think horses are built to charge at things with their head down.

 

[Jaksteri]

Have people heard that in some myths, unicorns are in fact described as meat eaters. So the horn may as well be for hunting too.
Though I believe that legend behind unicorns is same as to most other myths, people found bones and rearraged them as they saw to fit best or just some one was messing with his neighbor.

 

[mad825]

... The same as a rhino would?

Why would a rhino have a horn and a horse wouldn't?

Last I checked, Rhinos didn't eat meat.

So horns can be used for defense. Charging and stabbing would have the same effect as a bayonet charge. Get em in the ribs and you would likely hit a vital organ.

I would wager a unicorn horn would probably be the best weapon a fast animal could have.

Horns on a rhino are sturdy and mostly used for to create fear in the opponent. If a unicorn came charging at me, I would be more afraid of it's hooves, a kick from a horse would knock any man over. I could most probably snap the horn off.

 

[Friendly Lich]

From an evolutionary stand point, what would be the point of the horn?

Not used for hunting prey.
Not used to fend off predators (cause what preys on horses that a horse could stab with his head?)

Maybe for mating like a peacock's feathers?

... The same as a rhino would?

Why would a rhino have a horn and a horse wouldn't?

Last I checked, Rhinos didn't eat meat.

So horns can be used for defense. Charging and stabbing would have the same effect as a bayonet charge. Get em in the ribs and you would likely hit a vital organ.

I would wager a unicorn horn would probably be the best weapon a fast animal could have.

Rhino's are like walking battle tanks though... Plus the placement of their horn makes sense as an offensive weapon against predators.

I don't think horses are built to charge at things with their head down.

Well I mean look at deer, its kinda the same concept.

 

[Korolev]

I don't have trouble believing that unicorns are biologically possible - at least, if you're just talking about "horse-with-horn". Horns are biologically possible - plenty of creatures have horns. Horses, as we know, exist. So there is nothing in biology or physics that rule out the possibility of a horse with one horn.

But just because something is POSSIBLE doesn't mean that it ever existed. And there is no good evidence that Unicorns ever existed. The only evidence for them is in myths and fairy tales.

I don't find the IDEA of unicorns implausible. But the fact remains that no one has given any solid evidence of their existence and so I am forced to currently conclude that they don't and never have existed. Once someone finds a genuine unicorn skeleton, I'll rethink my position. But until then - unicorns are imaginary.

 

[DoPo]

But just because something is POSSIBLE doesn't mean that it ever existed.

I think that sums it up. Centaurs are also possible, as are honest politicians but arguing over their possibility is moot. They just don't exist, that's all.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

I would be more afraid of it's hooves, a kick from a horse would knock any man over.

Exactly.
Horses don't need horns. They can kick the shit out of you. Or, y'know, run away really goddamn fast. What good does a horn do when you have other, arguably better, options?

Well I mean look at deer, its kinda the same concept.

Deer have antlers to fight each other so they can attract mates, and, probably, weed out the weaker members of the herd.
Can't do that with a horn (you'd both just get stabbed in the face).
Deer don't use them to fight off predators (which is why only males have them (and female caribou), and only during the mating season).

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

Let me start by saying that I'm not a zoologist or even a biologist so my opinion is somewhat educated guesswork rather than hard scientific fact.

For a horse to use a horn for defence the whole structure of the animal would have to be different.

For a start it would need to have shorter, squatter legs to lower its centre of gravity, horses at the moment are built for running away not running toward.

Then you'd have to reinforce the skull so that it doesn't shatter when the horn impacts something. Racing horses have been clocked going as fast as 55mph and that much force coming down on a single point seems like too much for the horse's current skull to withstand.

You'd then have to add padding within the skull so the horse's brain isn't turned into mush when it collides with the interior of the skull.

It's currently very impractical for a horse to use a horn as defence, they just aren't built that way.

 

[blazearmoru]

Ok hear me out please. Excluding magical powers I don't see how a unicorn is so unbelievable. From a biological standpoint whats so crazy about a horse with a horn? I mean rhinos have horns, there are wasps that look like flowers, and have you seen some of the creatures in the deep ocean? A horse with a horn doesn't seem that wild to me. I know little or no evidence exists about unicorns but I think they just might have existed or could have existed with the right conditions.

Go check the DNA. :|

 

[Dimitriov]

There's really no reason that such a creature couldn't exist.

But what brought this question up OP? What is it that whacky story out of North Korea?

Because apparently Korean unicorns look like this...

And I do have some reservations when it comes to believing that that thing ever existed.