Giant Unicorn, a Giant rhino, Elasmotherium sibiricum,

The Giant Unicorn, Elasmotherium sibiricum ("Siberian Thin-Plate Beast") was a giant rhinoceros which stood two meters high & six meters (20 feet) long, with a single two-meter-long (7 feet) horn in the forehead. The animal may have weighed up to 5 tonnes. Its legs were longer than those of other rhinos & were designed for galloping, giving it a horse-like gait. It was probably a fast runner, in spite of its size. Its teeth were similar to those of horses, & it probably grazed low herbs.

E. sibiricum lived in Southern Russia, Ukraine & Moldova during the Early Pleistocene. It appeared during the Late Pliocene in Central Asia. Its origin appears to be connected to the genus Sinotherium. E. inexpectatum & E. peii inhabited Eastern China during the Upper Pliocene - Lower Pleistocene. They disappeared approximately 1.6 Ma. The earliest records of Elasmotherium species in Russia are known from the Upper Pliocene assemblages near the Black Sea. E. caucasicum was widely distributed in this area between 1.1 Ma & 0.8 Ma. The more advanced E. sibiricum appeared in the Middle Pleistocene. It occupied all of the southwestern part of Russia, reaching eastward to western Siberia. Elasmotherians persisted in eastern Europe until the end of the Middle Pleistocene.

Description & paleobiology
Morphological peculiarities of elasmotherians have generated two main hypotheses concerning their appearance & the character of their habitat. The first, most widely accepted view which was also described above, portrays them as large woolly animals with a large forehead horn that thrived on an open steppe. Fossils of the horn, however, have not been found. The other view assigns elasmotherians to riparian biotopes. It is probable that elasmotherians dwelt in both riparian & steppe biotopes. The riparian biotope is suggested by dental & skull morphology. The combination of such characters as the absence of canines & strongly developed lateral processes of the atlas implies lateral movements of the head, presumably for grasping grass. The hypsodont dentition indicates presence of mineral grains in the food. Such food could be obtained by pulling out dense plants from the moist soil. These conditions are typical for riparian biotopes. On the other hand, a steppe biotope is indicated by their rather long & slender limbs, which would have served well for creatures grazing over vast areas.

Historical witnesses
Elasmotherium probably died out in prehistoric times. However, according to the Nordisk familjebok & to space scientist Willy Ley, the animal may have survived long enough to be remembered in the legends of the Evenk people of Russia as a huge black bull with a single horn in the forehead.

There is also a testimony by the medieval traveller Ibn Fadlan, who is usually considered a reliable source, which indicates that Elasmotherium may have survived into historical times.

Ibn Fadlan's account states:

There is nearby a wide steppe, & there dwells, it is told, an animal smaller than a camel, but taller than a bull. Its head is the head of a ram, & its tail is a bull’s tail. Its body is that of a mule & its hooves are like those of a bull. In the middle of its head it has a horn, thick & round, & as the horn goes higher, it narrows (to an end), until it is like a spearhead. Some of these horns grow to three or five ells, depending on the size of the animal. It thrives on the leaves of trees, which are excellent greenery. Whenever it sees a rider, it approaches & if the rider has a fast horse, the horse tries to escape by running fast, & if the beast overtakes them, it picks the rider out of the saddle with its horn, & tosses him in the air, & meets him with the point of the horn, & continues doing so until the rider dies. But it will not harm or hurt the horse in any way or manner.
The locals seek it in the steppe & in the forest until they can kill it. It is done so: they climb the tall trees between which the animal passes. It requires several bowmen with poisoned arrows; & when the beast is in between them, they shoot & wound it unto its death. & indeed I have seen three big bowls shaped like Yemen seashells, that the king has, & he told me that they are made out of that animal’s horn.
Some have argued that the survival of Elasmotherium into historical times may be the source of the unicorn myth, as the animal's description fits well with the Persian karkadann unicorn, & the Chinese zhi unicorn.

Elasmotherium in popular culture
An Elasmotherium appears on the iTV & Animal Planet series "Prehistoric Park," referred to by its scientific name & "the woolly unicorn rhino." Nigel Marven, the host, travels back to the ice age to retrieve a mammoth & , unexpectedly, the Elasmotherium, as well.
The movie 300 puts an Elasmotherium in Xerxes I's army, & devotes an entire scene to the "monster" (possibly connecting it the legendary sirrush).

Here are some sites on the subject Look at htt

A site on the terrorbirds. a type of bird 10 feet tall that could eat people, from 2 million years before us p://www.lonympics.co.uk/

A picture of some terrorbird, by a person, but there are more sites below, Look at http://www.lonympics.co.uk/

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A site on giant sloths, with mentions of animals that have been alive during the era of human history, that have gone extinct, from them to many other great species

A graph of all human history very interesting, to the story of humankind, brilliant, saying the great stories, & animals, humans saw.

100s of Great Websites, on 100s of great subjects

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A site on dangerous animals, such as which are bigger than people, & which are poisonous

A site on magical things in nature, like herbs & such, & more exiting things,