Comments on: Unicorn Deer Born

By: Aztec Raptor

Aztec Raptor — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:07:04 +0000

It was an Amazing thing to see on the discovey channel web site.

By: Munnin

Munnin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:35:49 +0000

Vigus responds:
June 11th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I’m guessing Oberon Zell is a relation to Timothy G. Zell, inventor of Patent No. 4429685?

One and the same.

By: sschaper

sschaper — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:17:26 +0000

Neat! Is that antler spiraled? It looks like it on my monitor.
I think we’d want to be sure that this wasn’t ‘engineered’ surgically.

Humans are imaginative, so there is that element to mythical bestiaries. But I can also see how we humans, who once had more variation, could come up with tales of little people (the Floresians), dwarfs (Neandertals) elves (moderns as seen by the Neandertals), giants (which do occur occasionally, or even moderns as seen by the Floresians) and so forth. Griffins have been identified as deduced from ceratopsian fossils along the Silk Road, cyclops from mammoth skulls, and so on.

Add imagination and you get the mythical bestiaries and tales.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:27:29 +0000

Very nice. Glad to see wonder still in the world…

By: Maine Crypto

Maine Crypto — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:24:23 +0000

This is great! It makes me think of the cave painting in France. That “Unicorn” looked less like a horse and more like a relative of the deer family…. it really makes me wonder where the legends all came from.

By: Ceroill

Ceroill — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:07:18 +0000

As I seem to recall, the earliest reports of ‘unicorns’ referred to them as either a kind of wild ass or deer, but with the single horn. The medieval image of the pure white horse with a goat’s beard, deer’s legs with cloven hooves, and the straight spiral horn was created much later. In part it is thought, to match up with the ‘unicorn horns’ being sold that were in truth narwhal tusks.

Also the earlier versions were reputed to be very fierce and dangerous, rather than pure and virtuous and whatnot.

One of the most common suppositions is that the original reports were from someone who had seen an Oryx in profile. (I may have that species wrong)

Of course it’s always possible there was/is some incredibly rare/wily cryptid that more closely matches the early descriptions.

By: springheeledjack

springheeledjack — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:34:50 +0000

And the horse doesn’t have a history of antlers, at least not that I am aware of. But then again, the fossil record is far from complete.

By: Vigus

Vigus — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:01:47 +0000

I’m guessing Oberon Zell is a relation to Timothy G. Zell, inventor of Patent No. 4429685? I felt a little weirded out when I first came across this patent to make your own unicorn.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:59:12 +0000

I think a lot of mythical creatures or even cryptid sightings may have had their start in some sort of genetic flaw such as this or giganticism, strange morphs and color variations, etc. Although through the ages myths and folklore, as well as witness misrepresentation, ignorance, or awe can add a lot of extra details such as incredible characteristics and magical powers to the mix, at the root it’s possible we still have an animal that was out of the ordinary in some way. I don’t even think it would be completely necessary for the genetic abnormality to be widespread or very often seen, just enough to let human curiosity and imagination take hold. Considering that in some societies there are real, known animals that are attributed with characteristics as fantastic as any mythical animal, I don’t think it too far fetched that there are some actual animals behind some of the stories of strange or legendary beasts.

By: MattBille

MattBille — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:55:10 +0000

In addition to the goats, a domestic bull had this operation done some time ago. Despite rumor and myth, though, I’m not aware of other reliable wild-born reports. I don’t see anything in Burton.
Anyone?