h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

they cant be discovered if they dont exist

Funny you should mention rhinos. They are the kernel of truth in the unicorn myth. There were considered to be two kinds of unicorn. One of them was the rhino, the other might have been this sort of goat with a twisted horn.

They may exist, they may not. you can't PROVE they don't exist. You can never PROVE that something DOESN'T exist. They are only mythical because no one knows if they actually exists or doesn't exist.

I know. But you have to suppose something doesn't exist, unless it is proven otherwise.

Ah, the old proof-of-absence versus absence-of-proof argument, beloved of conspiracy theorists everywhere. After all, you can't *prove* that JFK wasn't killed by the CIA because he had sex with aliens, can you?

Post1:
You say that if they existed, they wouldn't be called mythical. I have a reason to disbelieve this. Just because people assume that they are nonexistant doesn't mean it's true. People always find a way to prove wrong what they fear. They say that something is mthical because they want it to be. Just because we can't see something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Humans once thought that there were five planets in our solar system. Then they found out that there are nine. Think about it. Make your comparisons.

In an infinite universe it is of course possible that dragons exist. But on earth, where only the remotest corners now remain unexplored, and where no evidence has yet emerged of griffins, dragons, unicorns and the like? I think it's fair to assume that mythical means just that.

errr..

hate to bust your bubble, but there's an awful lot of planet yet to cover.

For example, science is discovering new mammals at the rate of one a year. That's mammals. You'd think people would notice something the size of a deer in a place like Vietnam, wouldn't you?

Wrong.

So, given that this discovery rate exists at all it means that we don't know nearly as much about the fauna on our planet as we'd like to think we do. Perhaps these mythical creatures are simply hiding? Or perhaps we don't know how to look for them?

I think what was meant with mythical, is that it basically means by definition that they don't exist. It is sort of like asking "Do imaginary creatures exist". So it is the term mythical that was wrong in this case. The term cryptid is used by those searching for new animals, and is better than mythical.

But when was the last time they discovered an entire new genus?

A few months ago. They discovered a new kind of insect, that doesn'ty fit into any of the known groups. But true, they don't often find a new genus. Usually just a new sub-species of a known animal.

But isn't that the point? it's very likely that these 'unicorns' were in fact rhinos. To an European explorer, the closest animal it would have resembled is probably a horse. Also, take in to consideration that our height has increased considerably as a species since these stories were first written and the human habit to exaggerate (e.g after catching a fish that could feed two people, by the time the story has been repeated several times the fish is 'a whopper') killing a large snake could easily change into killing a several headed snake.

Well, the unicorn is not a horse. There are two types of unicorn. One you can tell by the description is a rhino. The other is described as having the body of a horse with the front legs(or back legs) of a deer and a beard like a goat. That`s the one usually shown as a normal horse, just with a twisted horn. It might actually be a rare form of goat.

You're right there Xan, a unicorn isn't a horse, it's a whale

Well, part of the legend is attributed to whales. Narwhal whales have long curved horns, and it is these that were thought to come from unicorns, the Vikings contributed to this theory by bringing Narwhal horns to Britain, and keeping their origin a secret.

This site isn't the best for information, but it's got a couple of fantastic photos - http://members.aol.com/puffindog/narwhal.html

Those horns are huge, I remember seeing one when I was 6 or so. Must be 2-3 meters. But the idea of the unicorn was there first, then afterwards people came up with the idea of selling whale horn and claim it was from unicorns.

Yeah, exactly.

You've seen one ?! I really would love to. Perhaps I should have a career as a marine biologist

I saw the horn A girl from my class had been living on Greenland, so her parents had a horn in the living room.

"I saw the horn" *snigger* sorry

Sheesh, what was naughty about that sentence?

"horn" but only in the sentence surrounding it.. teehee!