Check this out: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25097986/
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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Unicorns are real!!!!
- Thread starter beeflv30
- Start date
Darkness
Hand and Eye of Piratecat [Moderator]
Hey, cool. More appropriate size than the previously-known unicorns, too.
HeavenShallBurn
First Post
No the horn is on the back of the head. Take it with a grain of salt but I remember seeing a skeleton of one of the earlier 3-toed horse ancestors in a museum. And it had structures on the upper jaw that kind of reminded me of the attachment points of a rhino horn. Now that my curiosity is once again roused I'll look some.
But who knows maybe at one time there was an ungulate with some unicorn-like traits, stranger things have happened. Could even have been some ancient fossil that sparked the entire myth, I mean we know the ancient Greeks knew of fossils. They usually identified them as the bones of titans or giants of an earlier age of the world but they knew such things existed.
But who knows maybe at one time there was an ungulate with some unicorn-like traits, stranger things have happened. Could even have been some ancient fossil that sparked the entire myth, I mean we know the ancient Greeks knew of fossils. They usually identified them as the bones of titans or giants of an earlier age of the world but they knew such things existed.
Knightfall
World of Kulan DM
Yeah, I heard about this today. That's very cool.beeflv30 said:
LightPhoenix
First Post
The article mentions this could be a genetic flaw (the article implies mutation), but I'm not so certain of that.
Malformations of the head due to errors in positioning genes (aka Hox or Sonic Hedgehog) generally, but not always, have relatively global effects. For example, mutations in shh affect not only facial positioning but brain development as well. I would think it would be immediately obvious if there were developmental problems in the deer. Most of all, I don't think it would have survived.
My guess would be some sort of parasitic infection during embryonic development or possibly (but unlikely) early childhood which messed development. This is far from an uncommon phenomenon in nature - you see it in frogs fairly often, for example. It could also be some sort of environmental pollution causing mutation... but those mutations are far more often than not more devestating and harmful to development.
Another guess would be that this is simply an extremely rare and selected against allele.
Anyway, I don't know enough about deer genetics or physiology to make any more than the most broad guesses. Sorry to be all biological, resume senses of wonder.
Malformations of the head due to errors in positioning genes (aka Hox or Sonic Hedgehog) generally, but not always, have relatively global effects. For example, mutations in shh affect not only facial positioning but brain development as well. I would think it would be immediately obvious if there were developmental problems in the deer. Most of all, I don't think it would have survived.
My guess would be some sort of parasitic infection during embryonic development or possibly (but unlikely) early childhood which messed development. This is far from an uncommon phenomenon in nature - you see it in frogs fairly often, for example. It could also be some sort of environmental pollution causing mutation... but those mutations are far more often than not more devestating and harmful to development.
Another guess would be that this is simply an extremely rare and selected against allele.
Anyway, I don't know enough about deer genetics or physiology to make any more than the most broad guesses. Sorry to be all biological, resume senses of wonder.
Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
I recently watched a documentary about engineering bird embreyos to create evolutionary throwbacks resembling dinosaurs. It won't be perfected for at least a hundred years, but the progress will lead to gene splicing, of this I have no doubt.
It may be possibly in 50 years to have white horses with bony horns growing out of the middle of their head. Imagine how many little girls will want their fathers to buy them one.
It may be possibly in 50 years to have white horses with bony horns growing out of the middle of their head. Imagine how many little girls will want their fathers to buy them one.
LightPhoenix
First Post
Reveille said:
Until they start goring them.
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