The original unicorn was actually an ancient rhinoceros according to research conducted by Dr. Tao Deng from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences that was presented in the June 21, 2013, issue of the Chinese Science Bulletin. The fossils of the first ever discovered skull of Sinotherium lagrelii were found in the Linxia Basin in northwestern China and date to the Late Miocene about seven million years ago.