The '''Magdeburg Unicorn''' is an incorrect skeletal reconstruction of multiple fossils which were found in Germany in 1663, infamous for being considered one of the worst fossil reconstructions ever made.

In the 17th century, Otto von Guericke, the mayor of Magdeburg, wrote a newspaper article about the finding of some ancient animal bones in the Zeunickenberg, a Harz mountain near Quedlinburg. Based on Guericke’s writings, Leibniz drew a fictional reconstruction of the unicorn's skeleton using the bones that had been found in the cave and published the drawing in his book Protogaea.

In 1872, Rudolf Virchow carried out an excavation there and determined that the unknown bones actually stem from extinct animals like mammoths and cave bears. Over 70 species of animal have been identified from the many bones that have been found, including 60 species of mammal; amongst them the cave lion and the wolf.

A mounted skeleton of the two-legged unicorn is displayed at Magdeburg's Natural History Museum. The skeleton consists of bones from various different animals, with the horn of a narwhal, skull of a woolly rhinoceros and legs of a mammoth.

According to local folklore, an old and mystical woman lived in a cave in the nearby village of Scharzfeld. As she was a heathen, she was forced to flee from a group of Frankish warriors, led by a monk in a black habit. A unicorn is said to have appeared and protected her from the pursuers, allowing her to escape and join the witches' community on the Brocken Mountain. The unicorn then chased away the warriors and black monk, causing him to disappear into a deep hole while running. This hole then led to the Unicorn Cave.

File:Magdeburg Unicorn display.webp|Mounted skeleton.

* Protogaea (1719)

*[https://www.snopes.com/articles/441423/magdeburg-unicorn Snopes article]
*[https://us-public-domain.fandom.com/wiki/Magdeburg_Unicorn The Public Domain wiki]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn_Cave Wikipedia]

Category:1714 Debuts
Category:Unicorn Characters

Category:Otto von Geuricke - Creator
Category:German Characters
Category:Science Fiction Characters
Category:Legendary Creatures
Category:Dead Characters
Category:Cryptid Characters

Category:Literary Characters
Category:Horned Characters