Monoceros (legendary creature)

The monoceros (Ancient Greek: μονόκερως) is a legendary animal with only one horn, related to the unicorn.

The monoceros was first described in Pliny the Elder's Natural History as a creature with the body of a horse, the head of a stag (minus the antlers), the feet of an elephant, and the tail of a wild boar.

It has one black horn in the middle of its forehead, which is two cubits (about 1 m or 3 feet) in length, and is impossible to capture alive.

He also mentions that the people speak of it as a terrible beast and invincible, and that all its strength lies in its horn.

[2] In today's English language, the term monoceros typically refers to a unicorn or similar one-horned creature.

The monoceros (above) as pictured in the Bodleian Library , Ashmole Bestiary , Folio 21r.