"Within the mammal class, single-horned or odd-number-horned animals are a rarity and even something of an evolutionary anomaly. That is to say, they are evolutionary orphans, and for the most part, odd-horned species like these have virtually perished from the earth. Even among dinosaurs, the three-horned giant triceratops was an exception.
Considering that horns are close-range weapons, three would be superfluous. As with the the tines of forks, the larger number of horns serves to increase resistance, which would in turn render the act of thrusting cumbersome. Furthermore, the laws of dynamics dictate a high risk of triadic horns becoming wedged into mid-range objects, so that none of the three horns might actually penetrate the body of the opponent.
In the event of an animal confronting several predators, having three horns could hamper fluidity of motion; extracting horns from the body of one for redirection to the next could be awkward. These drawbacks proved the downfall of the three-horned animal: the twin horn or single horn was a superior design.
The advantage of two horns rests with the bilateral symmetry of the animal body. All animals, manifesting a right-left balance that parcels their strength into two ligatures, regulate their patterns of growth and movement accordingly. The nose and even the mouth bear this symmetry that essentially divides the function into two. The navel, of course, is singular, though this is something of a retrograde factor. Conversely, the penis and vagina form a pair.
Most important are the eyes. Both for offense and defense, the eyes act as the control tower, so a horn located in close proximity to the eyes has optimum effectiveness. The prime example is the rhinoceros, which in principle is a "unicorn." It is also extremely myopic, and that single horn is the very cause. For all practical purposes, the rhinoceros is a cripple. In spite of this potentially fatal flaw, the rhinoceros has survived for two unrelated reasons: it is an herbivore and its body is covered with thick armor plating. Hence it does not want for defense. And for that reason, the rhinoceros falls by body-type to the triceratops category.
Nonetheless, all pictures that exist of unicorns show the breed to be of a different stripe. It has no armor; it is entirely defenseless, not unlike a deer. If the unicorn were then also nearsighted, the defect could be disastrous. Even highly developed senses of smell or hearing would be inadequate to save it. Hunters would find it easy prey. Moreover, having no horn to spare, as it were, could severely disadvantage the unicorn in the event of an accident.
Still another failing of the single horn is the difficulty of wielding it with force, just as incisors cannot distribute a force equivalent to that of molars due to principles of balance. The heavier the mass, the greater the stability when force is applied. Obviously, the unicorn suffers physiodynamic defects.
"You're a real whiz at these explanations, aren't you?" I interrupted her. She burst into a smile and trekked two fingers up my chest.
"Logically," she continued, "there's only one thing that could have saved the unicorn from extinction. And this is very important. Any idea?"
I folded my hands where her fingers were and thought it over a bit, inconclusively. "No natural predators?" I ventured.
"Bingo," she said, and gave me a little peck on the lips. "Now think: what conditions would give you no natural predators?"
"Well, isolation, for one thing. Somewhere no hunter could get to," I hypothesized. "Someplace, say, on a high plateau, like in Conan Doyle's Lost World. Or down deep, like a crater."
"Brill!" she exclaimed, tapping her index finger now on my heart. "And in fact, there is a recorded instance of a unicorn discovered under exactly such circumstances."
I gulped. Uh-oh. "
Part of the evolutionary history of the unicorn, from Haruki Murakami's Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Another great example of how his style of magical realism can lead the reader to something we would normally consider absurd. On a side note, the story is not actually about the evolutionary history of unicorns. Rather, this is one of Murakami's lovely tangents that serves to make events in the story believable--in this case, the protagonist receives what he thinks is a unicorn skull from somebody and is having a woman read to him about it.
I'm about 150 pages in and this is definitely one of the more unique books I've read--it's actually two novels. They alternate between chapters. One, Hardboiled Wonderland, is kind of a cyberpunk-esque story with magical realism elements. Or is it the other way around...The other novel, the End of the World, is a fantasy world of sorts i.e. pure magical "realism." Not in that "Lord of the Rings" way though. If this description is making it sound like one half Blade Runner and one half Lord of the Rings, then I've completely failed, haha. In any case, it's all in Murakami's fairly low key, but descriptive style. That doesn't say anything at all, but go read a few passages at a book store--it's good stuff.
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