Elasmotherium was a shaggy-coated, heavily built beast resembling a cross between a modern rhino and a bison. Unlike today's rhinos, its legs were longer and more adapted for fast movement across steppes. Its skull featured a huge bony dome, which likely supported an enormous keratin horn, making it the source of ancient unicorn legends.

Its teeth were high-crowned, evolved for grazing tough grasses — a sign it lived in cold, dry grassland environments. The creature likely had a humped back due to tall vertebrae, similar to a bison.