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History is full of cryptids that were later proven real, like ocean monsters, sea serpents, and unicorn-like beasts. Which legendary creature is next?

Robbie Mitchell October 12 / 2022 Getting your audio player ready... Cryptozoology is the search for and study of animals that mainstream science considers to be mythical or non-existent. Animals studied by cryptozoologists are called cryptids. Famous examples include creatures like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Yeti. Unsurprisingly then, there is quite a lot of derision aimed at cryptids in scientific circles. Cryptids are the stuff of low-level tabloid magazines and conspiracy theorists, right? Wrong! Many animals that experts once believed to be cryptids are actually flesh and blood living things.Famous Cryptids that Aren’t Actually Cryptids Anymore1.The PlatypusThe platypus is a weird animal that seems to break a lot of rules. At the time of its first discovery by Europeans, it seemed to contradict everything they thought they knew about mammals.The platypus is a furry, Australian mammal that lives in rivers. It has the feet of an otter and the tail of a beaver. So far, not that strange. Then one looks at the head, and it appears to have a bill of a duck, unlike any other mammal.Even stranger still is the fact that it lays eggs. Only five living mammal species do so, the platypus and four kinds of echidna (spiny anteaters). Up until the discovery of the platypus, it was common knowledge that one of the things which defined a mammal was giving birth to live offspring.On top of this, the platypus is venomous! Venomous mammals were basically unheard of. The male platypus produces venom from glands attached to its ankle spurs. It is believed these are used defensively against other males, especially during mating season.It’s unsurprising then that European naturalists from the 18th and 19th centuries believed the platypus to be a hoax. When the first platypus corpses arrived in Europe from Australia, the experts weren’t sure what to make of them.Many thought it to be the work of Chinese sailors, who had previously tricked them with the corpse of a supposed mermaid. It was believed the platypus corpses were just well-put-together amalgamations of other animals! It took nearly a century for zoologists to admit they were wrong and definitively confirm the existence of the platypus.Exquisite Maps Reveal a Worldwide Mythical Creatures ListIs Bigfoot Real? Let’s Look at Emerging Scientific EvidenceAfter looking at the first published illustration of a platypus from 1799, you can understand why English naturalists though it might be a hoax (Public Domain)2.The Giant SquidAnother poster child for famous cryptids that turned out to be real is the terrifying giant squid. Reports of the giant squid go back 2,000 years to the time of Aristotle. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, did a pretty good job describing the giant squid in his Natural History.He got pretty much everything right, except the size. Showing that the giant squid was too massive even for the superstitious ancient writers to get right, Pliny only estimated the squid at 30 feet (9 meters) long, when in reality it's over 40 feet (12 meters) long! Early run-ins with giant squid were likely the inspiration for several mythological sea monsters, like Norse mythology’s Kraken and the Scylla of Greek mythology.A life size model of the world record-holding giant squid discovered near Glover's Harbor, Newfoundland (ProductOfNewfoundland / CC BY NC ND 2.0)The giant squid remained a cryptid for so long because its existence was seemingly fantastical, and hard to verify. The sea is almost unfathomable in its size and depth. Looking for anything in the ocean, even something as huge as a giant squid, is like looking for a needle in a haystack. This is exacerbated by the fact that the giant squid is a deep sea creature, and humans haven’t spent much time down there.The only chance early zoologists had to study and verify the giant squid was through carcasses that would very occasionally wash ashore. The problem with this was that hungry sea creatures had often begun eating the corpses before they washed ashore, meaning complete samples were rare. Added to this was the fact that the carcasses tended to rot extremely quickly, leaving little to work with.The first recorded discovery of a mostly intact giant squid carcass was in the 1870s. However, it wasn’t until the last decade or so that we managed to take photos of a live specimen, cementing the giant squid's status as a former cryptid.Chupacabra: Legend of a Blood-Sucking Cryptid in Latin AmericaThe Elusive Ayia Napa Sea Monster - Is It Really Out There?Giant squid occasionally washed ashore, but were rarely intact, and quickly decomposed. Giant squid at The Rooms in St. John's; a regular sized squid is placed in the top left corner to compare. (Zach Bonnell / CC BY NC ND 2.0)3.Sea Serpent CryptidsStories of dreadful sea serpents that dwell in the ocean date back thousands of years. Even the Bible makes references to a gigantic beast called Leviathan that roams the briny depths looking for prey. Much lik...

7 Legendary Cryptids that Turned Out to Be Real! | Ancient Origins