Do extant animals lead to monster stories?

[MysteryMike]

9 hours ago, seanjo said:

Pretty sure dragon myths come from dinosaur fossils.

Also probably encounters with Nile crocodiles when they were living in southern Europe.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/african-crocodiles-tet-zoo-crocs-part-vi/

[jethrofloyd]

Kraken may have been inspired by sightings of actual giant squids.

 

Also: 10 Mythical Beasts Inspired by Prehistoric Animals

https://www.thoughtco.com/mythical-beasts-inspired-by-prehistoric-animals-4017589

 

[psyche101]

5 hours ago, the13bats said:

plecostomus are a great one,

They are sold for home aquariums and grow and are disrupting, they can get several feet long and here in florida are likely in any fresh water body from people dumping them out,

I used to hit a chain of lakes, spring fed but Cyprus tea water too, i was diving collecting golfballs off the bottom and saw a large black ghost which had to have been dumped in the lake

 

These guys are often a good culprit for river monsters.

 

 

Very prehistoric looking and can become enormous. 

[Nobu]

8 hours ago, openozy said:

Can't see anything odd about them, that's what maggies look like,lol.

Colors are WAY different than what I’m use to seeing.

[stereologist]

Hi mods. Could you please restore the title of this thread. 

The word is NOT extinct. It is extant.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extant

Quote

currently or actually existing

Thank you.

[Commander CMG]

1 hour ago, stereologist said:

Hi mods. Could you please restore the title of this thread. 

The word is NOT extinct. It is extant.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extant

Thank you.

Probably easier if you tag one in @rashore rather than wait for one to come across the post 

[rashore]

1 hour ago, stereologist said:

Hi mods. Could you please restore the title of this thread. 

The word is NOT extinct. It is extant.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extant

Thank you.

 

16 minutes ago, Iilaa'mpuul'xem said:

Probably easier if you tag one in @rashore rather than wait for one to come across the post 

Title fixed. And even better yet for the future, report this in instead of just commenting or tagging a mod. It's the most likely way to get the most immediate attention to the problem

And back to topic... I think that yes, extant and extinct creatures give rise to cryptids and monsters. Of the extant, I think a lot of the Mothman sightings in the Chicagoland area are extant birds that the observers aren't used to seeing. 

[MysteryMike]

Another thing regarding dragons. Alongside ancient historical findings of dinosaur fossils and ecnounters with Nile crocodiles in southern Europe. Some people back then also probably found the skulls of cave bears. At first glance, it'd be easy to mistake those for the skulls of dragons.

Its like how the source legends of cyclops most likely came from the skulls of dwarf elephants alongside the birth defect known as cyclopia.

Edited October 9, 2020 by MysteryMike