10 Mythical CREATURES That Actually Existed

Who doesn't love a good story? Especially ones which involve unbelievable mythological creatures that you wouldn't remotely think are real. But as history has proven, there is a basis for which these creatures were brought up. Today we're going to be looking at ten mythical creatures that actually existed. Number one itself will make you question whether Middle-Earth was real or not, so stay tuned for that one. With all that said and done, let's begin, shall we? Number ten, the direwolf. It's a freak. It's a direwolf. Direwolves became widely popular when Game of Thrones hit the mainstream. These large wolves are a constant companion of the Starks in the show, and are shown to be large, intelligent, and protective. They are not, however, just merely a figment of George R.R. Martin's imagination. They are, in fact, based on real animals. Direwolves lived during the Pleistocene, between 250,000 to roughly 10,000 years ago. Unfortunately, real direwolves were not really the size of ponies. They were larger than modern wolves, though, and could weigh as much as 200 pounds, almost twice what a very large modern wolf might weigh. Their skulls are much larger compared to today's modern wolves. Ironically, though, their brains are much smaller. However, if they had bigger brains, we probably wouldn't have had amazing fossils of them. Thousands of direwolf fossils have been found in the Labria Tar Pits. Scientists believe that they were trapped there when they started feeding on the carcasses of other animals trapped in the tar. Perhaps the earliest account of unicorns is by well-known Greek historian Cetaceous, who described a large animal with a horn on its forehead in India. It's quite possible that he saw a rhino from a distance and thought it was a horse with a horn on its head. But fossils unearthed in Siberia may have proven the existence of this mythical creature. Called the Siberian unicorn, it was 1.8 meters tall, over 4 meters long, and weighed more than 4 tons. It was covered in a shaggy coat and earned its nickname from the huge horn that grew out of its forehead. Yes, it doesn't exactly resemble the classic unicorn of lore, but so far, this is the closest that we can get to a real one. They were believed to have died out 350,000 years ago. But the discovery of a fossil in Kazakhstan changed all that. Carbon dating tests revealed the fossil to be only 29,000 years old. This means that the animal roamed the Earth 321,000 years longer than previously thought. Believe it or not, the Komodo dragon was considered a mythical creature all the way up to 1910 when it was first discovered. Prior to that, rumors were spreading that 8-foot-long, 100-pound prehistoric lizards were living on a remote Indonesian island. Wanting to prove or disprove the existence of these creatures himself, Dutch colonial officer Lieutenant Stein Van Hensbroek put together an expedition to Komodo Island. He was able to catch and kill a 6-foot specimen, and he sent the carcass as proof to the Zoological Museum and Botanical Garden at Bogor, Java. Seemingly not satisfied with the discovery, American explorer W. Douglas Burton decided to put together an expedition himself, making up his mind to catch live specimens. In the end, the expedition was able to pile several dead and two live Komodo dragons onto their steamer, and then return to New York City, giving scientists plenty to study and visitors of the Bronx Zoo plenty to see. The Bunyip is a little like Australia's Loch Ness Monster in that it lives in the water and has never been photographed, despite the fact that hundreds of people have seen it. However, the legend might have had actual rational origins. The Bunyip is an aboriginal legend. According to Australian history, the name means devil or spirit, and the creature is said to look like a cross between a crocodile and a horse. Granted, though, accounts do differ. Bunyips stalk and kill human beings and supposedly make an eerie sound like a hollow boom, which certainly seems terrifying if you've never been around any shotguns or farm equipment. Most scientists believe that the Bunyip was derived from an extinct rhino-sized marsupial called the Diprodon. Remains of this animal were first found in the region of 1839. It's unlikely that there are any surviving populations of Diprodon in Australia, but they only died about 20,000 to 40,000 years ago. This was long after the arrival of the aboriginal people. This suggests the legends might have come from real-life encounters between humans and these creatures. It's hard to imagine a world without gorillas, at least based on today's standards. Back then, tales of large, hairy, savage man-beasts with bad tempers living in the wilds of some faraway place seems too good to be true. Their legend persevered until 1847 when physician and naturalist Thomas Savage managed to obtain gorilla bones, including a skull in Liberia. Prior to the first discovery of the bones, the first recorded sighting of a gorilla was made by the explorer Hanno in the 5th century BC. Another explorer named Andrew Battelle also told tales of human-like monsters visiting his campfire every morning after the humans had left for the day. But he also noted that these monsters weren't intelligent enough to put more wood on the campfire, so his credibility quickly went up in flames. Live gorillas went left unseen and untouched for a decade after Savage's discovery, until explorer Paul du Chailu hunted live gorillas and sent specimens back to the many societies who were funding his expeditions. The subspecies mountain gorilla, unbelievably, remained a mythological creature for more than half a century more, only being discovered in 1902 by German captain Robert von Baringe. The basilisk is a mythical creature born from a toad or serpent's egg incubated under a cockerel. The terrible offspring that hatches from this egg is a half-bird, half-snake, and all evil. It is one of the deadliest creatures to menace the mythological world, and is extremely hostile towards humans. You might be familiar with this monster from the Harry Potter book and movie, The Chamber of Secrets, but the monster shown there is somewhat incomplete and only appears as a giant serpent. The basilisk is sometimes described as a giant snake without the cockerel's head or wings. Still, its movement is unlike other snakes. Rather than slithering with its stomach on the ground, it crawls forward with the front half of its body towering above the earth. The monster's most famous weapon is its dreaded gaze. The potency of its gaze is discussed in all the myths that relate to him, across several different cultures. Sometimes, they are also known to breathe out fire. Does the description vaguely remind you of something? Many experts relate that the basilisk is none other than a cobra, from its size to the way it stands erect when preparing to strike. Even the cobra's hood can be mistaken for wings. And the fire-breathing part? Well, we all know that certain species of cobras do spit out venom. And this venom does cause a burning sensation, so... there we go. The basilisk may be a misunderstood cobra, or maybe it's another undiscovered creature. Who knows? Can you imagine the rest of the world thinking that you're a hoax, but you know for a fact that you're 100% real? If you don't consider yourself lucky. The duck-billed platypus, however, had to spend most of its existence mythological hearsay, or worse, a complete fabrication. First discovered in the 18th century, it was considered by many to be a ridiculous hoax, and not without reason. This was an age when naturalists were creating all sorts of strange creatures with the help of taxidermy and creative imaginations. It was first described by English zoologist George Shaw, who wrote that it resembled, and I quote, the beak of a duck engrafted on the head of a quadruped. All the fakery aside, the platypus is remarkable for many reasons, not just its peculiar appearance. Naturalists could not determine whether the creature was a mammal. Did it lay eggs or give birth to live babies? It took another 100 years for scientists to discover the answer to that. As it turned out, the platypus is one of the very few mammal species to lay eggs, and is also poisonous. Fun. Cyclops. Run! In Greek mythology, the Cyclops were giant creatures that were unmistakable in their appearance, sporting a single eye in the center of each of their heads. They were also known for their barbarity, afraid of neither men nor gods. The most famous Cyclops was Polyphemus, which attacked Odysseus in a cave and ate half of his men. Odysseus blinded the Cyclops by running a wooden stake through his single eye. Then Odysseus and his men escaped by tying themselves to the undersides of sheep. This sounds very implausible, though, pertaining to sheep strong enough to carry the weight of a full-grown man. But the existence of Cyclops? Well, there might be some truth to that, actually. For many years, there appeared to be solid proof that these one-eyed monsters really existed. Quite a few huge skulls were found which appeared to have a single eye socket in the middle of their forehead. It turns out that the skulls belonged to dwarf elephants. The eye socket was the central nasal cavity and the opening for the elephant's trunk. Many dwarf elephants have been found in Cyprus, especially in caves where the Cyclops were supposed to have lived. Therefore, it's perhaps natural that an elephant skull would have been taken as evidence of a race of giant, man-eating creatures with one eye and terrible table manners. Now it's time for today's Best Pick! Today, we're going to be taking a look at the creature who is the poster child for mythical creatures that turned out to be real. Find out what comes up next with... Number 2. The Kraken. Originating in Nordic folklore, the Kraken was said to be a powerful sea monster, strong enough to drag an entire ship to the depths by wrapping its gigantic tentacles around the vessel or by swimming in circles around it to create a whirlpool that would drag the ship down. It was first written about in 1180, and there were many accounts of a gigantic tentacled sea monster dragging their ships to their doom. The Kraken was said to be able to devour an entire ship's crew in a single mouthful. The myths of the Kraken is likely to have arisen after sightings of a species of the giant squid. Also known by its scientific name, the Architeuthis dux, which can grow to around 59 feet long, or possibly the colossal squid. Known by its scientific name as Mesokinithutis hamiltoni, which is significantly larger than the giant squid and can grow to unknown lengths. Very few colossal squids have ever been found intact as they live in the deep waters of the Antarctic. For this reason, it has proved very difficult to find evidence of how squid attack their prey. Some recent research does show that they encircle prey with their tentacles before pulling it to them and eating it. So, you never know. I saved the best for last, but first, I have a quick challenge that takes only 5 seconds to complete. If you can leave a like and subscribe within the next 5 seconds, you'll get 10 years of amazing luck. Just try it, it really works. Number 1 Hobbits If you are even barely into pop culture, you'd know what a hobbit is. They're basically miniature humans who have furry feet and don't wear shoes. And according to stories, have a propensity to save the world from evil pieces of jewelry. And also literally eat you out of house and home. What you might not know is the fact that actual hobbits did exist, but not quite the ones you've gotten used to. In 2003, archaeologists found the remains of a 3-foot-tall adult female in a cave on an Indonesian island. At first, there was speculation that the skeleton was a person with microencephalia. A comparison of the skull with modern microephalics, though, seemed to suggest it came from a typical individual. There were also other indications that these were the bones of an unknown species, such as extremely primitive feet. Though scientists failed to determine if they were particularly hairy feet, which is a disappointment. Which mythical creature were you 100% sure wasn't real? Let us know in the comment section down below. Want to watch more videos about amazing creatures, real or otherwise? Click on any of the videos you see on your screen. As always, thank you all for watching, and I'll see you all next time. Later, everybody!