7 Legendary Cryptids that Turned Out to Be Real!
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 Anymore
The 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 List
- Is Bigfoot Real? Let’s Look at Emerging Scientific Evidence
After 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 Squid
Another 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 America
- The 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 Cryptids
Stories 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 like in the case of the giant squid, for a long time, scientists thought these sea monsters were too huge to be real.
Cryptozoologists, however, believe that many sightings of these historic sea monsters are cases of real animals being misidentified, and then being given a fantastical, superstitious twist. One incredibly rare species is perhaps the likely culprit.
The oarfish is a long, bony fish with an elongated body that has been found to grow to at least 56 feet (17 meters) long. They are found in oceans all over the world, but usually live in the deep ocean. They have sometimes washed ashore during storms and occasionally come to the surface when near death.
A giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne) found in Los Cabos, Mexico (Katia Cao / CC BY 3.0)
It seems likely that these giant fish are responsible for at least some of these early depictions of sea serpents. The first live oarfish wasn’t filmed until 2001, showing just how rare and hard to verify these fish were.
After hearing about giant sea snakes, imaginations went wild. Sea serpents can no longer be considered cryptids, however, after documented creatures 56 feet (17 meters) long (Anastasiya / Adobe Stock)
4.The Ultimate Cryptid: The Unicorn
Now obviously, unicorns as traditionally portrayed don’t exist. The unicorn is still very much a cryptid. Except it isn’t. Although no one has discovered a horned horse yet, we can go back 2,000 years and find the animals that likely inspired talk of unicorns.
Pliny the Elder described the unicorn two thousand years ago. He described it as having “the feet of the elephant, and the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is like that of the horse; it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two cubits in length. This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive.” That sounds suspiciously like an Indian rhinoceros.
Reading Pliny the Elder’s description of a unicorn sounds a lot like the Indian rhino (Yathin S Krishnappa / CC BY SA 3.0)
There is another contender for real-life unicorn inspiration. The second is a little stranger, however, seeing as it lives in the sea. The narwhal is a type of toothed whale that lives in the freezing waters around Greenland, Canada, and Russia. Its defining feature is a large protruding canine tooth, known as its tusk. This tusk is startlingly similar to the imagined unicorn horn.
Unicorn horns were an incredibly popular curio through the Middle Ages into the Renaissance period. These unicorn horns came from narwhals that the Vikings had hunted, selling their tusks for crazy prices as unicorn horns. When the English explorer Martin Frobisher led a Canadian expedition in 1577, he came across a dead narwhal. The name he gave it? The sea unicorn.
Unicorns are still cryptids, but the ocean dwelling narwhal may have inspired unicorn legends. Its hard, pointed tusk is quite distinctive. (Andreas Meyer / Adobe Stock)
5.The Komodo Dragon
Before 1910, any scientist claiming to believe in a giant lizard that looked like a dragon would have been laughed out of the room. At the time, it was widely believed that giant lizards were a thing of the past, and nothing on the scale of a Komodo dragon could exist.
When pearl fishermen returned from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia telling tall tales of giant ‘land crocodiles’, no one took them seriously. After all, fishermen are famous for exaggeration. Then, in 1910, an expedition from Buitenzorg Zoological Museum visited Komodo Island and produced the first scientific report on the creatures. Lieutenant Jacques Karel Henri visited the island and took home both a Komodo dragon skin and a photograph.
The Komodo dragon remained mostly a mystery until 1926, when a second expedition went in search of the dragon. Its leader, W. Douglas Burden, came back with twelve preserved Komodo dragon bodies, as well as two live animals. It was only then the Komodo dragon truly left the realm of the cryptids and entered the world of established science.
The 1926 expedition and discovery of an animal considered by many to be prehistoric went on to inspire the 1933 film King Kong.
From cryptid to captured: A Komodo dragon at the Louisville Zoo, Kentucky, United States (David Ellis / CC BY NC ND 2.0)
6.The Humble Gorilla
Sometimes an animal becomes so commonly known that it’s surprising it was ever considered a cryptid at all. For example, the humble gorilla was considered a cryptid until 1847.
The term gorilla comes from a Carthaginian explorer called Hanno the Navigator, who was exploring the African coast in 500 BC. He described coming across a tribe of “gorillae”, monstrous and violent humans. Although it is likely he actually encountered chimps or baboons, the name has stuck.
Reports of monstrous, hairy humans who would attack and overpower villages continue throughout the centuries but were never taken seriously by scientists. In the 16th century, an English explorer described ape-like humans visiting his campfire at night.
Gorillas in general remained cryptids until 1847, when Thomas Savage found gorilla bones in Liberia. With the help of a Harvard anatomist named Jeffries Wyman, he then released a formal description of the species dubbing it, Gorilla gorilla. Sadly, from this point onwards, other anthropologists began hunting gorillas in earnest, seeking to learn as much about the discovery as possible.
The mountain gorilla stayed a cryptid for a while longer. It wasn’t formally recognized as a species until 1902, when a German officer, Captain Robert von Beringe, shot one in the Virunga region of Rwanda and took it home to Europe.
Surprisingly, gorillas were considered cryptids until the mid- to late-1800s. Mira Miejer / CC BY SA 4.0)
The okapi is an African mammal that resembles a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Their only bizarre feature is the two hair-covered, horn-like structures called ossicones that they have just above their eyes. These may sound bizarre, but actually, the okapi is from the giraffe family, and the ossicones are pretty much the same as a giraffe's horns.
The okapi stayed in cryptid status for a long time, as they are quiet animals that live in dense forests. However, the okapi may have been depicted as early as the 5th century BC. Its unique ossicones led to its nickname as an African unicorn. (DerekKeats / CC BY SA 2.0)
The okapi isn’t especially peculiar, certainly not compared to the giant squid or platypus. Yet it was considered a myth until 1901. The problem was its central African habitat was already well-known to European explorers, and since they had never seen one, they did not believe the tales the locals told of the okapi.
Okapi inhabit incredibly dense forests and live quiet, solitary lives. Even the locals who told stories of them were unsure. Their knowledge of the okapi predominantly came from evidence the animals left behind, like tracks, rather than actual sightings.
In 1890, Sir Henry Stanley was the first European to describe the mammal after traveling in the region. However, he had no solid proof, and so the okapi remained a cryptid. It was not until 1901 that zoologist and imperial officer Sir Harry Johnston obtained a skull and some skins with the help of locals. With this physical evidence, the okapi's existence could finally be confirmed.
The okapi wasn’t caught on film in the wild until 2008, which should give an idea of just how hard this beautiful animal is to track down.
The okapi was thought to be a cryptid until 1901. Its habitat and appearance hindered its documentation. It wasn’t caught on film until 2008! (Eric Kilby / CC BY SA 2.0)
So, if these cryptids turned out to be real, what about Nessy or Bigfoot? Why are people who believe in them still mocked and derided in the scientific community? The animals above, and in fact, all former cryptids share at least one thing in common.
They come from remote, hard-to-explore regions of the planet. These animals stayed cryptids for so long because European scientists hadn’t had a chance to fully explore their habitats yet. Once they had, these animals stop being cryptids. The problem is, besides the oceans, most of the earth's land mass has been pretty well studied by now. The likelihood of creatures as large as the okapi walking around undiscovered up to now is slim to none.
Another thing most cryptids have in common is that they were actually discovered ages ago. The okapi and mountain gorilla had been talked about by African tribes for centuries. Likewise, the indigenous peoples of Australia were likely familiar with the platypus.
The awkward truth is that the only reason these animals were never taken seriously is old-fashioned racism. For the most part, something remained cryptid until European scientists said otherwise, seeing it with their own eyes. Centuries of eyewitness accounts made by the locals didn’t count, because colonial-era European scientists lacked respect for the indigenous people of the places they were colonizing.
Although it is unlikely any more large cryptids will be discovered, there is always some hope. There are still far-flung corners of the world and the fathomless depths of the oceans we haven’t scoured yet. If we are now willing to listen to the people from these areas, who knows what we might discover?
Top Image: The Altamaha-ha legend has its roots in Muscogee traditions. This cryptid river monster with an alligator shaped head and long neck, is said to inhabit the Altamaha river and nearby marshes in southern Georgia. Will it be the next cryptid proven real? Source: Daniel Eskridge / Adobe Stock
By Robbie Mitchell
Davis, L. December 12, 2020. Seven Species that Used to Be Cryptids. Indiana University. Available at: https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/2020/12/12/seven-cryptids-species/
Hamer, A. August 1, 2019 . These 5 Mythical Animals Turned Out to Be Real. Discovery. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220324061424/https://www.discovery.com/nature/Mythical-Animals-Turned-Out-to-Be-Real
Than, K. December 12, 2010. Rumor or Reality: The Creatures of Cryptozoology. Live Science. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/11328-rumor-reality-creatures-cryptozoology.html
Wilkins, A. June 23, 2011. Legendary Cryptids that Turned Out to Be Absolutely Real. Gizmodo. Available at: https://gizmodo.com/legendary-cryptids-that-turned-out-to-be-absolutely-rea-5814976
7 Cryptids za Kihistoria Zilizotambuliwa Kuwa Ziko Kweli! Cryptozoology ni utafiti wa wanyama ambao wanasayansi wanaona kuwa ni wa hadithi au hawapo. Wanyama wanaochunguzwa na wataalamu wa wanyama wa siri huitwa cryptids. Mifano maarufu inatia ndani viumbe kama vile Bigfoot, Mnyama-Mwitu wa Loch Ness, na Yeti. Kwa hiyo, haishangazi kwamba kuna ucheshi mwingi unaolenga cryptids katika jamii za wanasayansi. Cryptids ni vitu vya magazeti ya tabloid ya kiwango cha chini na wanatheoria wa njama, sawa? Ni kosa! Wanyama wengi ambao wataalamu waliwahi kuamini kuwa ni cryptids kwa kweli ni viumbe walio hai wa nyama na damu. Cryptids maarufu kwamba si kweli Cryptids Anymore The platypus ni mnyama wa ajabu ambayo inaonekana kuvunja sheria nyingi. Wakati wa ugunduzi wake wa kwanza na Wazungu, ilionekana kupinga kila kitu walichofikiri walijua kuhusu mamalia. Mnyama anayeitwa platypus ni mnyama mwenye manyoya, anayeishi katika mito ya Australia. Ina miguu ya samaki aina ya otter na mkia wa nyangumi. Hadi sasa, si kwamba ajabu. Kisha mtu anatazama kichwa, na inaonekana kuwa na mdomo wa bata, tofauti na mnyama mwingine yeyote wa kunyonya. Jambo lenye kutatanisha hata zaidi ni kwamba yeye hutaga mayai. Ni spishi tano tu za mamalia wanaoishi leo zinazofanya hivyo, yaani, ndege aina ya platypus na aina nne za echidna (mnyama anayeitwa anteater mwenye miiba). Kabla ya kugundua platypus, ilikuwa ni jambo la kawaida kwamba moja ya mambo ambayo yalifafanua mnyama wa kunyonya ilikuwa kuzaa watoto hai. Isitoshe, ndege huyo ni mwenye sumu! Kwa kweli, wanyama wenye sumu hawakuwa wamewahi kuonekana. Ndege wa kiume wa jamii ya platypus hutokeza sumu kutoka kwenye tezi zilizounganishwa na vifundo vya vifundo vya miguu. Inaaminika kwamba hizo hutumiwa kujilinda dhidi ya wanaume wengine, hasa wakati wa majira ya kujamiiana. Kwa hiyo, haishangazi kwamba wanasayansi wa asili wa Ulaya wa karne ya 18 na ya 19 waliamini kwamba ndege huyo alikuwa bandia. Mwili wa kwanza wa ndege aina ya platypus ulipowasili Ulaya kutoka Australia, wataalamu hawakuwa na uhakika kuhusu jinsi ya kuutambua. Wengi walidhani kwamba ni kazi ya mabaharia wa China, ambao hapo awali walikuwa wamewadanganya kwa kutumia maiti ya yule msichana wa baharini. Iliaminika kwamba maiti za platypus zilikuwa tu mchanganyiko wa wanyama wengine uliounganishwa vizuri! Ilichukua karibu karne moja kwa wataalamu wa wanyama kukubali kwamba walikuwa wamekosea na kuthibitisha kabisa kuwepo kwa platypus. - Ramani Zenye Kupendeza Zinafunua Orodha ya Viumbe wa Hadithi Ulimwenguni Pote - Je, Bigfoot Ni halisi? Baada ya kuangalia picha ya kwanza iliyochapishwa ya platypus kutoka 1799, unaweza kuelewa kwa nini wasomi wa asili wa Kiingereza ingawa inaweza kuwa udanganyifu (Public Domain) 2.The Giant Squid Mtoto mwingine wa poster kwa cryptids maarufu ambayo ilionekana kuwa halisi ni squid kubwa ya kutisha. Utafiti wa kalamu kubwa unaonyesha kwamba ilikuwepo miaka 2,000 iliyopita, wakati wa Aristotle. Pliny Mzee, mtaalamu wa asili wa Roma, alifanya kazi nzuri sana ya kuelezea kalamu kubwa katika kitabu chake Natural History. Alipata karibu kila kitu haki, isipokuwa ukubwa. Kwa kuwa Pliny aliona kwamba samaki huyo alikuwa mkubwa sana hata wale waandishi wa kale wenye ushirikina hawangeweza kuelewa, alidokeza kwamba samaki huyo alikuwa na urefu wa meta tisa tu, ingawa kwa kweli alikuwa na urefu wa meta 12! Mfano wa mnyama huyo ni Kraken wa hekaya za Norse na Scylla wa hekaya za Kigiriki. "Mfano wa ukubwa wa maisha wa squid kubwa ya ulimwengu iliyopatikana karibu na Bandari ya Glover, Newfoundland (ProductOfNewfoundland, CC BY-NC BY-ND 2.0) ""Squid kubwa ilibaki cryptid kwa muda mrefu kwa sababu kuwepo kwake kulikuwa na kuonekana ajabu, na vigumu kuthibitisha.""" Bahari hiyo ni kubwa sana na haina kina. Kutafuta kitu chochote katika bahari, hata kitu kikubwa kama kalamu kubwa, ni kama kutafuta sindano katika rundo la nyasi. Jambo hilo linazidishwa na ukweli kwamba samaki-mti mkubwa ni mnyama wa baharini, na wanadamu hawajawahi kutumia wakati mwingi huko chini. Uwezekano pekee ambao wataalamu wa wanyama wa mapema walikuwa nao wa kujifunza na kuthibitisha kuwa kuna kalamu kubwa ulikuwa kupitia mifupa ambayo mara kwa mara ilifungwa pwani. Tatizo lilikuwa kwamba mara nyingi viumbe wa baharini wenye njaa walikuwa wameanza kula maiti kabla ya kuangushwa pwani, ikimaanisha kwamba sampuli kamili zilikuwa nadra. Kwa kuongezea, mifupa hiyo iliharibika upesi sana, na hakukuwa na vitu vingi vya kufanya kazi. Ugunduzi wa kwanza wa mwili wa squid mkubwa uliokuwa umebaki haujaharibiwa ulifanyika katika miaka ya 1870. Hata hivyo, haikuwa hadi muongo uliopita au hivyo kwamba tuliweza kuchukua picha za sampuli hai, kuimarisha hadhi ya squid kubwa kama cryptid ya zamani. - Chupacabra: Hadithi ya Cryptid Inayomeza Damu katika Amerika ya Kusini - Mnyama-Mwitu wa Bahari wa Ayia Napa Asiyeeleweka - Je, Kweli Yuko? Pomboo wakubwa mara kwa mara walivunjwa kwenye ufuo, lakini mara chache walikuwa wamehifadhiwa, na wakavunjika upesi. Squid kubwa katika Vyumba katika St. John; squid ya ukubwa wa kawaida imewekwa katika kona ya juu ya kushoto kulinganisha. "Zach Bonnell, CC BY-NC-ND, Mkurugenzi wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Bahari, anasema: ""Hadithi za nyoka wa baharini ni za zamani sana." Biblia pia inataja mnyama mkubwa anayeitwa Leviathani ambaye anatembea katika maji ya bahari akitafuta mawindo. Kwa muda mrefu, wanasayansi walidhani kwamba nyani hao walikuwa wakubwa sana hivi kwamba hawakuweza kuishi. Wataalamu wa wanyama wa baharini wanaamini kwamba maono mengi ya wanyama hao wa baharini ni ya wanyama halisi waliotambuliwa vibaya na kisha kugeuzwa kuwa wa ajabu na wenye ushirikina. Huenda aina moja isiyo ya kawaida sana ndiyo inayosababisha hali hiyo. Samaki aina ya Oarfish ni samaki mwenye mifupa na mwili mrefu ambao unaweza kufikia urefu wa mita 17. Wao hupatikana katika bahari ulimwenguni pote, lakini kwa kawaida huishi katika bahari ya kina kirefu. Nyakati nyingine wamepigwa na maji kwenye pwani wakati wa dhoruba na mara kwa mara hujitokeza wanapokaribia kufa. Samaki aina ya Regalecus glenoid, ambaye aliishi katika eneo la Los Cabos, Mexico, aliwahi kuonekana katika picha za nyoka wa baharini. Samaki wa kwanza wa kuishi wa Oarfish alirekodiwa hadi 2001, akionyesha jinsi samaki hawa walivyokuwa nadra na vigumu kuthibitishwa. Baada ya kusikia juu ya nyoka wakubwa wa baharini, mawazo yangu yakawa ya kichaa. Nyoka wa baharini hawezi tena kuchukuliwa kuwa cryptids, hata hivyo, baada ya viumbe vilivyoandikwa mita 56 (Anastasia Adobe Stock) 4.The Ultimate Cryptid: The Unicorn Sasa ni wazi, unicorns kama ilivyoonyeshwa kwa kawaida hazipo. Unicorn bado ni cryptid sana. Isipokuwa si hivyo. Ingawa bado hakuna mtu aliyepata farasi mwenye pembe, tunaweza kurudi nyuma miaka 2,000 na kupata wanyama ambao huenda walichochea mazungumzo ya unicorns. Pliny Mzee alifafanua mbweha-mmoja miaka elfu mbili iliyopita. Alilifafanua kuwa na miguu ya tembo, na mkia wa mbwa mwitu, wakati mwili wote ni kama ule wa farasi; hufanya kelele ya kina kirefu, na ina pembe moja nyeusi, ambayo hutoka katikati ya paji la uso wake, mikono miwili kwa urefu. Inasemekana kwamba mnyama huyo hawezi kukamatwa akiwa hai. <unk> Hilo lafanana sana na punda-milia wa India. Pliny the Elder's description of a unicorn sounds a lot like the Indian rhino (Yathin S. Krishnappa, CC BY-SA 3.0) Kuna mgombea mwingine wa msukumo wa unicorn halisi. Hata hivyo, yule wa pili ni mgeni kidogo, kwa kuwa anaishi baharini. Narwhal ni aina ya nyangumi mwenye meno anayeishi katika maji baridi karibu na Greenland, Kanada, na Urusi. Sehemu yake kuu ni jino kubwa la mbwa linalojitokeza, linaloitwa mdomo wake. Mdomo huo unafanana sana na pembe ya farasi-mwitu. Pembe za unicorn zilikuwa vitu vya ajabu sana katika Enzi za Kati hadi Enzi za Renaissance. Nyanga za unicorn zilitokana na nyangumi waliowindwa na watu wa Viking, ambao waliuza nywele zao kwa bei ya juu sana. Mnamo mwaka wa 1577, Martin Frobisher, mvumbuzi Mwingereza, aliongoza safari ya kwenda Kanada na kukutana na mnyama mmoja aliyeitwa narwhal. Je, aliliita kwa jina gani? Unicorn ya Bahari Nyumbu-mwitu bado ni viumbe wa siri, lakini huenda nyumbu-mwitu anayeishi baharini aliwachochea watu wa hadithi za nyumbu-mwitu. Mdomo wake mgumu na wenye ncha mkali ni wa pekee sana. "Kabla ya mwaka 1910, mwanasayansi yeyote aliyedai kuamini katika ""mnyama mkubwa"" aliyeonekana kama joka angechekwa nje ya chumba hicho." Wakati huo, watu wengi waliamini kwamba mbawakawa wakubwa walikuwa wamepitwa na wakati, na kwamba hakuna kitu kama joka la Komodo ambacho kingeweza kuwepo. Wavuvi wa lulu waliporudi kutoka Visiwa vidogo vya Sunda nchini Indonesia wakisimulia hadithi ndefu kuhusu "mamba wakubwa wa nchi kavu", hakuna mtu aliyewachukua kwa uzito. Baada ya yote, wavuvi wanajulikana kwa kuzidisha mambo. Mwaka 1910 kikundi cha wataalamu kutoka Makumbusho ya Wanyama ya Buitenzorg kilitembelea kisiwa cha Komodo na kutoa ripoti ya kwanza ya kisayansi kuhusu wanyama hao. Luteni Jacques Karel Henri alitembelea kisiwa hicho na kuchukua nyumbani ngozi ya joka la Komodo na picha. Komodo Dragon ilikuwa ni ajabu ya ajabu hadi mwaka 1926 wakati wa safari ya pili ya kutafuta. Kiongozi wake, W. Douglas Burden, alirudi na miili kumi na miwili ya joka la Komodo iliyohifadhiwa, na vilevile wanyama wawili walio hai. Ni wakati huo tu ambapo joka la Komodo liliondoka kabisa katika ulimwengu wa cryptids na kuingia katika ulimwengu wa sayansi iliyopo. Katika mwaka wa 1926 walipata mnyama mmoja wa asili ya kale na wakamfanya King Kong kuwa maarufu. "Kondoo wa Komodo katika Hifadhi ya Wanyama ya Louisville, Kentucky, Marekani (David Ellis, CC BY-NC ND 2.0) ""Kondoo wa Komodo"" ni aina ya nyani wa Komodo anayejulikana sana na wengi." Kwa mfano, gorilla alionwa kuwa mnyama wa ajabu hadi mwaka wa 1847. "Jina ""gorilla"" lilitokana na jina la mvumbuzi wa Carthage, Hanno, ambaye aliishi karibu na pwani ya Afrika mnamo 500 KK." Alieleza jinsi alivyokutana na kabila la "gorillae", wanadamu wakubwa na wenye jeuri. Ingawa yaelekea kwamba kwa kweli alikutana na nyani au nyani-mwitu, jina hilo limedumu. Ripoti za watu wenye nywele kubwa ambao wangeshambulia na kutawala vijiji vimeendelea kwa karne nyingi lakini hazikuchukuliwa kwa uzito na wanasayansi. Katika karne ya 16, mvumbuzi mmoja Mwingereza alieleza kwamba watu wenye umbo la nyani walikuja kumtembelea usiku. Gorilla waliendelea kuwa cryptids hadi 1847 wakati Thomas Savage alipopata mifupa ya gorilla nchini Liberia. "Kwa msaada wa mwanasayansi wa Harvard, Jeffries Wyman, alifafanua kwa usahihi aina ya gorilla hiyo na kuipa jina la ""Gorilla.""" Kwa kusikitisha, kuanzia wakati huo na kuendelea, wananthropolojia wengine walianza kuwinda gorilla kwa bidii, wakitafuta kujifunza mengi iwezekanavyo kuhusu uvumbuzi huo. Gorilla wa mlimani alibaki akiwa mnyama-mwitu kwa muda mrefu zaidi. Mnyama huyo aliitwa 'Beringe' mwaka 1902 wakati askari wa Ujerumani Robert von Beringe alipomwua mnyama huyo katika eneo la Virunga nchini Rwanda na kumpeleka Ulaya. Kwa kushangaza, gorilla walichukuliwa kuwa cryptids hadi katikati hadi mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1800. Okapi ni mnyama wa Afrika anayefanana na msalaba kati ya zebra na punda. "Kama ilivyo kwa wanyama wengine, wana nywele mbili za aina ya pembe, ambazo huitwa ""ossicones"" na zinaonekana kama nywele." Okapi ni aina ya kipepeo, lakini kwa kweli ni aina ya kipepeo, na kwa sababu ya kufanana kwa pembe zake, zinafanana na pembe za kipepeo. Okapi walibaki katika hali ya siri kwa muda mrefu, kwa kuwa wao ni wanyama watulivu wanaoishi katika misitu mirefu. Hata hivyo, huenda okapi zilichorwa mapema katika karne ya 5 KK. Mnyama huyo mwenye miiba ya pekee alipewa jina la utani la unicorn wa Afrika. (DerekKeats CC BY SA 2.0) Okapi si ya kipekee sana, hakika si ikilinganishwa na squid kubwa au platypus. Hata hivyo, ilionwa kuwa hadithi tu hadi mwaka 1901. Lakini, kwa kuwa eneo la kuishi la okapi lilikuwa limejulikana sana na wavumbuzi wa Ulaya, hawakuamini hadithi za wenyeji. Okapi huishi katika misitu mikubwa sana na huishi maisha ya utulivu na upweke. Hata wenyeji waliowaeleza hadithi zao hawakuwa na uhakika. Ujuzi wao kuhusu okapi ulitokana hasa na uthibitisho ambao wanyama hao waliacha, kama vile nyayo, badala ya kuona wanyama hao. Mwaka 1890, Sir Henry Stanley alikuwa Mwingereza wa kwanza kuelezea mnyama huyo baada ya kusafiri katika eneo hilo. Hata hivyo, hakuwa na uthibitisho thabiti, kwa hiyo okapi ilibaki kuwa siri. Mwaka 1901 mwanasayansi wa wanyama na afisa wa serikali Sir Harry Johnston alipata fuvu la kichwa na ngozi za wanyama hao. Kwa sababu ya uthibitisho huo wa kimwili, hatimaye kuwepo kwa okapi kulithibitishwa. Okapi alishindwa kuonekana kwenye filamu hadi mwaka 2008, na hii inatoa wazo la jinsi ngumu ni kufuatilia mnyama huyu mzuri. Okapi ilionwa kuwa aina ya cryptid hadi mwaka 1901. Mazingira yake na sura yake zilizuia maandishi yake. Haikuonekana kwenye filamu hadi mwaka wa 2008! "Kama ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli, ni kweli.""" Kwa nini watu wanaoamini katika hizo bado wanatekwa na kudhihakiwa katika jumuiya ya kisayansi? Wanyama walio juu, na kwa kweli, wote waliokuwa cryptids, wanashiriki angalau jambo moja la kawaida. Wanatoka katika maeneo ya mbali na magumu kuchunguzwa ya sayari hii. Wanyama hao walibaki wakiwa cryptids kwa muda mrefu kwa sababu wanasayansi wa Ulaya hawakuwa na nafasi ya kuchunguza kikamilifu makao yao bado. Mara tu wanapopata habari hizo, wanyama hao huacha kuwa viumbe wa siri. Lakini, mbali na bahari, sehemu kubwa ya ardhi ya dunia imesoma vizuri. Uwezekano wa kuwapo kwa viumbe wakubwa kama okapi ambao hawajagunduliwa hadi sasa ni mdogo sana. Jambo jingine ambalo cryptids nyingi zina pamoja ni kwamba kwa kweli ziligunduliwa miaka mingi iliyopita. Okapi na gorilla wa mlimani walikuwa wamezungumziwa na makabila ya Kiafrika kwa karne nyingi. Vivyo hivyo, yaelekea wenyeji wa Australia walijua ndege anayeitwa platypus. Ukweli wenye kuchukiza ni kwamba sababu pekee ambayo wanyama hawa hawajawahi kuchukuliwa kwa uzito ni ubaguzi wa rangi wa zamani. Kwa sehemu kubwa, kitu fulani kilibaki kuwa kisichojulikana hadi wanasayansi wa Ulaya waliposema kinyume, wakikiona kwa macho yao wenyewe. Karne za masimulizi ya mashahidi wa macho yaliyotolewa na wenyeji hayakuhesabiwa, kwa sababu wanasayansi wa Ulaya wa enzi ya ukoloni hawakuheshimu wenyeji wa maeneo waliyotawala. Ingawa haiwezekani kwamba cryptids nyingine kubwa zitagunduliwa, daima kuna tumaini fulani. Bado kuna sehemu za mbali za ulimwengu na kina kisicho na kipimo cha bahari ambazo hatujachunguza bado. Kama sasa tuko tayari kuwasikiliza watu kutoka maeneo haya, ni nani anayejua kile tunaweza kugundua? Picha ya juu: Hadithi ya Altamaha-ha ina mizizi yake katika mapokeo ya Muscogee. Mnyama huyu wa mto mwenye kichwa kama cha mamba na shingo ndefu, husemwa kuwa anaishi kwenye mto Altamaha na mabwawa ya karibu kusini mwa Georgia. Je, itakuwa cryptid ijayo kuthibitika kweli? "Kutoka kwa Daniel Eskridge, Adobe Stock, na Robbie Mitchell Davis, ""Kutoka kwa Daniel Eskridge, Adobe Stock""" Spishi Saba Zilizowahi Kuwa Cryptids. Chuo Kikuu cha Indiana. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science and Technology"" ya ""Science""" 5 Wanyama wa Hadithi Walikuwa Wenye Kuwapo Kweli Ugunduzi. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika ukurasa wa ""Mifano ya Wanyama"" (http: www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org www.discovery.org) ni ya kawaida." Uvumi au Ukweli: Viumbe wa Cryptozoology. Sayansi ya Kuishi. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya ""Kutoka kwa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti wa Utafiti.""" Cryptids ya Kihistoria Ambayo Ilithibitika Kuwa ya Kweli Gizmodo. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya ""Mapokeo ya Utafiti wa Kihistoria"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"" ya ""Legendary Cryptography"""