Do you know the most well-known cartoon birds?
Yes, I’m talking about the Dodo bird!
This bird was referred to as Duodo by Dutch sailors, which is an insult in English, meaning
idiot.
This bird tends to receive insults due to its inability to fly.
Dodos' rapid extinction was caused by its tendency to trip when running and the total
absence of survival instincts.
They were even being hunted by sailors for food, without any challenge.
However, recent findings contradict this established notion about these birds' simple-mindedness.
Scientists came to the conclusion that the Dodos were fairly intelligent birds after
analyzing their body composition and its brain.
The DNA can be inserted into the eggs of the closely related animal, which is the modern
pigeon, if researchers wanted to create a clone.
If this happens, it might create a fresh, intriguing cartoon character, and might also
become well-known.
As can be observed in the modern world, whenever there is a strange animal, people express
their opinions about it through cartoons, films, and movies.
However, in the past, stories about extraordinary creatures were turned into myths and legends,
but these tales were terrifying rather than entertaining.
In this video, you’ll be going to find out which monster legends are still controversial
in some communities.
You’ll also be surprised that a certain creature can hypnotize you.
You’ll be able to learn which extinct species served as the inspiration for the scariest
legends.
Are you ready to meet them?
Then, let’s get this started!
The first animal that we’re going to talk about is the Platybelodon.
You'll laugh at Platybeladon's appearance at first glance.
But keep in mind that this is a species of extinct probe obsidians that lived 15 million
years ago.
Platybeladon had no trunk, which makes it appear less menacing even if it had four terrible
tusks.
The creature's entire mouth and lips were enlarged, and its lower jaw had a strange
shovel-like shape.
Even elephants nowadays would laugh at its appearance.
The Deinotherium comes next; it resembles Platybeladon somewhat and lived until the
early Pleistocene period.
Deinotherium, unlike the Platybelodon, has a trunk, but its tusks point backward.
Even scientists had trouble figuring out how it could possibly use its tusks in that position.
When fighting an opponent, with that tusks, it was as if using the handle instead of the
actual blade.
It could not be very helpful in his defense.
Due to its tusks, this animal may hurt itself with even the slightest nod.
Yes, that does represent a completely new degree of disparaging oneself.
However, there are several strange extinct species that people have witnessed with their
own eyes.
In the 1980s, Roy Mackal, a biologist from the University of Chicago, made the decision
to organize an expedition to the Likouala swamps in order to look for the intriguing
water monster that was mentioned in the myths and legends of the Republic of the Congo.
However, the people in the area didn’t want to help him.
That is because they are forbidden to talk about the creature, out of their fear of this
monster.
Fortunately, a woman had the guts to share a story about this animal.
According to her, the animal's back is boarded.
Her parents used to tell her to stay away from this animal, and if ever she saw it,
she better hide behind the trees to save herself.
There was a time when she did see the creature's back coming out of the water.
I know that you’re now wondering what this animal is.
The woman was then given a book with drawings of dinosaurs so she could identify the animal.
The woman, who had grown up being terrified of this monster, suddenly fixated her eyes
on an image of a Stegosaurus.
It had a noticeable Spinosaurus-like look to it.
However, those creatures couldn't be the animal that she saw; after all, dinosaurs went extinct
a long time ago.
The frightening creature she was referring to, based on the woman's description, is the
Nguma-monene, an enormous lizard that once inhabited central Africa.
It has small legs, a forked tongue, and a spine frill with sharp points.
Because of these features, the enormous, 15-meter-long lizard resembled some kind of extinct animal.
It consumes birds and monkeys while moving swiftly through the wetlands.
At worst, it might use a child who got lost in the jungle as food.
The strangest animal that is truly dangerous to people is still not that one, though.
You should be grateful that you are unable to coexist with the animal I'm about to describe.
Because there would be no hope for you to survive if you come across it.
Well, I’m talking about the Therozinosaurs.
For two reasons, this species is included in the Guinness Book of Records.
First, each of its paws has three claws, each measuring a meter long.
This animal will be able to kill its prey very quickly with simply an embrace.
Second, given its lengthy neck, its relatively small skull seems out of place.
Along with its huge size, these features created a strange appearance.
It simply implies that anything has the potential to be on record when it is strange.
The next animal wasn't a myth, yet some people call it devilish.
It’s the Beelzebufo Ampinga, a frog, but not the common kind you see; this is a huge
devil frog.
The Beelzebufo Ampinga is the largest frog that has ever lived, and unlike the other
frogs you are familiar with, it is the size of a pit bull and weighs as much as an enormous
dog.
But why is it known as the devil frog?
That is due to the fact that its jaws are capable of exerting pressure equal to 2,200
Newtons, which is comparable to the force used by mammalian predators to close their
jaws.
If it had existed alongside dinosaurs, this frog could have easily eaten them for dinner.
However, it might possess hypnotic abilities similar to the Hypnotoad from Futurama.
Are you aware of a myth about a strange and dangerous amphibian that has the capability
to hypnotize humans and then sell them as slaves in Australian aboriginal legend?
Before we continue, I just want to remind you that if you've made it this far in the
video, you're clearly enjoying it.
Give it a like, subscribe so you don't miss anything, and let us know what you think in
the comments section.
Next, is the animal named Bunyip.
This animal can be found deep within swamps and rivers.
According to folklore, the creature had the power to alter the water's level.
This creature preyed primarily on women and children.
It killed its prey by hugging them with its razor-sharp claws until they died.
A deeper analysis, however, suggests that this mythical animal might actually be the
marsupial lion-like Thylacoleo, an extinct Australian marsupial.
It was the mammal species with the strongest bite.
It can even climb trees to bury its victims' bodies.
In the land field where the Thylacoleo lived, numerous bones with cuts connecting to this
animal’s teeth were discovered.
Following additional examination, it was found that the bones belonged to several hundred
thousand different victims that this monster had slaughtered.
Could you believe that there are creatures that are scarier than the ones I've already
mentioned?
Well, you have to believe it!
A story about three men trying to catch a swordfish was discovered in the journal of
a 19th-century missionary named John Batchelor.
It says that an enormous sea monster with large eyes suddenly appeared in front of them
and began attacking the boat.
The three men fought back.
The monster was round in shape and threw a poisonous-smelling, dark liquid.
The three men succeeded in getting away from the sea monster.
They, however, refused to eat the following morning and instead lay pallid and trembling
in their beds.
What kind of marine animal have they faced?
No, it's not the Kraken; instead, it's the Akkorokamui.
In Ainu tradition, this creature is known as a giant octopus.
Ainu are the native inhabitants of the Japanese islands.
Akkorokamui measured 120 meters in length.
The Ainu believed that although Akkorokamui was unstable and prone to disaster, it also
had the power to heal and transmit wisdom.
People think that this monster can heal physical diseases, notably deformities and broken limbs,
due to its capacity to self-amputate and regrow its limbs.
Akkorokamui might have been a squid that existed in the Cretaceous era.
Another mysterious-looking animal is the Pulmonoscorpius.
It is a kind of eurypterid that survived during the Paleozoic era, and was found in the areas
that are now modern-day Germany and the United States.
For the record, this animal is the largest known arthropod that has ever existed.
It was enormous that it could grow to a length of 70 centimeters, way different from the
modern scorpion's maximum length of only 18 centimeters.
Pulmonoscorpius had four limbs and enormous pincers.
When a regular scorpion stings you, your central nervous and cardiovascular systems will be
adversely affected by a dose of powerful neurotoxins.
Such stings can be lethal in some instances.
That indicates a more serious outcome might occur if you were stung by this animal.
Gigantopithecus is a creature that could still be alive today.
This animal came from the family of the giant apes that existed in the late Miocene, Pliocene,
and Pleistocene on the lands that are today India, China, and Vietnam.
It stood more than three meters tall and weighed about 500 kilograms.
They had a significant edge over other species because of their huge size.
This is also the reason this animal was rarely a prey item.
They were even capable of searching a large region for food.
Giant apes began to experience food shortages during the ice age.
Their bodies couldn't adjust to eating the available food because they were used to consuming
mostly fruit.
That is the main cause of their extinction.
Do you know Bigfoot or Yeti?
Well, many different civilizations have legends about unusual people or apes that are completely
clothed in fur.
The depiction of Bigfoot is based on what appears to be eyewitness testimony - enormous
footprints in the snow and fur samples.
However, if Bigfoot and the Yeti exist, it is most probably because they are Gigantopithecus'
direct ancestors.
Bigfoot always wanted to be alone and would probably decide to live in the mountains or
the dense forest if human civilization entered its territory.
Furthermore, if it were intelligent enough, it might be able to remain undetected for
hundreds or even thousands of years in human eyes.
As we can all see, when something unusual catches our interest, we frequently fall back
on making up a tale of a legend.
We often make up stories to satisfy our imaginations.
What would you create if you had the chance to produce an animal myth in the present day?
Let us know in the comments section.
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