![]() Yet, its closest genetic link is giraffes. Okapi - also known as the forest giraffe, the okapi is a blend of a zebra, donkey, deer, and antelope. Several years later, after many expeditions, the platypus was proven to be real. He even convinced botanist and zoologist George Shaw who at the time believed the platypus could be real, but had his doubts to take scissors to the pelt to find stitches. Zoologist, anatomist, ethologist, and physician Robert Knox was convinced it was a hoax and that the pelt was made by an Asian taxidermist. Naturalists, scientists, and most Europeans in the 18th century didn’t believe such a creature could exist! The second Governor of New South Wales, Captain John Hunter, sent a pelt and sketch of a platypus to scientists of the European community in 1798, shortly after one was discovered. Platypus - if you weren’t familiar with a platypus and looked at a picture of one, it would be easy to believe it was a photoshop of a duck, otter, and beaver all put together. Cooper to write the 1933 classic King Kong. The dragons were put on display at the Bronx Zoo and inspired Merian C. He returned to New York City with a few dead specimens and not one, but two live komodo dragons. Douglas Burden wasn’t happy with just a dead specimen and decided to travel to the island to capture a live one. However, when Lieutenant Steyn van Hansbroek caught and killed one, things changed. Komodo dragon - until 1910, stories of a giant lizard on the island of Komodo in Indonesia were laughed at by any respectable scientist. But, did you know that some real species we know about today were once considered cryptids? Several famous cryptids. Bigfoot, Nessie the Loch Ness Monster (yes, she has a name!), the Jersey Devil, El Chupacabra, Mothman, and werewolves are just a few of the many creatures that are studied in the world of cryptozoology. This post was written by ScIU Undergraduate Social Media Intern Leecy Davis.Ĭryptozoologists study cryptids: creatures whose existence has yet to be (or cannot entirely be) proven.
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