7 Mythical Creatures That Actually Exist In The Real World

People living in modern times are inherently skeptical. This may be because we grew up reading, listening and watching fantastic stories only to realize that all the creatures in them are not real.

However, there are times when this skepticism is broken by scientific discoveries that have proven the existence of creatures from the fantasy world. Here are 7 mythical creatures that actually exist in the real world too

1. Imoogi

Imoogi — a python shaped like a young dragon, found in Korean legends and folklore. It is said that the Imoogi used to live in water or caves, and had to survive for a thousand years before they could ascend to heaven and become a perfect dragon.

Instead of in Korea, this kind of creature is found in South America. There, once lived a python with such large proportions that it resembled a young dragon. This snake, named Titanoboa, has a size of 14 meters and weighs more than a ton.

Imoogi — a python shaped like a young dragon, found in Korean legends and folklore. It is said that the Imoogi used to live in water or caves, and had to survive for a thousand years before they could ascend to heaven and become a perfect dragon.

Instead of in Korea, this kind of creature is found in South America. There, once lived a python with such large proportions that it resembles a young dragon. This snake, named Titanoboa, has a size of 14 meters and weighs more than a ton.

1. Dragon

We still don't know what theory has inspired the story of the encounter between humans and dragons. Dragons are often associated with crocodiles and dinosaurs, despite the fact that humans have never met dinosaurs and crocodiles are too small in size than dragons.

While we are debating the gap between dinosaurs and crocodiles, a giant monitor species called Megalania fills the hole. Megalania is an ancient relative of the komodo (komodo dragon) which once terrorized Aboriginal tribes in southern Australia. Megalania can grow up to 8 meters in length and weigh up to 1.9 tons

Reported by the Digital Journal page, Megalania has poisonous saliva, which contains blood thinners that can cause its prey to die from bleeds. Megalania is one of the few megafauna that ever lived in Australia, and disappeared about 40,000 years ago.

1. Kraken

It is widely believed that the kraken was inspired by the giant squid. It's a little disappointing, because even with eyes the size of a beach volleyball, the giant squid lacks the ferocity and strength that makes it capable of destroying ships passing above it.

But recently, a colossal squid was discovered in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated to be about 14 meters long, with its snout and eyes larger than that of a giant squid. What sets it apart from other squid is that in addition to having suckers, its tentacles are also lined with sharp, rotating hooks.

With such an appearance, it was certain that the squid could destroy the ship — as krakens usually do.

1. dire wolf

The dire wolf may have appeared in various forms of popular culture; it's also possible that you've just read (or seen) this creature on Game of Thrones. In real life, these wolves did live with early humans and other megafauna in the Pleistocene Period. They were larger than modern wolves, stronger, and had sharper teeth.

According to documents from the BBC, the dire wolf lived on the American mainland until it became extinct about 10,000 years ago. This is caused by the extinction of the megafauna at the end of the Ice Age (Late Pleistocene) which became their food source.

Dire wolves were too slow to hunt down smaller prey, favored by modern gray wolves, which forced them to become scavengers and eventually became extinct due to starvation.

1. Moby Dick

The famous Moby Dick turned out to be not only inspired by an actual giant white sperm whale, but something that was actually far worse. The whale was named Mocha Dick — so named because it lives near the island of Mocha, in the Pacific Ocean.

Reported by Mysite.du.edu, Mocha once won against a hundred whaling ships and sent some of them to the bottom of the sea. He had also fought three whaling ships at once — and won.

The figure of Captain Ahab was also inspired by a man who lived at the same time as Mocha Dick, George Pollard Jr. However, Captain Pollard does not seek revenge after his ship is destroyed by a whale, which will force him and his crew to resort to cannibalism to survive.

In real life, he returns to sea as the captain of a new ship but sinks too — this time in a storm. Finally, Captain Pollard spent the rest of his life as a night watchman.

1. Amazon Woman

You've probably all heard of the Amazons — an all-female and highly exclusive tribe of warriors who became famous for having met Heracles.

In fact, the Greek historian Herodotus once wrote about the fate of the Amazons by saying that they were kidnapped and taken by ship. They managed to defeat their captors, but the ship they were on sank and then ended up in the Eurasia Steppe, where they ended up fighting against the Scythians.

Thinking that the Amazons would make strong wives, the Scythian men decided to fight them in their next "battle of love". The dwindling Amazons finally agreed to marry Scythian men as long as their daughters were allowed to continue the tradition as female warriors.

Herodotus was well known for his frequent "embellishment" of history, so it's best not to believe him unless his words are backed up by archaeological evidence. In fact, what Herodutus did was right.

Archeology.org writes that ancient graves excavated around the Eurasian Steppe reveal that most of the Scythian women had bones damaged by battle, and the fact that they were buried with swords, bows, daggers and other warrior paraphernalia.

1. Hobbit

According to Live Science, in 2003 a group of archaeologists excavating a limestone cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia managed to find a three-foot-tall skeleton with a skull one-third the size of a normal human, which is similar to that of a hobbit.

The researchers later found the bones of the same nine people, of which the youngest was around 12,000 years old. They also found tools and other signs of civilization. The skeleton of this "hobbit" is also officially known as Homo floresiensis, a hunchbacked human figure that weighs between 30 - 35 kilograms with a height of about 1 meter.

While this discovery took the world of science by surprise, skeptics believe that hobbits are simply humans suffering from slow-growth conditions such as microcephaly.

But the popular opinion among scientists is that floresiensis is a separate species from sapiens like the neanderthals that share a common ancestor with us.