Who is the sea monster? Legends about sea monsters - where is truth and where is fiction? Kraken - Huge squid

Throughout human history, people have been accompanied by myths and legends. Studying them is very interesting for the reason that such stories usually arise from real events. For example, sea monsters, about which ancient legends tell, may well turn out to be real plesiosaurs or other sea lizards, albeit somewhat embellished.

Myths and truth

The seas have always attracted people - since ancient times, attempts have been made to conquer this element. However, this has not yet been fully achieved. Modern man knows more about life or the lack thereof on other planets than about what is happening at the bottom of the oceans native land. Modern technologies they do not allow us to go down to great depths, so people can only guess what kind of life exists there at the bottom.

The sea sacredly keeps its secrets. Only sometimes do they break through to the surface, and then the surf brings strange finds ashore, or sailors encounter such strange creatures that they then talk for a long time about the meeting. Over time, such stories acquire colorful details, and it is difficult for researchers to separate the truth from the lies, especially considering that no one knows the truth. Legends about sea monsters have existed since ancient times, when people were just beginning to explore the seas.

Most often they talk about giant sea snakes, which may well be descendants of plesiosaurs. A sea monster with a huge mouth may turn out to be giant shark or an ancient lizard. And the existence of giant squids and octopuses does not raise doubts among scientists - modern science has too much evidence that these creatures exist. However, there is not yet a single photograph of such monsters, and a stuffed animal of a huge inhabitant of the deep sea is still only a dream for museums around the world.

Amazing Finds

Fishermen from a small Japanese settlement spent the entire spring of 1977 fishing off the coast of New Zealand. One fine day, their net brought the remains of a half-decomposed animal. The carcass was 13 meters long and weighed about two tons. The corpse had four limbs, a small head on a narrow neck and an elongated tail. Before throwing the foul-smelling remains of the monster overboard, eyewitnesses severed a limb from it and took a couple of photographs. The surviving limb was taken to the zoological laboratory. Scientists have concluded that this is nothing more than a representative of one of the species of prehistoric lizards that lived in the depths of the sea.

Interestingly, the fishermen claimed that the animal had no bones. It is possible that this was a consequence of a long stay in sea water, where decomposition processes proceed somewhat differently than on land. And L. Ginzburg (a paleontologist from Paris) believes that the sailors caught the corpse of a giant seal in a net. All that is known about this species is that giant seals frolicked in ocean waters 20 million years ago. The paleontologist made his conclusion only on the basis of photographs and a single limb of the animal, so it is possible that it is not true.

In Chile, people were able to see an animal whose appearance defied any explanation. The monster washed ashore Pacific Ocean and that is the only reason why random eyewitnesses were able to describe it. According to their stories, the monster’s fins looked like human hands. The front ones had five fingers with claws, the rear ones had no fingers at all. The skull had an oblong, elongated shape, and there were three huge fangs in the mouth.

The find was immediately nicknamed the “humanoid monster” for its five-fingered fins. Scientists, however, considered that the corpse belonged to sea lizard Triassic times. There is no explanation yet for how this lizard was able to survive to this day.

Giant squid terrified sailors back in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by numerous stories, illustrations and engravings.
It is believed that squids large sizes- animals that live in the deep sea waters. A dead squid weighing 250 kilograms found on the coast of Tasmania in 2002 challenged scientists' knowledge. The length of its tentacles reached 15 meters. After laboratory studies, experts came to the conclusion that this specimen lived at a depth of only 200 meters. It turned out that it was a female who swam into shallow water and accidentally ran aground. Disputes began over myths that spoke of the danger of huge octopuses and cuttlefish sinking ships.

Fragments of huge octopuses and squids have been discovered more than once in the stomachs of whales or on the shores of the seas. In the nineties of the last century, Japanese experts were able to capture a living huge octopus using a special camera emitting infrared light. And in 2006, such a specimen was caught by Japanese researchers.

Real unicorns

It is generally accepted that encounters with sea monsters are dangerous for sailors. But sometimes such meetings turn out to be fatal for monsters. This happened with sea cows And sea unicorns. Legends about unicorns came mainly from northern latitudes, from travelers who talked about the existence of an unknown creature with long horn.

The three-meter-long shoot was credited with magical and healing qualities. Therefore, the hunt for “unicorns” was open. The animals were killed and the tusks were sold in markets. Hunters, blinded by profit, could not even describe the animals - they paid attention only to the huge horns that could be sold profitably.

Surely there are such greedy hunters today. And yet modern people the value of rare finds is better understood, and this inspires hope that if someone manages to discover a living or dead inhabitant of the deep sea, unknown to science, such a find will become known to scientists. And then, perhaps, people will learn more about the depths of the sea and their inhabitants.

The main human activity takes place on earth, therefore water world is not fully explored. In ancient times, people were sure that many monsters lived in the seas and oceans, and there was a lot of evidence describing encounters with such creatures.

Sea monsters and monsters of the deep oceans

Research into the depths of water is still being carried out; for example, the Mariana Trench (the deepest place on the planet) has been explored, but the most terrible sea monsters described in ancient scriptures have not been discovered. Almost all nations have ideas about monsters that attacked sailors. Until now, from time to time there are reports that people have seen huge snakes, octopuses and other known to science creatures

Hairy snake

According to historical chronicles, these monsters were discovered in the depths of the sea around the 13th century. Until now, scientists have not been able to confirm that giant sea snakes are real.

A description of the appearance of these monsters can be found in the work of O. the Great “History northern peoples" The snake reaches a length of approximately 200 feet and a width of 20 feet. He lives in caves near Bergen. The body is covered with black scales, there is hanging hair on the neck, and its eyes are red. He attacks livestock and ships.
The last evidence of a meeting of a sea monster was about 150 years ago. The crew of a British ship that was heading to St. Helena saw a huge reptile with a mane.
The only known animal that fits the description is the belt fish, which lives in tropical seas. The length of the caught specimen is approximately 11 m. The rays of its dorsal fin are long and form a “plume” above the head, which from a distance can be mistaken for hair.

Hairy snake

Sea monster kraken

Mythical sea creature that looks like cephalopod, called the kraken. It was first described by Icelandic sailors, who claimed that it looked like an ordinary floating island. Descriptions of this monster of the deep sea are common and confirmed.

A Norwegian ship in 1810 noticed in the water a huge creature similar to a jellyfish, whose diameter was about 70 m. A record of this meeting was in the ship's log.
The fact that giant sea monsters krakens exist was officially confirmed by science in the 19th century, since giant mollusks (something between an octopus and a squid) similar in description to a kraken were found on the shore.
The sailors declared a hunt for these creatures and specimens 8 and 20 m long were caught. Some encounters with the kraken ended in the wreck of the ship and the death of the crew.
There are several types of krakens; it is believed that the monsters reach 30-40 m in length, and have large suction cups on their tentacles. They do not have spines, but have a brain, developed sensory organs and circulatory system. To protect themselves, they are capable of releasing poison.

Grendel

In the English epic, the demon of darkness is called Grendel, and he is a giant troll who lived in Denmark. When describing the largest sea monsters, it is often included in the list, and it lives in underwater caves.

He hated people and created panic among the people. His image combines different forms of evil.
In German mythology, a sea monster with a huge mouth was considered a creature that was rejected by people. Grendel was a person who committed a crime and was cast out of society.
Films and cartoons have been made about this monster.

Grendel

Sea monster Leviathan

One of the most famous monsters, described in the Old Testament and other Christian sources. The Lord created a pair for each creature, but there were animals of a single genus and these are different sea monsters, which include.

The creature is huge and has two jaws. His body is covered with scales. He has the ability to breathe fire and thereby evaporate the seas.
In later sources, some mythical sea monsters were justified, so Leviathan began to be represented as a symbol of the limitless power of God.
There is a mention of this creature in the stories of different peoples. Scientists are sure that Leviathan was simply confused with different sea animals.

Leviathan

Monster Scylla

In Greek mythology, Scylla is considered a unique creature, which lived not far from another monster Charybdis. They were considered very dangerous and voracious. According to existing versions, Scylla was the object of love of many gods.

The sea monster is a snake with six heads that has retained the upper part of its female body. Under the water were tentacles ending in the heads of dogs.
With her beauty she attracted sailors and could bite a galley in half with her head.
According to myths, it lived in the Strait of Messina. Odysseus survived the meeting with her.

sea serpent

The most famous monster that had a snake body is Jörmungand - a mythical Scandinavian creature. He is considered the middle son of Loki and Angrboda. The snake was of enormous size, and it was able to encircle the Earth and cling to its own tail, for which they began to call it the “World Serpent.” There are three myths about sea monsters that describe the meeting of Thor and Jörmungandr.

Thor first met the serpent in the form of a giant cat, and he was given the task of raising it. He only succeeded in making the animal raise one paw.
Another myth describes how Thor went fishing with the giant Gimir and caught the bull Jormungandr on his head. It is believed that he managed to crush his head with his hammer, but did not kill him.
It is believed that their last meeting will take place on the day when the world ends and all sea monsters come to the surface. Jörmungandr will poison the sky, for which Thor will cut off his head, but the flow of poison will kill him.

sea serpent

Sea Monk

According to existing information, the sea monk is a large humanoid creature with arms like flippers and legs like fish tail. Its body is covered with scales, and there is no hair on the top of its head, but there is something similar to tonsures, hence the name of this creature.

Many scary sea monsters live in bodies of water Northern Europe, and the sea monk is no exception. Information about it appeared during the Middle Ages.
These creatures frolicked on the shores, thereby captivating the sailors, and when they managed to get as close to them as possible, they dragged the victims to the bottom of the sea.
The first mentions date back to the 14th century. Unusual creature with a tonsure on her head, she washed ashore in Denmark in 1546.
Scientists believe that the sea monk is a legend that arose due to an error of perception.

Sea Monk

Sea monster fish

To date, a little more than 5% of the world's oceans have been explored, but this is still enough to discover terrible aquatic creatures.

Human activity is mainly related to land. That is why everything related to water raises many questions and assumptions. Water is a completely different world, sometimes incomprehensible and very often inaccessible. The creatures that live in the depths of the seas and oceans are so different from those who live on land that they can cause not only surprise, but very often fear.

In ancient times, people were convinced that water was fraught with danger. All these fears and speculations are reflected in legends and myths.

Despite the fact that man managed to descend into the Mariana Trench, which is considered the deepest place on the planet, he nevertheless knows practically nothing about the terrible and terrible monsters that live at the bottom of the ocean. Sailors often mentioned in their stories about sea monsters that were dragged under water big ships. On ancient maps you can see images of giant octopuses, newts, snakes and whales. Myths that talk about sea monsters are found among almost all peoples who dealt with water. And almost all descriptions indicate that the monsters had lion mouths, enormous tentacles and glowing eyes.

With the beginning of the development of navigation, when people began to travel across continents, the fear of water gradually disappeared, but stories about sea monsters still arose. Over time, such stories became fewer and fewer, but even in the modern world, in the age of scientific progress, such stories are sometimes found.

It should be noted that, as a rule, a wide variety of creatures were mentioned in ancient legends. But scientists cannot answer the question of whether they really existed. Some researchers are confident that most of these stories are memories of pterodactyls, dinosaurs and plesiosaurs that managed to survive until the appearance of man.

Probably one of the most famous ancient sea monsters is Leviathan. Mentions of this monster can be found in the Old Testament. His description is a mixture of fear and delight. This is a beautiful, proud creature, which at the same time is associated with Satan and inspires fear.

This image appeared in the book of Job, and turned out to be so vivid that the name Leviathan became a household name. A similar character breathing fire appears in many books, films and songs, and even in computer games.

Scientists say that it cannot be ruled out that Leviathan actually existed, since such legends could not be born out of nowhere, something must have provoked the creators of the Bible to create such an image, some kind of prototype. On the other hand, everything that is written in the Holy Scriptures cannot be taken literally, because its authors preferred allegory. The authors did not necessarily have to meet in real life with such a monster - it is quite possible that the image of this terrible monster was taken only as an illustration of a certain phenomenon. But the image appeared for a reason, so it could have been preceded by encounters with large lizards.

Could it be that prehistoric monsters who lived in the seas and oceans, managed to survive until the appearance of man on the planet and were noticed by him? Such a development of events cannot be completely ruled out. Scientists have still not been able to establish the reason for the disappearance of the ancient giant lizards, so it is impossible to rule out the possibility that some of them survived and bred offspring. These could also be sea monsters that, at great depths, could survive the cataclysms that ultimately led to the death of the ancient lizards.

Science does not know what is going on in the depths of the world's oceans, so it cannot be ruled out that ancient lizards may still exist. They may well occasionally appear on the surface, meeting with a person from time to time. It is also likely that mutants could appear in the depths of the sea that are equally similar to ancient lizards and modern animals. This, at least, can explain the origin of the legends about creatures of enormous stature that emerge from the depths of the sea and which are called “sea monks.”

In medieval legends there are stories about creatures that resembled mermaids. They had a fish tail instead of legs and arms instead of fins. They were seen quite often on the northern European coasts. The German theologian Megenberg told a legend about the “sea monks” who went out to seashore. These creatures danced, attracting people's attention. The dance was so beautiful and mesmerizing that people lost their vigilance and came very close to these creatures. The “monks” grabbed the unwary and ate them in front of the others. And in the last century, on the territory of Denmark, it was even possible to discover the corpse of a “sea monk”. His height was 15 meters. The creature's remains were sent to Copenhagen, where it was made sensational statement: This creature is an ordinary cuttlefish with ten tentacles.

However, scientists do not rule out that during the Middle Ages some species of sharks or representatives of walruses could have been mistaken for “monks.” True, in this case it is not entirely clear how they could organize dances on land. Cuttlefish do not have enough strength to drag an adult under water, sharks do not leave the water and only react to the smell of blood, and walruses do not attack people. Therefore, it is quite possible that in the legends we're talking about about some animals unknown to modern science.

Another type of sea monster became known in 1522, when the Dutch scientist Oddemans spoke about snakes gigantic size who lived deep underwater. These monsters were seen by people quite rarely - they were seen in one place only once every ten years for three centuries. However, with the beginning of the nineteenth century, the number of recorded cases increased sharply - in one year, this creature appeared to sailors as many as 28 times. Scientists cannot say what this activity was associated with, but they suggest that sea creatures I just didn’t like the presence of ships at sea.

Already in the last century, these monsters became less active, although even now there are more than enough stories about giant snakes. The most interesting thing is that none of the eyewitnesses managed to take a picture mysterious creature. Therefore, we can only get an idea of what giant snakes really looked like based on the stories of sailors.

At the same time, scientists say that in ocean waters in Triassic period There were Tanistopheus lizards, which had a short body and a very long neck. According to paleontologists, these creatures lived on land, but soon moved to the depths of the sea. This lizard could well be mistaken for a snake of gigantic proportions, if we assume that these creatures could survive to our time.

History has preserved legends about Alexander the Great diving into the depths of the sea in a glass barrel. Allegedly, he saw a monster of enormous size at the bottom, which swam around the barrel for three days and three nights. Of course, one can argue about the veracity and originality of this story. Moreover, you can find quite a lot of similar legends in ancient texts. So, in particular, ancient texts contain a legend that the Assyrian king Sargan II saw giant snake. Roman legionnaires attacked scary monster, they used a catapult and killed the monster. It was later skinned and transported to Rome to show general public. The length of the trophy reached 20 steps.

There are references to mysterious sea monsters in Chinese sources. Thus, in one of the manuscripts dating back to the twelfth century, you can find a story about the existence of a certain dragon. According to the author of the text, he saw the skeleton of this creature in the court storeroom. The fins, limbs, body and tail were completely intact, only the horns were cut off. Externally, the skeleton was very reminiscent of dragons, images of which existed at that time.

The Central African pygmy tribe still has legends about the terrible monster “Mokele-mbembe”. According to eyewitnesses, it is something between a dragon and an elephant. In Zambia, according to legend, there also lives a creature resembling a dinosaur, which the local population calls the “hippo eater.” This creature has a neck and head like a giant lizard. And the famous hunter Jordan even had to meet him. As the hunter notes, this creature has the body of a hippopotamus, covered with bone scales, and the head of a crocodile. Interestingly, Jordan's guides fully confirmed his story.

But the leader of one of the scientific expeditions, Marcellin Anyanya, even managed to film the mysterious animal. It happened on Lake Tele. Three hundred meters from the shore in the water, the scientist saw a snake head on a massive neck. This creature “posed” for about 10 minutes, after which it disappeared into the water. As Anyanya notes, in appearance this animal is very similar to a brontosaurus, a giant herbivore that went extinct about 70 million years ago.

The relatively recently created deep-sea vehicle Haifish in Germany almost died after an encounter with one of the sea monsters. The device plunged into the area Mariana Trench to a depth of about 7 kilometers, but later could not rise to the surface. Then the hydronauts turned on the thermal imager to see what was interfering with the device and were shocked by what they saw: a monster resembling a lizard was attached to the body of the device. Fortunately, such an opportunity was provided for in advance: with the help of an electric gun with a large current charge, we managed to get rid of the monster.

There are many similar stories. Modern science cannot yet explain what these creatures are and where they came from. It follows from this that there are still many mysteries and secrets in the ocean that scientists have yet to unravel. Modern science strives for the stars, while the depths of the sea keep fewer mysteries, rather than outer space. Deep sea diving will be full of surprises for a very long time. But perhaps someday these mysteries will still be solved.

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Just as there is a grain of truth in every joke, there is a grain of truth in every myth. Unicorns, dragons and cyclops were not invented out of nowhere. They had very real prototypes, which, not without the help of human imagination, were transformed into those fairy-tale creatures that we know today.

Unicorn - Elasmotherium.

Unicorn - famous mythical creature, which is a horse with one horn coming out of its forehead. It usually symbolizes spiritual purity and chastity. Interestingly, unicorns are found in the legends and myths of many world cultures. The very first images of them were found in India and, according to research, they are more than four thousand years old. Later, unicorns began to appear in the myths of Western Asia, from there they “migrated” to Ancient Greece And Ancient Rome, where they were considered absolutely real animals. In the West, unicorns began to be mentioned in the 5th century BC.

The main “candidate” for the role of a real unicorn, or rather the prototype of these mythical creatures, is Elasmotherium - rhinoceroses of the Eurasian steppes, which lived during the Ice Age south of the range of the woolly rhinoceros; images of elasmotherium are found in cave paintings of that time. Elasmotherium somewhat resembled a horse with an extremely long horn in its forehead. It went extinct around the same time as the rest of the Eurasian megafauna ice age. However, according to the Swedish encyclopedia “Nordisk familjebok” and the arguments of science popularizer Willie Ley, individual representatives of this species could well have existed for quite some time. for a long time, in order to get into the Evenki legends as a huge black bull with one horn in its forehead.

Dragons - Magalanya.

There are a huge variety of types and types of dragons in folk art. Starting from the classic European ones that live in the mountains and breathe fire, to the Chinese ones that look more like snakes. The mythological dragon symbolizes the test that must be passed in order to obtain the treasure. It is associated with immortality, which can be obtained by invading the body of a monster. The battle with the dragon is an initiation mystery with the symbolism of temporary death and rebirth.

In reality, myths about dragons most likely originated from crocodiles or dinosaur fossils that people might find and mistaken for dragons. But, without a doubt, there were also real animals that could well be called dragons. For example, Megalania is the largest land lizard known to science. This species lived in Australia during the Pleistocene era, from 1.6 million years ago to approximately 40,000 years ago. Megalania preferred to settle in grassy savannas and sparse forests, where it hunted mammals, including very large ones. As in the case of Elasmotherium, some representatives of the species could well survive to meet humans. The length of megalania, according to various estimates, varied from 4.5 to 9 m, and its weight from 331 to 2200 kg.

Kraken - Huge squid.

The Kraken is a legendary mythical sea monster of gigantic size, a cephalopod, known from descriptions of Icelandic sailors, from whose language its name comes. The first detailed summary of maritime folklore about the Kraken was compiled by the Danish naturalist Eric Pontoppidan, Bishop of Bergen (1698-1774). He wrote that the kraken is an animal “about the size of a floating island.” According to Pontoppidan, the kraken is able to grab with its tentacles and drag even the largest warship to the bottom. Even more dangerous for ships is the whirlpool that occurs when the kraken quickly sinks to the seabed.

Giant squids, which is essentially what the kraken is, may still exist today. Moreover, this has been confirmed more than once by the findings of fishermen and scientists. The only question is size. Not long ago in southern seas managed to find a really huge mollusk about 14 meters long. In addition, unlike ordinary squids, in addition to suckers, this one also had jagged claws-teeth on its tentacles. Such an animal may well frighten even modern man. And if medieval fishermen had seen him, they would definitely have considered him a mythical monster.

Basilisk - Poisonous snakes.

Basilisk is a creature mentioned in various sources and most often as monstrous poisonous snake. In Natural History, Pliny the Elder described the basilisk as a small snake up to 30 centimeters long, with a white spot on its head. This was in the 1st century AD. Guy Julius Solin wrote about the basilisk in approximately the same way in the 3rd century, but with minor differences: the length of the snake is up to 15 cm. Much later, only in the Middle Ages, the image of the basilisk began to be supplemented with new details. Thanks to the imagination of numerous authors, the “small snake” turned into “a rooster with dragon wings, tiger claws, a lizard’s tail, an eagle’s beak and green eyes, on whose head there is a red crown, and black bristles all over its body.” This is exactly what they said about the basilisk in Europe of the 13th century.

There is a completely logical version from a scientific point of view that the image of the basilisk is based on certain types of snakes. For example, a cobra fits its description. Its swollen hood could easily be mistaken for the body of a toad, and its ability to spit venom could be interpreted as killing at a distance. According to another version, the basilisk is horned viper. Her image with horns was Egyptian hieroglyph, denoting the sound “f”, and could have been mistaken by Pliny the Elder for a snake with a crown, which gave rise to the Greek name for the snake “basilisk” - “king”.

Centaurs - Horse riders.

Centaurs in ancient Greek mythology are wild mortal creatures with the head and torso of a man on the body of a horse. They lived mainly in the mountains and forest thickets and were distinguished by an extremely violent temperament and intemperance. It is also noteworthy that in heroic myths some centaurs are educators and mentors of heroes, while others are hostile to them.

The image of centaurs presumably arose as a figment of the imagination of representatives of civilized peoples who did not yet know horse riding, who first encountered the horse riders of certain northern nomadic tribes: Scythians, Kassites or Taurians. This explains both the ferocious nature of the centaurs and their connection with bulls - the basis of the nomadic economy was cattle breeding. According to the euhemeric interpretation of ancient times, these were young men from the village of Tucha who invented horse riding and killed wild bulls; or people from the city of Pelephronium, where a way to tame horses was found.

Griffin - Protoceratops.

Griffins are mythological winged creatures with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. They have sharp claws and snow-white (and sometimes even golden) wings. Griffins are extremely contradictory creatures, simultaneously uniting Heaven and Earth, Good and Evil. Their role - both in various myths and in literature - is ambiguous: they can act as defenders and patrons; and like evil, unrestrained beasts.

But true story"Gryphons" is no less interesting than the legends about them. Historian Adriena Mayor in her book “The First Fossil Hunters” suggested that the image of the griffin was inspired by ancient Greek historians from the stories of Scythian gold miners of Altai, who could observe in the sands of the Gobi Desert the fossilized bones of protoceratopsian dinosaurs, liberated from the dunes by the winds. The description of the griffin is quite applicable to these fossil skeletons: the size of the animal, the presence of a beak, the proximity to gold placers, the horny occipital collar of Protoceratops is capable of splitting over time, and its skeleton on the shoulders could create the illusion of ears and wings.

Bigfoot - Gigantopithecus.

Bigfoot (Sasquatch or Bigfoot) is a legendary humanoid creature supposedly found in various high mountain or forested areas of the Earth. Its existence is claimed by many enthusiasts, but is currently not confirmed. In testimony about meetings with " snow people"Most often appear creatures that differ from modern humans in a denser and more muscular physique, a pointed shape of the skull, a more long arms, short neck length and massive lower jaw, relatively short hips, with thick hair throughout the body - black, red, white or gray.

There are many theories about who Bigfoot might actually be (if he really exists). Starting from the completely plausible, that this is some kind of relict hominid, that is, a mammal belonging to the order of primates and the genus of man, preserved to this day from prehistoric times, and ending with the absolutely fantastic, that these are aliens who flew to us from other galaxies. Modern science at least one genus is known great apes, which very well fit the description of Bigfoot, is Gigantopithecus. They existed in the late Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene in the territory of modern India, China, Thailand and Vietnam. According to experts, Gigantopithecus had a height of up to three and even four meters and weighed from 300 to 550 kg, that is, they were the largest monkeys of all time.

Sea serpent - Herring king.

The sea serpent is a fantastic creature that is mentioned in the myths of different peoples of the world and in eyewitness accounts. Sea serpents have been found in the Mediterranean, Asia, India and even off the coast North America. Naturally, they are described in completely different ways, but almost always this is a huge snake-like creature with a head that looks like either a horse or a dragon.

The prototype of a monstrous sea serpent may not be some ancient animal, but a completely modern herring king or an ordinary belt fish. This is sea deep sea fish from the family Limniformes. It is found in warm, moderately warm and temperate waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The body of the fish is ribbon-shaped: with a length of 3.5 m, the height of the body can be 25 cm, and its thickness - only 5 cm. But there are specimens that are much larger. For example, an individual 5.5 meters long can weigh about 250 kg. And the largest of the officially registered ones had a length of more than 11 meters. This could easily be mistaken for a sea serpent.

Korean dragon - Titanoboa.

The Korean dragon is one of the varieties of the mythological serpent, which has a number of features specific to Korea that distinguish it from dragons of other cultures. For example, unlike many dragons of other cultures, he does not have wings, but has a long beard. Even greater differences may lie in the character of this mythical beast. While most dragons in Western mythology are usually associated with fire and destruction, Korean dragons in myths are usually seen as positive creatures that protect waters and rice fields. They are believed to bring rain to the earth.

And if with the origin of myths about European dragons everything is not so clear and unambiguous, then with the Korean dragon you can be almost sure. Fossils were recently discovered in Colombia huge snake, which was named Titanoboa. After performing a comparative analysis of the skeleton, scientists came to the conclusion that the snake could reach 13 meters in length and weigh more than a ton. Titanoboa lived 61.7-58.7 million years ago in tropical forests modern Colombia. But it is quite possible that she lived on other continents.

Cyclops - Dwarf elephant.

In ancient Greek mythology, the Cyclopes are a group of characters, in different versions divine beings (children of Gaia and Uranus) or a separate people. According to one of the versions, reflected in Homer in the Odyssey, the Cyclops made up an entire people. Among them, the most famous is the ferocious son of Poseidon, Polyphemus, whom Odysseus deprived of his only eye. The Scythian people of the Arimaspians were also considered one-eyed. There is an image of a Semitic one-eyed demon from Arslan-Tash.

As for the scientific basis for these myths, in 1914, paleontologist Otenio Abel suggested that the discovery of dwarf elephant skulls in ancient times was the reason for the birth of the myth of the Cyclops, since the central nasal opening in the elephant’s skull could be mistaken for a giant eye socket. It is curious that these elephants were found precisely on the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta (Ghar Dalam), Crete, Sicily, Sardinia, the Cyclades and the Dodecanese

Incredible facts

The modern ocean is home to many incredible creatures, many of which we have no idea about. You never know what lies there - in the dark, cold depths. However, none of them compares with the ancient monsters that dominated the world's oceans millions of years ago.

In this article we will tell you about lizards, carnivorous fish and predatory whales that terrorized marine life in prehistoric times.

Prehistoric world

Megalodon

Megalodon may be the most famous creature on this list, but it's hard to imagine that the school-bus-sized shark ever actually existed. Nowadays, there are many different scientific films and programs about these amazing monsters.

Contrary to popular belief, megalodons did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. They dominated the seas from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, which means they missed the last dinosaur by 40 million years. In addition, this means that the first people found these sea monsters alive.

Megalodon's home was warm ocean, which existed until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, and is believed to have deprived these huge sharks of food and the ability to reproduce. Perhaps in this way nature protected modern humanity from terrible predators.

Liopleurodon

If in the movie "Park" Jurassic"There was a water scene that would have included several sea monsters of the time, Liopleurodon would certainly have appeared in it. Although scientists debate the actual length of this animal (some claim it was up to 15 meters), most They agree that it was about 6 meters, with a fifth of the length being occupied by the pointed head of the Liopleurodon.

Many people think that 6 meters is not so much, but the smallest representative of these monsters is capable of swallowing an adult. Scientists have recreated a model of Liopleurodon's fins and tested them.

During the research, they found that these prehistoric animals were not so fast, but they were not lacking in agility. They were also capable of making short, quick and sharp attacks similar to those made by modern crocodiles, which makes them even more terrifying.

Sea monsters

Basilosaurus

Despite the name and appearance, they are not reptiles, as it might seem at first glance. In fact, these are real whales (and not the most frightening ones in this world!). Basilosaurs were the predatory ancestors of modern whales and measured between 15 and 25 meters in length. It is described as a whale, somewhat resembling a snake due to its length and ability to wriggle.

It’s hard to imagine that, while swimming in the ocean, one could stumble upon a huge creature that looked like a snake, a whale and a crocodile at the same time, 20 meters long. The fear of the ocean would stick with you for a long time.

Physical evidence suggests that basilosaurs did not have the same cognitive abilities as modern whales. In addition, they did not have echolocation capabilities and could only move in two dimensions (this means that they could not actively dive or dive to great depths). Thus, this terrible predator was as stupid as a bag of prehistoric tools and would not be able to pursue you if you dived or came onto land.

Cancerscorpios

Not surprisingly, the words "sea scorpion" only evoke negative emotions, however, this representative of the list was the creepiest of them. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae is special kind crayfish, which was the largest and most terrifying arthropod of that time: 2.5 meters of pure clawed horror under the shell.

Many of us are terrified of small ants or large spiders, however, imagine the full range of fear experienced by a person who would not be lucky enough to meet this sea monster.

On the other hand, these creepy creatures went extinct even before the event that killed all the dinosaurs and 90% of life on Earth. Only a few species of crabs survived, which are not so scary. There is no evidence that the ancients sea scorpions were poisonous, but based on the structure of their tail, we can conclude that perhaps this really was the case.

Read also: A huge sea monster washed up on the coast of Indonesia

Prehistoric animals

Mauisaurus

Mauisaurus was named after ancient god The Maori Maui, who, according to legend, used a hook to pull out the New Zealand carcass from the bottom of the ocean, so just from the name you can understand that this animal was huge. The Mauisaurus's neck was about 15 meters long, which is quite a lot compared to its total length of 20 meters.

His incredible neck had many vertebrae, which gave it special flexibility. Imagine a turtle without a shell with a surprisingly long neck - that’s what this creepy creature looked like.

He lived during the Cretaceous period, which meant that unfortunate creatures jumping into the water to escape velociraptors and tyrannosaurs were forced to come face to face with these sea monsters. Mauisaurs' habitats were limited to the waters of New Zealand, indicating that all inhabitants were in danger.

Dunkleosteus

Dunkleosteus was a ten-meter predatory monster. Huge sharks lived much longer than Dunkleosteus, but this did not mean that they were the best predators. Instead of teeth, dunkleosteus had bony growths, like some species of modern turtles. Scientists have calculated that their bite force was 1,500 kilograms per square centimeter, which put them on par with crocodiles and tyrannosaurs and made them one of the creatures with the strongest bite.

Based on facts about their jaw muscles, scientists concluded that Dunkleosteus could open its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, swallowing everything in its path. As the fish grew older, the single bony dental plate was replaced by a segmented one, which made it easier to obtain food and bite through the thick shells of other fish. In the arms race called the prehistoric ocean, Dunkleosteus was a real well-armored, heavy tank.

Sea monsters and monsters of the deep

Kronosaurus

Kronosaurus is another short-necked lizard, similar in appearance to Liopleurosaurus. What is noteworthy is that its true length is also known only approximately. It is believed that it reached up to 10 meters, and its teeth reached up to 30 cm in length. That is why it was named after Kronos, the king of the ancient Greek titans.

Now guess where this monster lived. If your assumption was related to Australia, then you are absolutely right. Kronosaurus's head was about 3 meters long and it was capable of swallowing an entire adult human. In addition, after this there was room inside the animal for another half.

Also, due to the fact that the flippers of kronosaurs were similar in structure to the flippers of turtles, scientists concluded that they were very distantly related and assumed that kronosaurs also climbed onto land to lay eggs. In any case, we can be sure that no one dared to destroy the nests of these sea monsters.

Helicoprion

This shark, 4.5 meters long, had a lower jaw that was a kind of curl, strewn with teeth. She looked like a hybrid of a shark and a buzz saw, and we all know that when dangerous power tools become part of the predator on top food chain, the whole world is trembling.

Helicoprion's teeth were jagged, which clearly indicates the carnivory of this sea monster, but scientists still do not know for certain whether the jaw was pushed forward as in the photo, or moved slightly deeper into the mouth.

These creatures survived the Triassic mass extinction, which could indicate their high intelligence, but the reason could also be their living in the deep sea.

Prehistoric sea monsters

Melville's Leviathan

Earlier in this article we already talked about predatory whales. Melville's Leviathan is the most terrifying of them all. Imagine a huge hybrid of an orca and a sperm whale. This monster was not just a carnivore - it killed and ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal known to us.

Their length sometimes reached 37 centimeters! They lived in the same oceans at the same time and ate the same food as megalodons, thus competing with the largest predatory shark of the time.

Their huge heads were equipped with the same echo-sounding devices as modern whales, which made them more successful in hunting muddy water. In case it wasn't clear to anyone from the start, this animal was named after Leviathan, a giant sea monster from the Bible and Herman Melville, who wrote the famous "Moby Dick". If Moby Dick had been one of the Leviathans, he would certainly have eaten the Pequod and its entire crew.