The biggest monster in the sea. Creepy monsters of the deep sea

Seas and oceans occupy more than half the area of ​​our planet, but they are still shrouded in mysteries for humanity. We strive to conquer space and are looking for extraterrestrial civilizations, but at the same time, only 5% of the world's oceans have been explored by humans. But this data is enough to be horrified by what creatures live deep underwater, where sunlight does not penetrate.

The chauliod family includes 6 species of deep-sea fish, but the most common of them is the common hauliod. These fish live in almost all waters of the world's oceans, with the exception of cold waters. northern seas and the Arctic Ocean.

Chauliodas got their name from the Greek words “chaulios” - open mouth, and “odous” - tooth. Indeed, these relatively small fish(about 30 cm in length) teeth can grow up to 5 centimeters, which is why their mouth never closes, creating a creepy grin. Sometimes these fish are called sea vipers.

Howliods live at depths from 100 to 4000 meters. At night they prefer to rise closer to the surface of the water, and during the day they descend into the very abyss of the ocean. Thus, during the day, fish make huge migrations of several kilometers. With the help of special photophores located on the hauliod's body, they can communicate with each other in the dark.

On dorsal fin The viper fish has one large photophore, with which it lures its prey directly to its mouth. After which, with a sharp bite of needle-sharp teeth, the hauliods paralyze the prey, leaving it no chance of salvation. The diet mainly includes small fish and crustaceans. According to unreliable data, some individuals of hauliods can live up to 30 years or more.

The long-horned sabertooth is another fearsome deep-sea predatory fish, living in all four oceans. Although the saber tooth looks like a monster, it grows to a very modest size (about 15 centimeters in length). The head of the fish with a large mouth occupies almost half the length of the body.

The long-horned sabertooth gets its name from its long and sharp lower fangs, which are the largest in relation to body length among all known to science fish The terrifying appearance of the sabertooth earned it the unofficial name - “monster fish”.

Adults can vary in color from dark brown to black. The younger representatives look completely different. They are light gray in color and have long spines on their heads. The sabertooth is one of the deepest-sea fish in the world; in rare cases, they descend to depths of 5 kilometers or more. The pressure at these depths is enormous, and the water temperature is about zero. There is catastrophically little food here, so these predators hunt for the first thing that gets in their way.

The size of the deep-sea dragon fish absolutely does not fit with its ferocity. These predators, which reach a length of no more than 15 centimeters, can eat prey two or even three times its size. The dragon fish lives in tropical zones The world's oceans at a depth of up to 2000 meters. The fish has a large head and a mouth equipped with many sharp teeth. Like the Howlyod, the dragonfish has its own bait for prey, which is a long whisker with a photophore at the end, located on the fish's chin. The hunting principle is the same as for all deep-sea individuals. Using a photophore, the predator lures the victim to the closest possible distance, and then with a sharp movement inflicts a fatal bite.

The deep-sea anglerfish is rightfully the ugliest fish in existence. There are about 200 species of anglerfish, some of which can grow up to 1.5 meters and weigh 30 kilograms. Due to its creepy appearance and bad character, this fish was nicknamed the monkfish. live deep sea anglerfish everywhere at a depth of 500 to 3000 meters. The fish has a dark brown color, a large flat head with many spines. The devil's huge mouth is studded with sharp and long teeth curved inward.

Deep-sea anglerfish have pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are tens of times larger than males and are predators. Females have a rod with a fluorescent appendage at the end to attract fish. Anglerfish spend most of their time on the seabed, burrowing into sand and silt. Due to its huge mouth, this fish can completely swallow prey that is twice its size. That is, hypothetically, a large anglerfish could eat a person; Fortunately, there have never been such cases in history.

Probably the most strange inhabitant depths of the sea You can call it a bagmouth or, as it is also called, a pelican-shaped largemouth. Due to its abnormally huge mouth with a bag and a tiny skull in relation to the length of the body, the bagmouth looks more like some kind of alien creature. Some individuals can reach two meters in length.

In fact, bagmouths belong to the class of ray-finned fish, but these monsters do not have too many similarities with the cute fish that live in warm sea backwaters. Scientists believe that appearance These creatures changed many thousands of years ago due to their deep-sea lifestyle. Bagmouths have no gill rays, ribs, scales or fins, and the body is oblong with a luminous appendage on the tail. If not big mouth, then the bagmouth could easily be confused with an eel.

Bagworms live at depths from 2000 to 5000 meters in three world oceans, except the Arctic Ocean. Since there is very little food at such depths, bagmouths have adapted to long breaks in eating, which can last more than one month. These fish feed on crustaceans and other deep-sea brethren, mainly swallowing their prey whole.

The elusive giant squid, known to science as Architeuthis dux, is the world's largest mollusc and is thought to reach a length of 18 meters and weigh half a ton. To date, a live giant squid has never been captured by humans. Until 2004, there were no documented cases of encountering a living giant squid, and the general idea of ​​these mysterious creatures was formed only from the remains washed ashore or caught in fishermen’s nets. Architeuthis live at depths of up to 1 kilometer in all oceans. In addition to their gigantic size, these creatures have the largest eyes among living creatures (up to 30 centimeters in diameter).

So in 1887, the largest specimen in history, 17.4 meters long, washed up on the shores of New Zealand. In the next century, only two large dead representatives of the giant squid were discovered - 9.2 and 8.6 meters. In 2006, Japanese scientist Tsunami Kubodera managed to capture on camera a living female 7 meters long. natural environment habitat at a depth of 600 meters. The squid was lured to the surface by a small bait squid, but an attempt to bring a live specimen on board the vessel was unsuccessful - the squid died from multiple injuries.

Giant squid- This dangerous predators, and their only natural enemy is adult sperm whales. There are at least two described cases of fight between squid and sperm whale. In the first, the sperm whale won, but soon died, suffocated by the giant tentacles of the mollusk. The second battle took place off the coast South Africa, then the giant squid fought with the baby sperm whale, and after an hour and a half fight, he still killed the whale.

The giant isopod, known to science as Bathynomus giganteus, is the largest species of crustacean. The average size of a deep-sea isopod ranges from 30 centimeters, but the largest recorded specimen weighed 2 kilograms and was 75 centimeters long. In appearance, giant isopods are similar to woodlice, and like the giant squid, they are a consequence of deep-sea gigantism. These crayfish live at a depth of 200 to 2500 meters, preferring to bury themselves in silt.

The body of these creepy creatures is covered with hard plates that act as a shell. In case of danger, crayfish can curl into a ball and become inaccessible to predators. By the way, isopods are also predators and can feast on a few small deep-sea fish and sea ​​cucumbers. Powerful jaws and durable armor make the isopod a dangerous opponent. Although giant crayfish love to feast on live food, they often have to eat the remains of shark prey that fall from the upper layers of the ocean.

Coelacanth or coelacanth is a large deep sea fish, whose discovery in 1938 became one of the most important zoological discoveries of the 20th century. Despite its unattractive appearance, this fish is notable for the fact that for 400 million years it has not changed its appearance and body structure. In fact, this unique relict fish is one of the oldest living creatures on planet Earth, which existed long before the appearance of dinosaurs.

Coelacanth lives at a depth of up to 700 meters in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The length of the fish can reach 1.8 meters with a weight of more than 100 kilograms, and the body has a beautiful blue tint. Since coelacanth is very slow, it prefers to hunt at great depths, where there is no competition with faster predators. These fish can swim backwards or belly up. Despite the fact that the meat of the coelcanth is inedible, it is often the target of poaching among local residents. Currently, the ancient fish is in danger of extinction.

The deep sea goblin shark, or goblin shark as it is also called, is the most poorly studied shark to date. This species lives in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at depths of up to 1300 meters. The largest specimen was 3.8 meters long and weighed about 200 kilograms.

The goblin shark got its name due to its eerie appearance. Mitsekurina has movable jaws that move outward when bitten. The goblin shark was first accidentally caught by fishermen in 1898, and since then 40 more specimens of this fish have been caught.

Another relic representative sea ​​abyss is a one-of-a-kind detritivore cephalopod that has external resemblance, both with squid and octopus. Yours unusual name The hellish vampire got it thanks to his red body and eyes, which, however, depending on the lighting, can be blue. Despite their terrifying appearance, these strange creatures They grow only up to 30 centimeters and, unlike other cephalopods, they eat exclusively plankton.

The body of the hellish vampire is covered with luminous photophores, which create bright flashes of light that scare away enemies. In case of exceptional danger, these small mollusks turn their tentacles along the body, becoming like a ball with spikes. Hellish vampires live at depths of up to 900 meters, and can thrive in water with an oxygen level of 3% or lower, critical for other animals.

The ancient Scandinavians and Vikings were northern and harsh people. That’s why in their myths they are full of creatures to match them: huge, bloodthirsty, trying to kill or at least greatly harm people. This collection contains 10 of the strangest and creepiest creatures that even the fearless Vikings were afraid of.

Kraken.

There are a huge number of theories and guesses about the most famous sea monster. Some of them claim that the kraken lives off the coast of Norway and Iceland and is so huge that sailors often confuse it with a small island. Others say that a huge kraken settled in the Bermuda Triangle area and that's it mysterious disappearances in that area - this is his tentacle business. What is known for certain is that the first mention of this monster appeared among Icelandic sailors. Its name also came from their language.

They say that the Kraken is so huge and strong that it is able to grab even the largest warship with its tentacles and drag it to the bottom. But an even greater danger is the whirlpool that occurs when the Kraken quickly dives. Sailors said that the Kraken could digest swallowed food for up to three months. And all this time he excretes so much excrement that huge schools of fish always follow him. There was even a saying that if a fisherman had a very rich catch, they said about such a one that he “caught with the Kraken.”

At the end of the 1770s, Captain Robert Jameson said that he and his sailors saw a huge body up to 2.5 kilometers in length and almost 10 meters in height, which either appeared from the water or sank back. They followed him and caught so many fish that they filled the entire ship. The captain gave this testimony in court under oath.

Nyokki.

Nökki are scary evil creatures from Norwegian folklore. Something between mermaids and mermen. During life they were sad, lonely people, and after death they were never able to get to heaven. As a result, Nyokki remained to live near the water in order to lure people and animals into it. They were especially dangerous for unbaptized infants and pregnant women.

Like the Greek Sirens, the Nökki could use singing or music to charm their victims and subsequently drown them in bodies of water. There are stories in which the Nökki taught people the art of playing the violin in exchange for a sacrifice or something else. There is no single idea of ​​what Nökki looked like. Some described them as ugly demons, some as beautiful maidens turning into monsters, and some even in the form of four-legged beast-like creatures.

Draugr.

Translated from Old Icelandic, "draugr" means ghost. But if you believe the legends, this creature was much more terrible than an ordinary ghost. Legends said that the Draugr's body could swell to enormous sizes, becoming significantly heavier and sometimes remaining impervious to decay for many years. This “relates” him to such creatures as zombies and vampires. The appearance of the Draugr depended on how they died: water was constantly dripping from the drowned, there were bleeding wounds on the body of the fallen warrior, and the hanged appeared with a rope around their neck.

It was believed that Draugr could be guardians of burial mounds that protect graves and temples. In other legends, draugr left their graves at night only to jump on the roofs of houses and scare people. In medieval Scandinavia, the fear of these living dead was so strong that people wore special protective amulets and put special inscriptions on graves that would not allow the deceased to rise from it. And thanks to the draugr, the custom of knocking on the door three times at night appeared in Iceland. It was believed that the dead always knock only once.

Pesta.

She's the Plague. The Black Death in the Middle Ages was a real tragedy for Scandinavia, as well as for the rest of Europe. Denmark lost a third of its total population, and Norway lost half its people. There was so much death and destruction that people soon began to personalize the plague, turning it into some kind of terrible mystical fear.

Legend has it that this old woman goes from farm to farm spreading the plague. In her hand she can carry either a rake and this is a sign that one of the inhabitants will survive, or a broom, which indicates that everyone from this house will soon die from the plague.

Troll.

The word “troll” itself is translated from Swedish as witchcraft. In the folk tales of Scandinavia, where the legends about these creatures originated, there are as many images of trolls as there are stories about them. Someone said that trolls live in castles and underground palaces, frightening local residents with their size and witchcraft. Others claimed that the rocks in the mountains were trolls caught in the sunlight. It was believed that trolls could be giants, the size of ogres, or they could be very small, like gnomes.

Most legends described trolls as extremely ugly creatures, ranging from three to eight meters in height. Almost always the main attribute of almost any troll is a big nose. It was believed that trolls are of the nature of stone, that is, they are born from rocks and absolutely cannot stand sunlight, turning back into rocks as soon as it hits them. Many legends stated that trolls feed on human flesh and love to devour people whole.

Mara.

In Scandinavian mythology, Mara is evil spirit, a demon who sits on a person’s chest at night and causes bad dreams. Sometimes, under the weight of the demon, a person could even suffocate in his sleep. It is with his name that both the Russian term “nightmare” and the English term “nightmare” are associated. Maru was feared not only in Scandinavia; there is a similar character in Slavic mythology, similar to our kikimora. By the way, about the most scary monsters we already had a post on Slavic mythology.
Mara was sometimes described as a disembodied spirit, but more often she was believed to accept female image with long flowing hair that she loves to comb. According to other legends, Mara was a black, shaggy and very scary creature, but also female. It can scare people by appearing in yards or in front of windows at night, and can also harm a person's health if it breathes on them.

Garm.

In German-Scandinavian mythology, Garm is a huge, evil, four-eyed dog who guards the entrance to the world of the dead. It was believed that Garm was conceived by the giantess Angrboda from the god Loki himself. Garm is a guard tied to a rock in the Gnip cave, which, according to legend, is covered with blood from the inside. In addition, it is the largest and strongest of the dogs. His howl, according to legend, will be one of the signs of the beginning of Ragnarok. Almost a complete analogue of Garm in ancient mythology is the guardian of the underground kingdom of the dead, Cerberus.

Margyug.

Margyug is a huge sea creature that appears before a storm and warns sailors of impending danger. The earliest mention of Margyug is found in the work “The Royal Mirror”, created in the middle of the 13th century. According to legend, Margyug is a half-man, half-fish, something akin to mermaids or sirens. Like them, the upper body of the creature is similar to a woman, with the only difference being that the fingers on Margyug’s hands are not separated, but are connected together by membranes. The lower part of the body is like a fish - with scales, a tail and fins.

Margyug usually dives into the water and appears above the waves with a fish in his hands. Moreover, if a creature begins to swim towards the ship, playing with fish and throwing it towards the ship, then the sailors fear for their lives. This is an omen that most of the crew will soon die in the storm. If Margyug eats fish or throws it away from the ship, this means that even despite the severe storm, the sailors will be able to save their lives.

Huldra.

Huldras look like young attractive girls with long blond hair. Often they are so beautiful and charming that a person falls in love with her at first sight. The only difference between a huldra and a human girl is her long tail, similar to a cow's, which she carefully hides. The Huldras live richly - they have many horses, cows and sheep, a lot of food and rich clothing.

There are many stories when young unmarried men, fascinated by the beauty of the huldras, stayed to live with them. At the same time, if a man is kind to her, loves her and does not contradict her, then they can live together happily ever after. But otherwise, if a person stops loving his huldra wife, then he will not be able to return back to people. Then the huldra will appear before him in the form of an extremely ugly woman and do harm in every possible way until she disappears from the world.

Khafgufa.

In world folklore there are quite a lot of images of huge sea monsters: Tiamat, Leviathan, Behemoth, Aspidochelon, Yascontius, China-fish, Ao, Saratan, Lingbakr. But Khafgufa was considered the foremother of all other sea monsters. As the sailors described her: “Lingbakr is the greatest of all the whales in the world, but Khafgufa is the largest monster created in the sea.” It was believed that it was so huge that simply by opening its mouth it could completely swallow people, ships, huge whales, and in general anything that came its way.

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 can compare 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.

1. Giant stingray

What is it: 5 meters in diameter, a poisonous spike 25 long on the tail and enough strength to drag a boat filled with people? In this case, it is an eerie-looking flat sea creature that, from prehistoric times to this day, lives in salty waters from the Mekong River to Australia itself.

Stingrays have lived quietly in Australian waters since the extinction of the dinosaurs and the huge predatory sharks from which they descended. They originated in prehistoric times, but they managed to survive all ice ages, and even terrible eruption Volcano Toba. They are very dangerous and should not be approached. Even if you think they are not nearby, you could be wrong - they are excellent at camouflage.

They are dangerous because they can attack you with a poisonous spike containing a neurotoxin or simply damage their vital organs. The advantage is that these prehistoric monsters are not so aggressive and will not try to eat you.

2. Melville's Leviathan (Livyatan melvillei)

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, making them more successful at hunting in murky waters. In case it wasn't clear to anyone from the start, this animal was named after Leviathan, the 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.

3. 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 the 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, however, their residence could also be the reason.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Mauisaurus haasti

Mauisaurus was named after the ancient Maori god Maui, who, according to legend, pulled the New Zealand carcass from the ocean floor with a hook, 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.

7. Rakoscorpions (Jaekelopterus rhenaniae)

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 spectrum 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 ancient sea scorpions were poisonous, but the structure of their tails suggests that they may have been.

8. 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). So this one 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.

9. Liopleurodon

If there was a water scene in the Jurassic Park movie that included some of the sea monsters of the time, Liopleurodon would definitely appear in it. Although scientists argue about the actual length of this animal (some say it was up to 15 meters), most agree that it was about 6 meters, with a fifth of the length occupied by the pointed head of 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.

10. 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 the warm ocean, which existed until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, and it is believed that it was he who deprived these huge sharks of food and the ability to reproduce. Perhaps in this way nature protected modern humanity from terrible predators.

11. Dakosaurus

Traces of the existence of dacosaurs were first found in Germany. These predatory creatures, resembling a hybrid of reptiles and fish, dominated the ocean during the Jurassic period. Their remains were found over a vast territory from Russia to England and Argentina.

Although this sea monster has been compared to modern crocodiles, its length averaged about 5 meters. Its huge and unique teeth have led scientists to conclude that Dacosaurs were at the top of the food chain in their time.

12. Nothosaurus

Despite the fact that the body length of nothosaurs was only 4 meters, they were aggressive hunters. Their mouth was full of sharp teeth and they fed mainly on fish and squid. It was believed that nothosaurs were experts in ambushes and their bodies were ideal for sneaking up on prey and taking them by surprise. It is generally accepted that nothosaurs are inextricably related to pliosaurs, another genus sea ​​predators. The remains found indicate that they lived in the Triassic period more than 200 million years ago.

Material translated from the site: toptenz.net

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's 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 really 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 that lived in the seas and oceans managed to survive until man appeared 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. Instead of legs they had fish tail 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 to the 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 remains of the creature were sent to Copenhagen, where a sensational statement was made: 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 giant snakes that 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 caused this activity, but they suggest that sea creatures simply did not like the presence of ships in the 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 V Triassic period there were Tanistopheus lizards, which had a short body and 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, assuming 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. Thus, in particular, ancient texts contain a legend that the Assyrian king Sargan II saw a giant snake. A terrible monster attacked the Roman legionnaires, 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. So, 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 the 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 hold no less mysteries than 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 extremely long horn in the forehead. It went extinct around the same time as the rest of the Eurasian Ice Age megafauna. 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 long enough to have time to get into the Evenki legends as a huge black bull with one horn in the 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 the 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 so long ago, in the southern seas it was possible to find a truly 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 throughout the body there is black bristles.” This is exactly what they said about the basilisk in Europe in 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 the true history of the “griffins” 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 forest regions of the Earth. Its existence is claimed by many enthusiasts, but is currently not confirmed. Testimonies about encounters with “Bigfoot” most often feature creatures that differ from modern humans in having a denser and more muscular build, a pointed skull shape, 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 fit the description very well Bigfoot, this 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 myths different nations 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 the monstrous sea ​​serpent maybe not some ancient animal, but quite a modern herring king or an ordinary belt fish. This is a marine deep-sea fish from the family of seriformes. 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 groups 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