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+--- Thread: Are there any mythological creatures that haven't been debunked? (/thread-12128.html)
Are there any mythological creatures that haven't been debunked? - C C - Apr 23, 2022
https://www.livescience.com/mythological-creatures-that-havent-been-debunked
EXCERPTS: From modern hikers spotting tall apes sauntering through deep forests to medieval sailors spying menacing leviathans swirling beneath their ships, fantastical tales of unknown beasts have fascinated us for generations.
These ambiguous animals are often thought of as nothing more than stories, but are there any mythological creatures that haven't been debunked? The short answer is, yes, sort of.
For the purpose of this mystery, we looked at the real-life potential of undiscovered creatures from myths. That rules out some cryptids — creatures rumored to exist — that are known to science but have been declared extinct, such as Tasmanian tigers (Thylacinus cynocephalus).
Debunking isn't easy; you have to expose a falseness or sham, according to Merriam-Webster. Creatures of myth are not necessarily a sham just because they don't exist exactly as described, and proving with 100% certainty that any creature doesn't exist is almost impossible, because we can't look everywhere at once.
Mythological creatures are often said to be restricted to a specific location or range...
[...] Scientists haven't documented all the species on Earth, not by a long shot. A 2013 study published in the journal Science estimated that we've discovered about 1.5 million living species out of around 5 million, give or take 3 million. However, that could be considered a conservative estimate. A 2011 paper published in the journal PLOS Biology predicted that there are about 8.7 million species alive today, and a 2016 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that there are more than a trillion microbial species alone.
As far as aquatic animals go, Paxton thinks we've exhausted big unknown animals close to the surface...
A 2021 study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution investigated the potential for undiscovered animals on land. "The chances of being discovered and described, they are not equal among species," lead author Mario Moura, an ecology professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil, told Live Science... (MORE - missing details)
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RE: Are there any mythological creatures that haven't been debunked? - Magical Realist - Apr 24, 2022
Schrodinger's cat?
