mythological creatures

Bigfoot is often conceptualized as an elusive primate unknown to modern science—but there are other ways of looking at it. As fantastic as the idea of an unidentified primate is, it gets weirder as we explore other theories.

“The creatures look purely fantastic. They all look like they were just made up ... But, in fact, a lot of them come from what were considered, at the time, scientific sources,” says map historian Chet Van Duzer.

In ancient Japanese folklore, the Kappa is a water demon that inhabits rivers and lakes and devours disobedient little children. While some believe the legend originated from sightings of the Japanese Giant Salamander, a species still alive today, others maintain that the myth is real and that an unusual set of mummified remains, showing a webbed hand and a foot, is proof that the Kappa exists.