What if....

Hey, Jess here!

A little while ago I read a short article about the chance that mythical creatures did exist. This article and the answers that others wrote, made me think about it and also let my imagination run wild. So I wanted to share my imaginations. The original article: What’s the chance mythical creatures used to exist?

So in the article a few creatures were mentioned already; the Unicorn, the Cyclops, and the Centaur. But the article spoke about misinterpret descrip

tions or the lack of knowledge about existing animals. There are a few comments I thought were interesting that talked about how all the creatures did in some way exist, because of psychological, cultural and societal truths. But I was imagining about what it would be like if the actual creatures existed or still exist.

What would it be like if we were to find a new skeleton and everyone is certain it's some kind of dinosaur. But when the scientists are reconstructing it, they gradually get more doubts about it. At first they would try to match it with skeletons of dinosaur species that are already known, but then they realise there is no match. That's when they decide it must be a new species and they construct the skeleton with all their knowledge about anatomy. When they finally finish the skeleton, they realise that it's not a dinosaur, it's a Dragon!

Oh look! It's Chiron from Percy Jackson!

Or maybe they will find the skeleton of a Centaur and at first they are searching for the rest of the bones of the horse and the human. But they can't find them, because they're not there. And then; major discovery! They find a bone they have never seen before, not in any kind of animal. They start reconstructing the human skeleton for as far as that is possible with the bones they have found and they do the same with the horse's skeleton. When they finish that, (probably rather fast because they know these species) they will start to figure out where the unknown bone should be placed. As they break their heads over this, they try many, many things and places. Then there is a match. No actually, two matches! Not only does the bone fit on the human skeleton right there where the missing human bones should be, the other end of the unknown bone fits on the horse's skeleton right there where those missing bones should be. They discover that all the bones are from one and the same creature. And this could happen with skeletons of Griffins, the Minotaur, and all other creatures like that. And don't even get me started on the Chimera!

But speaking of finding remains of those creatures; what if they were to find the body of one of those that has just died? Maybe the flies and all are already on them, but other than that the body is still intact. Even the skin, fur, scales, or whatever it has are still okay. Then the people would look at it and either recognize it or don't. And when do know what they're looking at, they will be like "No way. This is not possible. Is it really a...". They just couldn't believe they were looking at a Dragon, or a Harpy, or Manticore (just to name a few). But when they don't know it immediately, they will research it, because that's what humans do. At first they will look into all discovered species of animals, thinking they just don't recognize something they actually know. Maybe it's a subspecies of something? Then they start thinking that it must be a mutation of some kind, or maybe some sort of miscarriage that actually survived. (Like when humans or animals are born with missing limbs, two heads, or things like that). But then one smart fellow starts to look into mythology. Probably all the other scientists are laughing at him because those are just stories and fantasies. But that won't stop our little guy. No! He starts looking into the most known mythologies; the Greek ones. Maybe he finds it there, or maybe he has to look into other cultures as well. That doesn't really matter. The point is that he will find drawings of the exact creature that's before them. Then he might get all smug and show everyone else the picture, saying "Told you so". But he deserves that, our smartass fellow did really well!

The most famous depiction of the Chimera. You see what why it
would be hilarious if they were to find its bones?

And now I've only been talking about dead creatures, which is a bit sad. But I think everyone could imagine what it's like if they're walking around, minding their own business (or other people's business because they're nosy and all) and then BAM a Dragon flies over. Or you're at the petting zoo, because who doesn't like that? Anyway, you're there and you say to yourself (maybe out loud?) "Ahw, that must be a cute goat standing really close to that man who's not wearing a shirt". So you walk over to it so you can pet it and then BAM it's actually a Faun. Or when someone goes horse riding, because people do that. And they pick the prettiest horse there is; a beautiful white one with long manes and all that. And then they put a saddle on the back and they put that thing on the horse's head of which I've never known the name. You know, that thing with the reigns and all. Anyway, they climb on the horse and they start to walk. Just slowly at first, maybe they're not that experienced yet, and then BAM it's actually Pegasus and it spreads its wings and flies off with you. (But don't forget to hold on tight, because you might fall of and I don't want that!) Or think about what those people could come across who work in the sewers and the mines!

So the point is that there are so many things possible. Of course it's not all fun and games, because a lot of those creatures are actually really dangerous. But that is not important here. There is just so much more to fantasize about with these things. Like, maybe Nessy does live in Loch Ness!!

To be continued....