# Mythological creatures that could have existed

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythological-creatures-that-could-have-existed/741201>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 23, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythological-creatures-that-could-have-existed/741201 "2015-12-23T18:37:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TheNerdiestNerdAlive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@TheNerdiestNerdAlive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerdiestNerdAlive)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythological-creatures-that-could-have-existed/741201/1 "2015-12-23T18:37:39Z")

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Top ten list of the most exotic life forms you have heard of? What time period do they belong to?

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**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythological-creatures-that-could-have-existed/741201/2 "2015-12-23T18:56:51Z")

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Is this thread about “mythological” life forms, or “exotic” life forms? I’m asking because many mythological life forms are not exotic at all. Unicorns, for instance, are very mythological but at the same time a very lame example of humans’ imagination - essentially simply a horse with a spiral horn on its forehead, plus, in some traditions, supernatural powers.

As far as _exotic_ life forms in the sense of _very different, biologically, from other life forms_ are concerned, I think one of the many relatively recently discovered deep sea species that feed on hydrothermal vents on the ocean soil are good contenders.

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**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythological-creatures-that-could-have-existed/741201/3 "2015-12-23T18:59:00Z")

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Your title doesn’t seem to match the question in your OP.

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**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythological-creatures-that-could-have-existed/741201/4 "2015-12-23T19:02:42Z")

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> [@Schnitte](#):
>
> As far as _exotic_ life forms in the sense of _very different, biologically, from other life forms_ are concerned, I think one of the many relatively recently discovered deep sea species that feed on hydrothermal vents on the ocean soil are good contenders.

How about [something](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans) that can survive radiation, cold, vacuum, and acid and even made it into the _Guinness Book of Records_?

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythological-creatures-that-could-have-existed/741201/5 "2015-12-23T19:24:47Z")

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**Moderator Action**

This thread is basically a duplicate of your other thread, here:

> **[Most exoctic species](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=778989)**
>
> Top ten list of the most exotic life forms you have heard of? What time period do they belong to?

Please do not start multiple threads on the same topic.

Since this particular thread is problematic in that the thread title does not match the subject, I am going to close this and direct further answers to the other thread.

Thread closed.