Megafauna (mythology)

Megafauna (mythology)
For giant animals in science and history, see Megafauna.
A Hydra. The 16th-century German illustration.

A giant animal in mythology is gigantic in the narrated myth, either large for their species or in relation to mankind. They might dwarf a normal person. The term giant carries some ambiguity, however in mythology Definitions of what constitutes 'large' vary, with some authors using a 40 kg minimum, others 44 kg, 45 kg, 100 kg, or 250 kg. In the last case, they may be further subdivided into small (250–500 kg), medium (500–1,000 kg) and large (over 1,000 kg) megafauna is often one of the mythemes of a story. The narrative may revolve around a real animal or a primordial archetype of a gigantic creature, such as a dragon or the Midgard snake.

Contents

Recent mythology

Some giant animals are legends from mythology; or are so rare, that they have been seen only by a few people, and are known only through folklore or mythology.

Examples of megafauna

Africa megafauna mythology

Oceania megafauna mythology

Central and South America megafauna mythology

North America megafauna mythology

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