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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:00,086 --> 00:00:03,172 Provided by explosiveskull https://twitter.com/kaboomskull 2 00:00:17,909 --> 00:00:21,454 Magical creatures have fascinated us, 3 00:00:21,537 --> 00:00:24,665 ever since we first walked the Earth. 4 00:00:24,749 --> 00:00:28,002 Whether created entirely from the imagination 5 00:00:28,086 --> 00:00:30,963 or inspired by the animals around us, 6 00:00:31,047 --> 00:00:34,258 mythical beasts have captured our attention 7 00:00:34,342 --> 00:00:36,636 for thousands of years. 8 00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:41,682 But why in this modern age of science and technology, 9 00:00:41,766 --> 00:00:46,896 are we still so captivated by these fantastic beasts? 10 00:00:47,772 --> 00:00:49,148 And what are the truths 11 00:00:49,232 --> 00:00:52,527 that lie behind the myths, the magic, 12 00:00:53,236 --> 00:00:54,570 and the legends? 13 00:01:09,085 --> 00:01:13,256 Join me on a journey of exhilarating exploration 14 00:01:13,339 --> 00:01:15,091 and daring discovery, 15 00:01:15,174 --> 00:01:16,759 as we uncover the secrets 16 00:01:16,843 --> 00:01:21,264 behind some of our best-loved mythical creatures... 17 00:01:23,432 --> 00:01:25,434 Oh, my heavens. 18 00:01:25,518 --> 00:01:27,353 Wow. 19 00:01:27,436 --> 00:01:30,106 ...revealing the real-life beasts 20 00:01:30,189 --> 00:01:34,527 behind some of the greatest legends in history. 21 00:01:34,610 --> 00:01:37,655 You look at some of nature's extraordinary creations 22 00:01:37,738 --> 00:01:41,159 and you think, "Well, CGI will never match this." 23 00:01:41,242 --> 00:01:45,580 And finding out why the world of magical animals 24 00:01:45,663 --> 00:01:48,875 is more popular today than ever before. 25 00:01:50,251 --> 00:01:53,296 These are the extraordinary stories 26 00:01:53,379 --> 00:01:56,966 of the world's most fantastic beasts. 27 00:02:12,398 --> 00:02:16,068 This is one of the greatest treasure troves 28 00:02:16,152 --> 00:02:17,820 of the natural world. 29 00:02:17,904 --> 00:02:22,074 London's Natural History Museum is a cornucopia 30 00:02:22,158 --> 00:02:24,994 of unique and fascinating collections 31 00:02:25,077 --> 00:02:27,580 from across the globe. 32 00:02:27,663 --> 00:02:31,792 It's also a place where the worlds of science and fiction 33 00:02:31,876 --> 00:02:34,295 have been known to overlap. 34 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,299 I'll be exploring the museum's 35 00:02:38,382 --> 00:02:41,093 labyrinth of corridors and cabinets, 36 00:02:41,177 --> 00:02:44,764 and uncovering the stories that continue to fascinate 37 00:02:44,847 --> 00:02:46,849 millions of people today. 38 00:02:46,933 --> 00:02:49,560 From the legendary creatures of ancient mythology, 39 00:02:49,644 --> 00:02:53,356 to the magical animals of Harry Potter 40 00:02:53,439 --> 00:02:55,775 and the Wizarding World. 41 00:02:55,858 --> 00:02:58,402 Stories like these. 42 00:02:58,486 --> 00:03:01,656 The fantastic beasts and mythological creatures 43 00:03:01,739 --> 00:03:05,534 within these pages, appear to be pure fantasy, 44 00:03:05,618 --> 00:03:09,330 but things aren't always quite that simple. 45 00:03:11,624 --> 00:03:15,253 We begin our story with arguably the best-known 46 00:03:15,336 --> 00:03:17,922 mythological animal on the planet... 47 00:03:18,798 --> 00:03:20,174 the dragon. 48 00:03:52,581 --> 00:03:54,208 One of the most ancient 49 00:03:54,292 --> 00:03:58,212 and universal of our mythological creatures, 50 00:03:58,296 --> 00:04:01,173 the dragon has enthralled the human race 51 00:04:01,257 --> 00:04:02,717 for thousands of years. 52 00:04:04,969 --> 00:04:08,389 But where did the idea for this creature 53 00:04:08,472 --> 00:04:10,850 first take flight? 54 00:04:10,933 --> 00:04:15,896 Was there a spark of truth behind the dragon myth? 55 00:04:22,778 --> 00:04:24,572 Chinese New Year 56 00:04:24,655 --> 00:04:26,907 is often celebrated around the world 57 00:04:26,991 --> 00:04:29,994 with a traditional dragon dance. 58 00:04:35,124 --> 00:04:36,542 In the dance, 59 00:04:36,625 --> 00:04:39,879 the dragon represents wisdom, power, and wealth. 60 00:04:39,962 --> 00:04:42,715 And it's believed that performing the dance 61 00:04:42,798 --> 00:04:46,677 scares off evil spirits and brings good luck. 62 00:04:47,595 --> 00:04:50,181 But why the dragon? 63 00:04:50,264 --> 00:04:51,891 What is it about this creature 64 00:04:51,974 --> 00:04:55,311 that so excites and mesmerizes us? 65 00:05:00,816 --> 00:05:04,195 Many cultures around the world have a dragon myth, 66 00:05:04,278 --> 00:05:06,781 although they often vary in appearance. 67 00:05:08,157 --> 00:05:11,952 European dragons are usually seen as terrifying, 68 00:05:12,036 --> 00:05:17,333 fire-breathing beasts with wings and horns. 69 00:05:17,416 --> 00:05:20,503 Whereas Asian dragons are depicted as 70 00:05:20,586 --> 00:05:22,338 wise, benevolent creatures, 71 00:05:22,421 --> 00:05:25,925 with a more serpent-like appearance. 72 00:05:26,008 --> 00:05:28,928 But if you take a closer look at the dragon, 73 00:05:29,011 --> 00:05:31,305 you can see that many of its features 74 00:05:31,389 --> 00:05:34,433 are borrowed from real animals, 75 00:05:34,517 --> 00:05:37,770 animals that have a fearsome reputation. 76 00:05:40,022 --> 00:05:42,566 A dragon's large, powerful talons 77 00:05:42,650 --> 00:05:45,569 are like those of an eagle. 78 00:05:48,823 --> 00:05:51,117 Its sharp teeth and strong limbs 79 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:52,660 are like a lion's. 80 00:05:55,204 --> 00:05:57,665 And its scales and hissing tongue 81 00:05:57,748 --> 00:06:00,835 are similar to a snake's. 82 00:06:00,918 --> 00:06:05,131 One recent scientific theory suggests that the dragon is, 83 00:06:05,214 --> 00:06:08,426 is simply a combination of those three animals. 84 00:06:08,509 --> 00:06:13,222 The animals that our early ancestors were most afraid of. 85 00:06:13,305 --> 00:06:15,141 An interesting idea indeed, 86 00:06:15,224 --> 00:06:18,310 but what lies behind this theory? 87 00:06:23,566 --> 00:06:27,069 I visited San Diego Zoo in California, 88 00:06:27,153 --> 00:06:31,073 to meet a little creature that could help to explain. 89 00:06:31,157 --> 00:06:32,741 Oh, now. 90 00:06:32,825 --> 00:06:34,160 Who have we here? 91 00:06:34,243 --> 00:06:36,370 So this is our vervet family. 92 00:06:36,454 --> 00:06:38,372 This chap here with the blue bottom, 93 00:06:38,456 --> 00:06:40,374 he's looking rather alarmed. 94 00:06:40,458 --> 00:06:42,793 So that is our dominant male in the family. 95 00:06:42,877 --> 00:06:44,920 There's some new enrichment in their enclosure 96 00:06:45,004 --> 00:06:46,547 that they haven't seen before, 97 00:06:46,630 --> 00:06:48,674 so he's letting everyone know there's something new. 98 00:06:48,757 --> 00:06:51,343 When you say enrichment, do you mean that earthen pot? 99 00:06:51,427 --> 00:06:52,845 Correct. 100 00:06:52,928 --> 00:06:54,180 - They've never seen it before? - Never seen it before. 101 00:06:54,263 --> 00:06:56,015 It has mealworms in there, 102 00:06:56,098 --> 00:06:58,684 - it has peanuts, so they have to reach their hand in. - Right. 103 00:06:58,767 --> 00:07:01,312 But because it's something new in their environment, 104 00:07:01,395 --> 00:07:03,230 he's started making that alert call 105 00:07:03,314 --> 00:07:04,732 and I don't know if you noticed, 106 00:07:04,815 --> 00:07:05,941 they all started to jump into the trees. 107 00:07:06,025 --> 00:07:07,401 They did, didn't they? 108 00:07:07,485 --> 00:07:08,819 And they were all responding to his, 109 00:07:08,903 --> 00:07:10,362 "Hey there's something new here". 110 00:07:10,446 --> 00:07:12,031 There is something new, we don't know what it is, 111 00:07:12,114 --> 00:07:13,324 everyone go to your post. 112 00:07:14,742 --> 00:07:16,035 Vervet monkeys 113 00:07:16,118 --> 00:07:18,370 can be found across most of Africa, 114 00:07:18,454 --> 00:07:20,706 and usually live in large groups, 115 00:07:20,789 --> 00:07:23,209 known as troops. 116 00:07:23,292 --> 00:07:25,628 Studies have revealed that they communicate 117 00:07:25,711 --> 00:07:28,047 in a highly sophisticated way, 118 00:07:28,130 --> 00:07:32,343 using different alarm calls for specific predators, 119 00:07:32,426 --> 00:07:35,971 to warn their troop of approaching danger. 120 00:07:39,642 --> 00:07:41,227 Is it a very particular kind of warning 121 00:07:41,310 --> 00:07:42,895 that they know means something on the ground 122 00:07:42,978 --> 00:07:44,438 rather than something on a tree? 123 00:07:44,522 --> 00:07:46,482 They do. They have three different calls. 124 00:07:46,565 --> 00:07:49,401 So they have one for something that's on the ground, like a snake. 125 00:07:49,485 --> 00:07:50,903 Oh, right. 126 00:07:50,986 --> 00:07:52,655 They have a different call for something's in the air, 127 00:07:52,738 --> 00:07:54,156 - like a bird of prey. - Yeah. 128 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,243 And then they have another call for big cats. 129 00:07:57,326 --> 00:08:00,246 Those are the three things that are most likely to threaten them? 130 00:08:00,329 --> 00:08:01,497 Correct. 131 00:08:01,580 --> 00:08:02,831 So that was a snake call, was it? 132 00:08:02,915 --> 00:08:04,416 'Cause they were all looking down. 133 00:08:04,500 --> 00:08:05,793 It was. They were all up on their tiptoes, 134 00:08:05,876 --> 00:08:07,461 they were all looking down at it. 135 00:08:07,545 --> 00:08:08,879 - Of course. - It's exactly what they do for a snake 136 00:08:08,963 --> 00:08:10,381 and, you know, I was cleaning, um, 137 00:08:10,464 --> 00:08:11,757 their bedrooms one time, 138 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,802 and they started to do the same call 139 00:08:14,885 --> 00:08:15,928 for the water hose. 140 00:08:16,011 --> 00:08:17,221 - Really? - Yeah. 141 00:08:17,304 --> 00:08:19,431 Of course, a hose is a green snake. 142 00:08:19,515 --> 00:08:20,724 They're, like, what is that? 143 00:08:22,434 --> 00:08:24,603 So what does this all mean? 144 00:08:24,687 --> 00:08:27,773 Well, it's thought that vervet alarm calls 145 00:08:27,856 --> 00:08:32,778 indicate a very deep-rooted fear of these three predators. 146 00:08:32,861 --> 00:08:34,238 And we humans, 147 00:08:34,321 --> 00:08:36,407 as the primate cousins of the vervet monkey, 148 00:08:36,490 --> 00:08:40,327 share the same instinctive fears of big cats, 149 00:08:40,411 --> 00:08:42,997 birds of prey, and snakes. 150 00:08:46,208 --> 00:08:48,002 And perhaps that primal fear 151 00:08:48,085 --> 00:08:49,962 is what led people around the world, 152 00:08:50,045 --> 00:08:53,132 to combine these three deadly animals 153 00:08:53,215 --> 00:08:57,720 into their own unique version of the almighty dragon. 154 00:09:01,390 --> 00:09:05,352 But there is another theory behind the legend of the dragon 155 00:09:05,436 --> 00:09:08,564 and it's based on a group of formidable reptiles 156 00:09:08,647 --> 00:09:11,984 that walked the Earth millions of years ago. 157 00:09:26,749 --> 00:09:29,918 If you've ever wanted to dig up a dinosaur, 158 00:09:30,002 --> 00:09:33,005 then this is the place to come. 159 00:09:33,088 --> 00:09:38,927 I am surrounded by thousands of dinosaur fossils here. 160 00:09:39,011 --> 00:09:41,013 I'm in the Valley Of Bones. 161 00:09:42,431 --> 00:09:46,602 Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Utah, America, 162 00:09:46,685 --> 00:09:51,357 has the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur fossils 163 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,567 ever found on the planet. 164 00:09:56,946 --> 00:10:00,699 So, have they dug up anything here that can help us 165 00:10:00,783 --> 00:10:04,328 decipher the dragon myth? 166 00:10:04,411 --> 00:10:07,623 I'm meeting with two of the quarry's top experts, 167 00:10:07,706 --> 00:10:11,710 Mike Leschin and Casey Dooms, to find out. 168 00:10:15,297 --> 00:10:17,424 So in terms of recent human history, 169 00:10:17,508 --> 00:10:19,385 when was this place discovered? 170 00:10:19,468 --> 00:10:22,054 We know that people knew about the area since, 171 00:10:22,137 --> 00:10:24,139 probably at least late 1800s. 172 00:10:24,223 --> 00:10:25,557 First Europeans 173 00:10:25,641 --> 00:10:27,726 undoubtedly stumbled across a lot of different 174 00:10:27,810 --> 00:10:30,604 finds of dinosaur fossils and all kinds of things. 175 00:10:30,688 --> 00:10:32,564 Because they were visible? 176 00:10:32,648 --> 00:10:34,692 Eroding out of the hills, eroding out of these formations... 177 00:10:34,775 --> 00:10:37,236 - So, sort of, bones poking up through the soil. - Mm-hmm. 178 00:10:37,319 --> 00:10:39,905 And, Mike, the Europeans, the ranchers in the 18th century, 179 00:10:39,989 --> 00:10:41,865 they had no reason to suppose 180 00:10:41,949 --> 00:10:44,868 that the creatures that were exhibited there 181 00:10:44,952 --> 00:10:46,036 were extinct. 182 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:47,788 And some people still kind of get 183 00:10:47,871 --> 00:10:49,957 confused in their head, don't they, 184 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:51,417 about the fact that obviously 185 00:10:51,500 --> 00:10:53,669 we never co-existed with these creatures. 186 00:10:53,752 --> 00:10:55,796 Oh, yeah, I've had people come out here and say, 187 00:10:55,879 --> 00:10:58,841 "I'm here 'cause I don't believe in dinosaurs." 188 00:10:58,924 --> 00:11:00,342 - Really? - And, yeah, 189 00:11:00,426 --> 00:11:02,761 so I was like, well, go look down there 190 00:11:02,845 --> 00:11:03,762 and then we'll talk. 191 00:11:05,514 --> 00:11:08,684 What about the non-Europeans, the native Americans, the Ute? 192 00:11:08,767 --> 00:11:11,311 The Ute tribe was the local tribe. 193 00:11:11,395 --> 00:11:15,774 - They knew they were the remains of a living creature. - Yeah. 194 00:11:15,858 --> 00:11:19,695 And their attitude was to respect that 195 00:11:19,778 --> 00:11:22,448 - and leave it alone. - Yeah. 196 00:11:22,531 --> 00:11:24,533 Dinosaur fossils have been found 197 00:11:24,616 --> 00:11:26,910 on every continent on Earth. 198 00:11:28,537 --> 00:11:31,665 Could they be behind the dragon story? 199 00:11:34,501 --> 00:11:37,129 If you take a look at the T-Rex, 200 00:11:37,212 --> 00:11:39,131 with its terrifying teeth, 201 00:11:39,882 --> 00:11:42,009 sharp claws, 202 00:11:42,092 --> 00:11:43,969 and enormous size, 203 00:11:44,052 --> 00:11:47,556 you can see how the idea could arise. 204 00:11:51,101 --> 00:11:53,103 Goodness me, what is this place? 205 00:11:53,187 --> 00:11:56,356 So this is the actual Cleveland-Lloyd dinosaur quarry. 206 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,194 Ah. And you've enclosed it to show off these amazing... 207 00:12:00,277 --> 00:12:02,112 - Yes. - ...specimens. 208 00:12:02,196 --> 00:12:04,907 So over here, we have some back vertebrae from a camarasaurus. 209 00:12:04,990 --> 00:12:06,492 From what animal? 210 00:12:06,575 --> 00:12:08,202 Camarasaurus, so it's a herbivorous dinosaur. 211 00:12:08,285 --> 00:12:09,995 One of the big long-necks. 212 00:12:10,078 --> 00:12:11,205 Right next to it, 213 00:12:11,288 --> 00:12:13,582 we have a tail vertebrae of an Allosaurus. 214 00:12:13,665 --> 00:12:15,042 - Oh, yeah. - The big predator, 215 00:12:15,125 --> 00:12:17,002 the major predator of the day. 216 00:12:17,085 --> 00:12:19,213 You can really see here, Casey, can't you, 217 00:12:19,296 --> 00:12:21,340 how the dragon myth can arise. 218 00:12:21,423 --> 00:12:22,841 Yeah, absolutely. 219 00:12:22,925 --> 00:12:24,760 Especially if you're finding stuff like this. 220 00:12:24,843 --> 00:12:28,305 That is a single tooth of an Allosaurus. 221 00:12:28,388 --> 00:12:30,682 Oh, my goodness. I can feel its serrations... 222 00:12:30,766 --> 00:12:32,726 - Serrations, yeah. - ...saw like, um... 223 00:12:32,810 --> 00:12:35,687 - like a steak knife for cutting through flesh. - Yeah. 224 00:12:35,771 --> 00:12:37,231 It's still, after 147 million years, 225 00:12:37,314 --> 00:12:39,358 you can still see them and you can still feel them. 226 00:12:39,441 --> 00:12:41,652 I mean, that's a dragon's tooth, 227 00:12:41,735 --> 00:12:44,530 - there's no question about it, it's just... - Yes. 228 00:12:44,613 --> 00:12:46,740 Wow. I'll give it back to you, it's very valuable. 229 00:12:46,824 --> 00:12:47,950 Look at that. 230 00:12:48,492 --> 00:12:50,202 Wow. 231 00:12:50,285 --> 00:12:53,622 Indigenous American mythology features 232 00:12:53,705 --> 00:12:55,124 dragon-like creatures 233 00:12:55,207 --> 00:12:58,752 such as the Piasa Bird, with feathery wings, 234 00:12:58,836 --> 00:13:02,256 elk's horns, and a long spiked tail. 235 00:13:03,507 --> 00:13:06,260 And the Gaasyendietha dragon, 236 00:13:06,343 --> 00:13:10,222 a lake-dwelling, fire-breathing beast. 237 00:13:10,305 --> 00:13:13,433 Perhaps these creations were inspired by fossils 238 00:13:13,517 --> 00:13:16,562 like those discovered here in Utah. 239 00:13:19,189 --> 00:13:23,110 If I was here some thousand years ago or so, 240 00:13:23,193 --> 00:13:26,238 it's easy to see how, if someone dug up 241 00:13:26,321 --> 00:13:27,614 something like this, 242 00:13:27,698 --> 00:13:30,784 it could conjure up the image of a dragon, 243 00:13:30,868 --> 00:13:33,078 and terrifying it would be, 244 00:13:33,161 --> 00:13:35,163 because how could I know that 245 00:13:35,247 --> 00:13:38,417 this was from a species that had gone extinct 246 00:13:38,500 --> 00:13:40,544 millions of years ago. 247 00:13:40,627 --> 00:13:42,212 As far as I was concerned, 248 00:13:42,296 --> 00:13:47,551 this was one of the species that was still very much alive 249 00:13:47,634 --> 00:13:51,263 and might swoop down on me at any moment. 250 00:14:00,314 --> 00:14:03,317 In the world of fantastic beasts, 251 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:04,985 there is another creature 252 00:14:05,068 --> 00:14:08,447 that's as universally recognized as the dragon. 253 00:14:15,996 --> 00:14:18,332 You know, there's one mythical creature 254 00:14:18,415 --> 00:14:21,960 whose popularity seems to be even greater today 255 00:14:22,044 --> 00:14:23,879 than it's ever been. 256 00:14:23,962 --> 00:14:26,882 And it's one of the few magical animals 257 00:14:26,965 --> 00:14:29,134 that isn't a terrifying monster. 258 00:14:29,217 --> 00:14:32,804 Indeed it's famous for its peaceful, 259 00:14:32,888 --> 00:14:35,057 benevolent nature. 260 00:14:35,140 --> 00:14:38,769 I'm talking, of course, about the unicorn. 261 00:14:40,729 --> 00:14:41,939 One more! 262 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,112 I'm on my way to a country which was once so convinced 263 00:14:49,196 --> 00:14:52,616 that this mystical creature was real, 264 00:14:52,699 --> 00:14:55,786 that they named it their national animal. 265 00:15:03,210 --> 00:15:06,463 Often depicted as a beautiful, horse-like creature 266 00:15:06,546 --> 00:15:10,842 with flowing mane, and long, spiraled horn, 267 00:15:10,926 --> 00:15:15,138 the unicorn is a symbol of purity and innocence. 268 00:15:15,222 --> 00:15:17,349 Believed to have magical powers, 269 00:15:17,432 --> 00:15:20,811 the unicorn's horn was said to heal sickness 270 00:15:20,894 --> 00:15:23,230 and protect against poison. 271 00:15:25,816 --> 00:15:27,317 In recent years, 272 00:15:27,401 --> 00:15:31,113 unicorns have seen a huge surge in popularity. 273 00:15:32,864 --> 00:15:36,910 But this adoration is nothing new in Scotland, 274 00:15:36,994 --> 00:15:40,414 where the unicorn has been revered for centuries. 275 00:15:42,958 --> 00:15:47,129 So what is this obsession all about? 276 00:15:47,212 --> 00:15:49,047 I've come to Stirling Castle, 277 00:15:49,131 --> 00:15:53,802 to meet historian Professor Donna Heddle, to find out. 278 00:15:53,885 --> 00:15:56,179 - Professor Heddle. - Oh, call me Donna. 279 00:15:56,263 --> 00:15:57,139 Donna. 280 00:15:57,222 --> 00:15:58,348 What a place. 281 00:16:02,269 --> 00:16:04,021 Oh, my goodness. 282 00:16:05,022 --> 00:16:08,108 Unicorns absolutely everywhere. 283 00:16:08,191 --> 00:16:09,651 I know. It's splendid, isn't it? 284 00:16:09,735 --> 00:16:11,820 And there are more all round the room. 285 00:16:11,903 --> 00:16:14,197 This tells us the story of the hunt of the unicorn. 286 00:16:14,281 --> 00:16:15,866 It's an allegorical piece. 287 00:16:15,949 --> 00:16:17,325 Based on tapestries, 288 00:16:17,409 --> 00:16:19,327 we know that we're in the collection of James V. 289 00:16:19,411 --> 00:16:21,997 I think they're called "The History of the Unicorn." 290 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,292 America has a Bald Eagle, and France has a Cockrel, 291 00:16:25,375 --> 00:16:28,253 and we have a Lion in England... 292 00:16:28,336 --> 00:16:31,590 you, in Scotland, don't have a real animal, 293 00:16:31,673 --> 00:16:33,091 you have a mythical animal. 294 00:16:33,175 --> 00:16:35,010 Why is that, do you think? 295 00:16:35,093 --> 00:16:36,928 Well, I think at the time when it was chosen, 296 00:16:37,012 --> 00:16:40,015 people did think it was real, they did believe in it, 297 00:16:40,098 --> 00:16:41,850 but it's a kind of a thing in the 15th century, 298 00:16:41,933 --> 00:16:43,810 lots of kings were adopting animals 299 00:16:43,894 --> 00:16:45,270 as their personal symbols 300 00:16:45,353 --> 00:16:47,439 and the unicorn became the symbol of Scotland 301 00:16:47,522 --> 00:16:50,817 because it is untamable, it is undefeatable. 302 00:16:50,901 --> 00:16:53,653 Oh, so that's a symbol of Scotland's sense of itself. 303 00:16:53,737 --> 00:16:54,613 Absolutely. 304 00:16:54,696 --> 00:16:56,490 It's brave, it's courageous, 305 00:16:56,573 --> 00:16:57,991 what's not to like? 306 00:16:58,075 --> 00:17:00,077 - How cool is that for a national symbol? - Yes. 307 00:17:02,537 --> 00:17:04,039 In the Middle Ages, 308 00:17:04,122 --> 00:17:07,501 the evidence used to prove that unicorns existed, 309 00:17:07,584 --> 00:17:11,463 came from another mysterious creature entirely. 310 00:17:13,590 --> 00:17:17,302 A genuine unicorn horn. 311 00:17:17,385 --> 00:17:21,640 Or is it in fact a narwhal tusk? 312 00:17:21,723 --> 00:17:23,141 I think it's a narwhal tusk. 313 00:17:23,225 --> 00:17:25,227 In fact, it's a replica of a narwhal tusk, 314 00:17:25,310 --> 00:17:26,728 'cause we wouldn't have such a thing... 315 00:17:26,812 --> 00:17:29,689 obviously, they belong on the narwhal's head. 316 00:17:29,773 --> 00:17:31,441 Um, they, sort of, grow up like that. 317 00:17:31,525 --> 00:17:35,987 I mean, extraordinary things on the narwhal. 318 00:17:36,071 --> 00:17:39,699 And you can see why somebody enterprising, 319 00:17:39,783 --> 00:17:41,701 who unfortunately caught one of those whales 320 00:17:41,785 --> 00:17:45,330 and sawed off his tusk would have thought, 321 00:17:45,413 --> 00:17:48,458 "I can sell this as a unicorn horn." 322 00:17:48,542 --> 00:17:50,210 Because that's just what it looks like. 323 00:17:50,293 --> 00:17:51,962 And it's quite beautiful. 324 00:17:54,965 --> 00:17:58,760 The narwhal is an elusive toothed whale 325 00:17:58,844 --> 00:18:01,179 found in Arctic waters. 326 00:18:01,263 --> 00:18:02,722 The spectacular tusk, 327 00:18:02,806 --> 00:18:05,475 usually only found on male narwhals, 328 00:18:05,559 --> 00:18:09,396 is actually an overgrown spiralized tooth. 329 00:18:10,939 --> 00:18:12,524 Scientists are still unsure 330 00:18:12,607 --> 00:18:14,693 as to what exactly the tusk is for, 331 00:18:14,776 --> 00:18:19,030 but it's thought that it may be used to break through ice, 332 00:18:19,114 --> 00:18:20,532 help catch fish, 333 00:18:20,615 --> 00:18:25,704 or possibly to impress female narwhals. 334 00:18:25,787 --> 00:18:28,748 I believe I'm right in saying that these did change hands 335 00:18:28,832 --> 00:18:31,293 for quite astonishing sums of money. 336 00:18:31,376 --> 00:18:32,878 Vast sums of money. 337 00:18:32,961 --> 00:18:35,297 We know that Queen Elizabeth I, paid 10 thousand pounds 338 00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:37,549 and that, that's kept in the Tower of London, for example, 339 00:18:37,632 --> 00:18:40,260 so it's a very high status object. 340 00:18:40,343 --> 00:18:42,220 Who created this market? 341 00:18:42,304 --> 00:18:43,722 Well, they were mainly people 342 00:18:43,805 --> 00:18:45,307 who were fishing in the North of Norway 343 00:18:45,390 --> 00:18:48,101 or Greenland in the Arctic, Scandinavia. 344 00:18:48,185 --> 00:18:51,021 They would come across the narwhals, and it was a huge trade. 345 00:18:51,104 --> 00:18:52,564 And the idea was that 346 00:18:52,647 --> 00:18:54,900 it obviously was a symbol of your own power and wealth, 347 00:18:54,983 --> 00:18:56,651 but also that it would protect you in some way? 348 00:18:56,735 --> 00:18:59,112 That's right, the purity of the unicorn. 349 00:18:59,196 --> 00:19:01,615 This was believed to be able to purify water, 350 00:19:01,698 --> 00:19:03,033 and to guard against poisons. 351 00:19:03,116 --> 00:19:05,243 Also, in a rather more mundane fashion 352 00:19:05,327 --> 00:19:06,578 to cure boils and plague. 353 00:19:06,661 --> 00:19:08,622 And it was used by apothecaries 354 00:19:08,705 --> 00:19:09,915 up until the 18th century. 355 00:19:09,998 --> 00:19:11,541 It was called alicorn powder. 356 00:19:11,625 --> 00:19:13,084 A mere pinch of this 357 00:19:13,168 --> 00:19:15,378 would have been beyond the dreams of ordinary men. 358 00:19:15,462 --> 00:19:16,671 Right. 359 00:19:18,215 --> 00:19:21,760 It's thought the first written reference to unicorns 360 00:19:21,843 --> 00:19:25,263 dates back to over 2,000 years ago. 361 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:27,933 Over that time, 362 00:19:28,016 --> 00:19:30,143 many real animals have been linked 363 00:19:30,227 --> 00:19:32,354 with this mythical creature. 364 00:19:34,856 --> 00:19:36,191 The Arabian oryx, 365 00:19:36,274 --> 00:19:38,985 also known as the Arabian unicorn, 366 00:19:39,069 --> 00:19:41,738 has two long slender horns, 367 00:19:41,821 --> 00:19:43,823 and when viewed in profile, 368 00:19:43,907 --> 00:19:45,951 their horns can appear as one, 369 00:19:46,034 --> 00:19:49,120 making them closely resemble a unicorn. 370 00:19:53,041 --> 00:19:56,044 But there's another, rather different animal 371 00:19:56,127 --> 00:19:59,214 that is part of the unicorn story, 372 00:19:59,297 --> 00:20:00,924 one that may have 373 00:20:01,007 --> 00:20:03,385 the strongest connection of all. 374 00:20:07,722 --> 00:20:11,393 There they are, the little armored tanks. 375 00:20:18,233 --> 00:20:19,859 The rhinoceros, the rhino, 376 00:20:19,943 --> 00:20:23,530 surely one of nature's most iconic creatures, 377 00:20:23,613 --> 00:20:27,784 with its unmistakable thick, gray hide 378 00:20:27,867 --> 00:20:31,329 and its signature horn. 379 00:20:31,413 --> 00:20:34,708 I call it one of nature's masterpieces. 380 00:20:34,791 --> 00:20:37,085 An extraordinary, unique beauty, aren't you? 381 00:20:37,168 --> 00:20:38,670 Yes. 382 00:20:43,633 --> 00:20:47,679 These magnificent creatures are Indian rhinoceros, 383 00:20:47,762 --> 00:20:50,849 and their scientific species name is, 384 00:20:50,932 --> 00:20:55,061 splendidly, "Rhinoceros Unicornis." 385 00:20:56,104 --> 00:20:58,064 And they are, in fact, 386 00:20:58,148 --> 00:21:01,067 distantly related to a real unicorn. 387 00:21:01,985 --> 00:21:03,361 Oh, come now, Stephen. 388 00:21:03,445 --> 00:21:06,031 Well, millions of years ago, 389 00:21:06,114 --> 00:21:10,201 a creature called Elasmotherium Sibiricum, 390 00:21:10,285 --> 00:21:13,079 the Siberian Unicorn, 391 00:21:13,163 --> 00:21:17,042 roamed between Asia and Europe and around 392 00:21:17,125 --> 00:21:19,502 for many, many millions of years. 393 00:21:22,130 --> 00:21:23,715 These prehistoric rhinos 394 00:21:23,798 --> 00:21:26,217 wouldn't have looked terribly different 395 00:21:26,301 --> 00:21:28,345 to the ones we know today. 396 00:21:28,428 --> 00:21:30,305 But they were enormous. 397 00:21:30,388 --> 00:21:32,724 Twice the size of modern rhinos, 398 00:21:32,807 --> 00:21:35,143 at around three meters tall, 399 00:21:35,226 --> 00:21:37,395 covered in thick, shaggy hair, 400 00:21:37,479 --> 00:21:41,524 and thought to have a single, large horn. 401 00:21:41,608 --> 00:21:44,736 The Siberian Unicorn is believed to have grazed 402 00:21:44,819 --> 00:21:46,988 almost entirely on grass, 403 00:21:47,072 --> 00:21:48,990 and despite its large size, 404 00:21:49,074 --> 00:21:53,953 was built to run at speed across the plains. 405 00:21:54,037 --> 00:21:58,875 They survived all the way up to about 39,000 years ago, 406 00:21:58,958 --> 00:22:00,293 when they became extinct. 407 00:22:00,377 --> 00:22:02,670 But at that time, we were there, 408 00:22:02,754 --> 00:22:04,422 we, homo-sapiens. 409 00:22:04,506 --> 00:22:05,757 We'd developed language, 410 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:07,967 and so, we were able to tell each other 411 00:22:08,051 --> 00:22:10,387 about meeting these incredible creatures, 412 00:22:10,470 --> 00:22:12,555 what would we have thought of them? 413 00:22:12,639 --> 00:22:17,477 Perhaps that's another reason why the idea of the unicorn 414 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,813 entered the human imagination. 415 00:23:15,869 --> 00:23:19,539 Of all the eerie legends of the ocean depths, 416 00:23:19,622 --> 00:23:22,417 there is one that has enthralled us 417 00:23:22,500 --> 00:23:24,586 more than any other... 418 00:23:25,378 --> 00:23:26,713 The Kraken. 419 00:23:29,924 --> 00:23:32,051 Over 500 years ago, 420 00:23:32,135 --> 00:23:36,055 sailors first told of an enormous sea monster, 421 00:23:36,139 --> 00:23:39,684 said to live in the waters off Norway and Iceland, 422 00:23:39,767 --> 00:23:42,145 which had long, snake-like arms 423 00:23:42,228 --> 00:23:45,815 covered in suckers for grabbing prey. 424 00:23:45,899 --> 00:23:48,026 Some stories reported the monster 425 00:23:48,109 --> 00:23:50,570 as being two kilometers in length, 426 00:23:50,653 --> 00:23:55,700 with tentacles as thick and long as ship's masts. 427 00:23:55,783 --> 00:23:59,329 By the 18th century, scientists truly believed 428 00:23:59,412 --> 00:24:01,915 that the Kraken was a living, breathing animal, 429 00:24:01,998 --> 00:24:03,374 and so it was included 430 00:24:03,458 --> 00:24:05,877 in all the highly-respected scientific journals 431 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,047 of the time, including the Systema Naturae, 432 00:24:09,130 --> 00:24:11,883 developed by the famous Swedish naturalist, 433 00:24:11,966 --> 00:24:13,551 Carl Linnaeus. 434 00:24:13,635 --> 00:24:18,181 Was there really a huge monster living in the ocean depths, 435 00:24:18,264 --> 00:24:21,935 that overturned ships and devoured sailors? 436 00:24:25,438 --> 00:24:30,068 This is the Natural History Museum's Tank Room, 437 00:24:30,151 --> 00:24:35,573 home to thousands of the most incredible scientific specimens. 438 00:24:35,657 --> 00:24:37,742 And there's one in particular 439 00:24:37,825 --> 00:24:40,328 that may explain our Kraken myth, 440 00:24:40,411 --> 00:24:43,915 along with a little help from museum curator, 441 00:24:43,998 --> 00:24:45,542 Jon Ablett. 442 00:24:47,544 --> 00:24:49,921 - Hello there. Jon. - Hello. 443 00:24:50,004 --> 00:24:51,339 Good to meet you, 444 00:24:51,422 --> 00:24:53,758 thanks for showing me around your incredible... 445 00:24:55,301 --> 00:24:58,012 What the heck is that? 446 00:24:58,096 --> 00:25:00,932 Well, this is Archie, our beautiful giant squid specimen. 447 00:25:01,015 --> 00:25:02,183 This is a giant squid. 448 00:25:02,267 --> 00:25:04,018 I mean, one hears about giant squids 449 00:25:04,102 --> 00:25:06,271 and one imagines that they are, 450 00:25:06,354 --> 00:25:08,940 maybe, what people mean by sea monsters. 451 00:25:09,023 --> 00:25:11,192 Is this what they are? Are these the monsters? 452 00:25:11,276 --> 00:25:13,987 Well, I mean, we don't really know what people were seeing, 453 00:25:14,070 --> 00:25:16,864 when we think of these kind of old-fashioned sea monsters, 454 00:25:16,948 --> 00:25:18,950 but these are definitely a great candidate. 455 00:25:19,033 --> 00:25:21,119 I mean, they get up to about 13 meters. 456 00:25:21,202 --> 00:25:24,872 So Archie here, is about 8.6 meters, so not fully grown. 457 00:25:24,956 --> 00:25:26,708 - Is this a junior? - This is a junior. 458 00:25:26,791 --> 00:25:28,668 So the females, we think, get to about 13, 459 00:25:28,751 --> 00:25:30,837 the males about 10, 11. 460 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,964 Oh, I can't imagine what it must be like, 461 00:25:33,047 --> 00:25:35,633 seeing one of those actually in the water. 462 00:25:37,302 --> 00:25:41,097 One of the most elusive creatures on the planet, 463 00:25:41,180 --> 00:25:45,727 giant squid are believed to weigh up to 500 kilos 464 00:25:45,810 --> 00:25:50,148 and inhabit the deepest oceans around the world. 465 00:25:50,231 --> 00:25:54,611 This incredibly rare footage was captured by scientists 466 00:25:54,694 --> 00:25:59,449 in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico in 2019. 467 00:25:59,532 --> 00:26:01,284 Thought to be a juvenile, 468 00:26:01,367 --> 00:26:04,120 and measuring over three and a half meters, 469 00:26:04,203 --> 00:26:06,164 the squid is attempting to feed 470 00:26:06,247 --> 00:26:09,959 on a decoy bioluminescent jellyfish. 471 00:26:10,043 --> 00:26:13,087 This is only the second time in history 472 00:26:13,171 --> 00:26:17,383 that a giant squid has been filmed in the wild. 473 00:26:17,467 --> 00:26:20,553 So that, sort of, um, child's adventure book 474 00:26:20,637 --> 00:26:23,348 with a huge tentacle coming in to the deck, 475 00:26:23,431 --> 00:26:26,476 and wrapping itself around an unfortunate sailor 476 00:26:26,559 --> 00:26:29,020 - is not very likely? - Pretty unlikely. 477 00:26:29,103 --> 00:26:30,772 I mean, these live at really great depths, 478 00:26:30,855 --> 00:26:33,066 we're thinking, possibly down to 2,000 meters, 479 00:26:33,149 --> 00:26:35,735 and it's actually very likely they can't actually breathe at the surface. 480 00:26:35,818 --> 00:26:37,153 Really? 481 00:26:37,236 --> 00:26:39,280 Oh, look, there's more, you've got suckers and... 482 00:26:39,364 --> 00:26:40,698 There's a wonderful... 483 00:26:40,782 --> 00:26:42,867 Well, this isn't actually part of a giant squid, 484 00:26:42,950 --> 00:26:45,495 there is something that possibly gets even bigger. 485 00:26:45,578 --> 00:26:47,246 This is actually from a colossal squid. 486 00:26:47,330 --> 00:26:49,290 We think they get bigger than the giant squid, 487 00:26:49,374 --> 00:26:51,209 possibly up to 18 meters. 488 00:26:51,292 --> 00:26:53,002 Eighteen meters! 489 00:26:53,836 --> 00:26:55,713 Wow. 490 00:26:55,797 --> 00:26:58,758 So if you have a look inside, a closer look. 491 00:27:03,388 --> 00:27:06,474 Wow. I can see the suckers so clearly. 492 00:27:06,557 --> 00:27:09,811 So here you can see just the very tip 493 00:27:09,894 --> 00:27:12,855 of a tentacle of a colossal squid. 494 00:27:12,939 --> 00:27:14,482 And you can see, they have these 495 00:27:14,565 --> 00:27:17,318 traditional circular suckers with the saw-toothed edge, 496 00:27:17,402 --> 00:27:19,821 - just like you see in lots of squid. - Yeah. Yeah. 497 00:27:19,904 --> 00:27:22,740 But also these very sharp talon like... 498 00:27:22,824 --> 00:27:24,701 Oh, yes, I can see that. 499 00:27:24,784 --> 00:27:25,785 Ooh! 500 00:27:25,868 --> 00:27:27,537 Goodness they are, aren't they? 501 00:27:27,620 --> 00:27:29,038 Two or three in each sucker, 502 00:27:29,122 --> 00:27:32,709 that are these claws, these thorns. 503 00:27:32,792 --> 00:27:35,253 Even the ones that don't have thorns have a certain 504 00:27:35,336 --> 00:27:37,255 sort of raspy burr to them, don't they? 505 00:27:37,338 --> 00:27:40,174 Yeah, they, sort of, have a serrated saw-tooth edge as well, so, yeah. 506 00:27:40,258 --> 00:27:43,636 I mean, absolutely terrifying, you don't want to be caught by one of these. 507 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,723 Even bigger than its giant cousin, 508 00:27:46,806 --> 00:27:51,436 the colossal squid is the largest invertebrate on Earth. 509 00:27:51,519 --> 00:27:56,441 Potentially almost as long as an early sailing ship. 510 00:27:56,524 --> 00:27:58,776 These mysterious creatures 511 00:27:58,860 --> 00:28:02,321 live in the icy depths of Antarctic waters, 512 00:28:02,405 --> 00:28:03,906 and most of what we know 513 00:28:03,990 --> 00:28:06,659 is based on a small number of carcasses 514 00:28:06,743 --> 00:28:09,620 found by deep-sea fishing vessels. 515 00:28:10,496 --> 00:28:12,165 Images like these 516 00:28:12,248 --> 00:28:16,252 are almost the only evidence we have of their existence. 517 00:28:17,253 --> 00:28:19,756 Did these enormous squid, 518 00:28:19,839 --> 00:28:23,634 found washed ashore or caught in nets long ago, 519 00:28:23,718 --> 00:28:27,805 launch the legend of the Kraken? 520 00:28:27,889 --> 00:28:29,807 I mean, they really are so other-worldly, aren't they? 521 00:28:29,891 --> 00:28:31,684 Yeah. And it's hard not to be scared 522 00:28:31,768 --> 00:28:34,687 at the thought of one of those tendrils 523 00:28:34,771 --> 00:28:36,773 coming out and grabbing you. 524 00:28:36,856 --> 00:28:39,233 It is a pretty primal nightmare. 525 00:28:39,317 --> 00:28:40,318 It certainly is. 526 00:28:44,238 --> 00:28:47,241 Sailors could spin wonderful yarns 527 00:28:47,325 --> 00:28:51,037 about the strange sights they saw at sea. 528 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:55,541 But not all the tales they told were of the terrifying type, 529 00:28:55,625 --> 00:28:58,628 some took a more appealing form. 530 00:29:00,713 --> 00:29:03,174 Mermaids have featured in legends 531 00:29:03,257 --> 00:29:06,552 from around the world for thousands of years. 532 00:29:08,429 --> 00:29:12,058 In 1493, the explorer Christopher Columbus, 533 00:29:12,141 --> 00:29:13,643 sailing to the Americas, 534 00:29:13,726 --> 00:29:17,605 saw what he believed to be three mermaids, 535 00:29:17,688 --> 00:29:19,065 describing them as 536 00:29:19,148 --> 00:29:21,692 "not so beautiful as they are said to be, 537 00:29:21,776 --> 00:29:25,029 for their faces had some masculine traits." 538 00:29:26,989 --> 00:29:30,952 But some scientists now think that what he actually saw 539 00:29:31,035 --> 00:29:33,079 was a creature that is still found 540 00:29:33,162 --> 00:29:36,290 along the coasts of North America today. 541 00:29:41,379 --> 00:29:43,548 Crystal River in Florida, 542 00:29:43,631 --> 00:29:47,218 is home to these enigmatic animals. 543 00:29:49,846 --> 00:29:52,431 There's one. Its little nose popped up to say hello. 544 00:29:57,979 --> 00:30:01,691 These incredible creatures are manatees, or sea cows, 545 00:30:01,774 --> 00:30:04,485 and they're the ocean's largest herbivore 546 00:30:04,569 --> 00:30:07,947 or grazer, in their case on sea grass. 547 00:30:08,030 --> 00:30:10,157 And despite their massive bulk, 548 00:30:10,241 --> 00:30:13,536 unlike me, they are incredibly graceful swimmers. 549 00:30:16,372 --> 00:30:19,750 Local manatee expert Monica Scroggin 550 00:30:19,834 --> 00:30:22,545 has studied the population on this river 551 00:30:22,628 --> 00:30:24,338 for a number of years. 552 00:30:25,631 --> 00:30:27,717 What brings the manatees to this place? 553 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,052 Do they find it as beautiful as everyone else does? 554 00:30:30,136 --> 00:30:32,138 So actually, it's the water temperature, 555 00:30:32,221 --> 00:30:35,683 but that's because they have a very small metabolism, 556 00:30:35,766 --> 00:30:39,729 so they have to eat about ten percent of their body fat 557 00:30:39,812 --> 00:30:41,606 every single day. 558 00:30:41,689 --> 00:30:43,691 So for a thousand pound manatee, 559 00:30:43,774 --> 00:30:45,902 that's about a hundred pounds of food. 560 00:30:45,985 --> 00:30:47,278 - My goodness. - Yes. 561 00:30:47,361 --> 00:30:50,323 It is a lot of green vegetables. 562 00:30:51,532 --> 00:30:53,451 Manatees can be found 563 00:30:53,534 --> 00:30:56,829 along the coasts and rivers of North America, 564 00:30:56,913 --> 00:31:01,667 the Amazon in South America, and Western Africa. 565 00:31:03,294 --> 00:31:06,797 Though populations are on the rise in Florida, 566 00:31:06,881 --> 00:31:09,800 manatee numbers are declining worldwide, 567 00:31:09,884 --> 00:31:13,429 and they are considered vulnerable to extinction. 568 00:31:15,389 --> 00:31:17,850 Measuring over three meters in length, 569 00:31:17,934 --> 00:31:22,146 these gentle giants often travel long distances 570 00:31:22,229 --> 00:31:24,523 in search of seagrass. 571 00:31:26,525 --> 00:31:31,989 Manatee tails certainly look very mermaid-like. 572 00:31:32,073 --> 00:31:35,493 Perhaps it's the graceful way they move in the water 573 00:31:35,576 --> 00:31:38,120 that has inspired these legends. 574 00:31:39,914 --> 00:31:42,667 Or had the sailors who glimpsed them 575 00:31:42,750 --> 00:31:45,795 simply been at sea for too long? 576 00:31:48,255 --> 00:31:49,590 And when you look at manatees, 577 00:31:49,674 --> 00:31:52,009 do you see merpeople, mermen and mermaids? 578 00:31:52,093 --> 00:31:55,429 I do. I think they have the similar shape. 579 00:31:55,513 --> 00:31:58,724 They have the similar tail, their flippers. 580 00:31:58,808 --> 00:32:00,643 Yeah. Do they use them almost like hands? 581 00:32:00,726 --> 00:32:02,937 I mean, obviously, they're not opposable thumbs or anything. 582 00:32:03,020 --> 00:32:05,022 Right, but they almost are. 583 00:32:05,106 --> 00:32:07,858 You could think of their flipper, like our hands, 584 00:32:07,942 --> 00:32:09,527 but only with skin covering it. 585 00:32:09,610 --> 00:32:11,570 Their bones look just like ours. 586 00:32:12,655 --> 00:32:14,532 The manatee skeleton 587 00:32:14,615 --> 00:32:18,661 could also hold a clue to the mermaid myth. 588 00:32:18,744 --> 00:32:21,664 Take a look at their arms and hands, 589 00:32:21,747 --> 00:32:24,333 and you can see they are similar to ours. 590 00:32:24,417 --> 00:32:29,630 Yet their tail bones are unmistakably fish-like. 591 00:32:29,714 --> 00:32:32,383 It's easy to see how these skeletons 592 00:32:32,466 --> 00:32:34,677 washing up on shores long ago, 593 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:39,765 could have inspired the idea of a mysterious half-human, 594 00:32:39,849 --> 00:32:42,018 half-sea creature. 595 00:32:43,978 --> 00:32:47,732 Well, I'm not entirely sure about these theories, 596 00:32:47,815 --> 00:32:50,943 so perhaps I'd better take a closer look. 597 00:32:51,652 --> 00:32:52,737 Here goes. 598 00:33:14,633 --> 00:33:17,261 Wow, they are amazing. 599 00:33:17,344 --> 00:33:19,430 So much bigger underwater 600 00:33:19,513 --> 00:33:22,433 and yet still so graceful. 601 00:33:22,516 --> 00:33:24,602 But they don't seem to mind my presence there, 602 00:33:24,685 --> 00:33:29,273 they just gently nibble away at that sea grass. 603 00:33:30,608 --> 00:33:31,650 Incredible. 604 00:33:38,699 --> 00:33:40,951 It's not hard to imagine, is it, how a sailor, 605 00:33:41,035 --> 00:33:43,662 far from home after a long voyage 606 00:33:43,746 --> 00:33:46,665 and maybe after a little tot of rum, 607 00:33:46,749 --> 00:33:49,001 looks out and sees a manatee 608 00:33:49,085 --> 00:33:52,546 and in his mind's eye, there's a mermaid. 609 00:33:52,630 --> 00:33:54,131 A beautiful mermaid. 610 00:33:54,215 --> 00:33:57,051 All right, perhaps a large tot of rum. 611 00:33:58,886 --> 00:34:02,640 Meanwhile, the mermaid myth lives on. 612 00:34:07,561 --> 00:34:09,146 Fantastic beasts 613 00:34:09,230 --> 00:34:14,151 don't just lurk on land or slither through seas. 614 00:34:15,736 --> 00:34:18,447 From Pegasus... 615 00:34:18,531 --> 00:34:20,324 to the hippogriff... 616 00:34:22,243 --> 00:34:23,911 Thestrals... 617 00:34:24,912 --> 00:34:28,165 to Thunderbirds... 618 00:34:28,249 --> 00:34:32,837 many magical creatures can be found on the wing, 619 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,673 soaring across the skies. 620 00:34:45,766 --> 00:34:48,185 Oh, good Lord. Chris, hello. 621 00:34:48,269 --> 00:34:50,020 Hi. 622 00:34:50,104 --> 00:34:52,898 What's the name of this extraordinary creature? 623 00:34:52,982 --> 00:34:57,319 This is Nikita, and she's a Steller's sea eagle. 624 00:34:57,403 --> 00:34:59,280 A sea eagle. 625 00:34:59,363 --> 00:35:02,116 So beautiful. 626 00:35:02,199 --> 00:35:06,078 And that beak, is it a specialist beak for fish? 627 00:35:06,162 --> 00:35:07,371 That's a serious beak. 628 00:35:07,455 --> 00:35:09,290 It's designed for cutting flesh, 629 00:35:09,373 --> 00:35:12,585 but a fish pulled out of the water at minus 40 630 00:35:12,668 --> 00:35:15,045 is gonna be a block of ice within a couple of moments, 631 00:35:15,129 --> 00:35:17,590 - so that's what that tin opener is for. - Oh. 632 00:35:17,673 --> 00:35:19,758 And those trousers, I love those, 633 00:35:19,842 --> 00:35:21,927 shaggy, shaggy feet. 634 00:35:22,011 --> 00:35:25,055 On the soles of her feet, she's got almost like Velcro, 635 00:35:25,139 --> 00:35:27,099 to enable her to grab hold of slippery fish 636 00:35:27,183 --> 00:35:30,269 - and pull them off the surface of the water. Yeah. - Of course. 637 00:35:32,146 --> 00:35:37,067 As you can see, Nikita is no myth, she's all reality. 638 00:35:37,151 --> 00:35:38,736 Steller's sea eagles, 639 00:35:38,819 --> 00:35:41,447 they're amongst the largest eagles in the world, 640 00:35:41,530 --> 00:35:43,908 and they're formidable predators. 641 00:35:43,991 --> 00:35:47,036 There have been stories over the years, of course, 642 00:35:47,119 --> 00:35:49,914 of eagles attacking humans, 643 00:35:49,997 --> 00:35:52,750 which is why, perhaps, it isn't surprising 644 00:35:52,833 --> 00:35:55,586 that stories through the ages have been passed down 645 00:35:55,669 --> 00:35:58,422 of mythical winged beasts 646 00:35:58,505 --> 00:36:01,342 with enormous claws and beaks. 647 00:36:02,384 --> 00:36:04,136 And with that in mind, 648 00:36:04,220 --> 00:36:06,847 it's time for me to get a bit closer, 649 00:36:06,931 --> 00:36:08,057 so wish me luck. 650 00:36:13,812 --> 00:36:15,105 Right, Stephen, so, 651 00:36:15,189 --> 00:36:17,441 essentially it needs to be upright. 652 00:36:17,524 --> 00:36:19,026 - Oh, like that. Right. - Yeah. 653 00:36:19,109 --> 00:36:20,986 And now, I'm gonna place the bird on your arm on the top 654 00:36:21,070 --> 00:36:23,322 and then you've just gotta keep your arm nice and level 655 00:36:23,405 --> 00:36:25,491 and just slightly away from your body. 656 00:36:25,574 --> 00:36:27,534 It's gonna be heavy. 657 00:36:27,618 --> 00:36:29,620 So I'm now gonna give you the weight. 658 00:36:29,703 --> 00:36:31,330 Oh, my heavens. 659 00:36:32,498 --> 00:36:33,540 Wow. 660 00:36:34,875 --> 00:36:37,294 Enormous as you are, 661 00:36:37,378 --> 00:36:40,172 you'd be small compared to some of your ancestors, 662 00:36:40,256 --> 00:36:43,842 both real and mythical. 663 00:36:43,926 --> 00:36:47,930 One flying beast that appears in ancient tales 664 00:36:48,013 --> 00:36:51,600 from the Middle East is known as the Roc. 665 00:36:51,684 --> 00:36:53,936 Described as an enormous eagle, 666 00:36:54,019 --> 00:36:57,606 it was said to be strong enough to carry off an elephant. 667 00:36:58,565 --> 00:37:00,192 Inspiration for the Roc 668 00:37:00,276 --> 00:37:03,988 is believed to have come from the eggs of a real bird, 669 00:37:04,071 --> 00:37:05,489 Aepyornis... 670 00:37:05,572 --> 00:37:09,743 which lived in Madagascar over 40,000 years ago. 671 00:37:09,827 --> 00:37:12,413 One of the largest flightless birds 672 00:37:12,496 --> 00:37:13,998 ever to have existed, 673 00:37:14,081 --> 00:37:19,295 at over three meters tall and weighing 500 kilos. 674 00:37:19,378 --> 00:37:21,964 Also known as the Elephant Bird, 675 00:37:22,047 --> 00:37:25,050 it went extinct around a thousand years ago. 676 00:37:25,134 --> 00:37:30,806 But its eggs were so huge, as large as 150 chicken eggs, 677 00:37:30,889 --> 00:37:35,602 that people thought they must belong to the legendary Roc. 678 00:37:35,686 --> 00:37:38,355 Aren't you amazing? Well, I think it's time you had her back. 679 00:37:38,439 --> 00:37:41,525 So I'll hand her over to you. 680 00:37:44,528 --> 00:37:47,031 Perhaps, it's the very mysteriousness 681 00:37:47,114 --> 00:37:48,490 of flight itself, 682 00:37:48,574 --> 00:37:50,868 that has inspired these stories 683 00:37:50,951 --> 00:37:54,621 of legendary flying creatures, over the centuries. 684 00:37:54,705 --> 00:37:58,542 That, and a fear of the very powerful 685 00:37:58,625 --> 00:38:01,920 and very real birds themselves. 686 00:38:06,467 --> 00:38:07,968 Goodness. 687 00:38:08,052 --> 00:38:10,429 Fortunately, nobody's told Nikita 688 00:38:10,512 --> 00:38:14,099 how delicious I am, so I think I'm safe. 689 00:38:28,989 --> 00:38:32,117 Stories of fantastical beasts 690 00:38:32,201 --> 00:38:34,370 aren't just a thing of the past. 691 00:38:40,834 --> 00:38:44,004 And there's one world-famous legend 692 00:38:44,088 --> 00:38:47,341 that is alive and well here in Scotland... 693 00:38:49,176 --> 00:38:50,886 The Loch Ness Monster. 694 00:38:52,930 --> 00:38:57,101 The origin story of this iconic monster 695 00:38:57,184 --> 00:39:01,021 can be traced back to around 1500 years ago 696 00:39:01,105 --> 00:39:04,316 when Irish missionaries and Columba 697 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,820 was said to have encountered a beast 698 00:39:07,903 --> 00:39:09,780 in the River Ness. 699 00:39:09,863 --> 00:39:11,323 Over the years, 700 00:39:11,407 --> 00:39:14,326 thousands of people have claimed to see Nessie 701 00:39:14,410 --> 00:39:15,994 and there have been numerous attempts 702 00:39:16,078 --> 00:39:19,456 to find conclusive proof of its existence. 703 00:39:19,540 --> 00:39:22,459 But none have been as promising, 704 00:39:22,543 --> 00:39:26,046 or as high-tech, as recent efforts. 705 00:39:29,758 --> 00:39:33,303 I've traveled to the banks of this legendary Loch... 706 00:39:33,387 --> 00:39:35,139 - Stephen, come aboard. - Hello. 707 00:39:35,222 --> 00:39:36,890 ...to meet Adrian Shine, 708 00:39:36,974 --> 00:39:40,769 a naturalist involved in this exciting new development. 709 00:39:49,945 --> 00:39:53,657 Why do you think that there's a special quality to Loch Ness? 710 00:39:53,740 --> 00:39:57,911 I mean, why has it retained such mystique over the decades? 711 00:39:57,995 --> 00:40:00,956 Well, it's fascinating. It is probably, arguably, 712 00:40:01,039 --> 00:40:03,083 the most famous lake in the world, 713 00:40:03,167 --> 00:40:05,210 - and it's quite large. - Yeah. 714 00:40:05,294 --> 00:40:07,963 You could put the whole human population of the world into it 715 00:40:08,046 --> 00:40:09,965 - at least three times over. - Seriously? 716 00:40:10,048 --> 00:40:12,843 - It is quite deep. - Good gracious. Wow. 717 00:40:12,926 --> 00:40:14,511 And it's hostile. 718 00:40:14,595 --> 00:40:18,056 So in that respect, it qualifies as a lost world, 719 00:40:18,140 --> 00:40:20,142 and we need lost worlds 720 00:40:20,225 --> 00:40:23,353 to make our mythical creatures at least credible. 721 00:40:23,437 --> 00:40:26,064 - Or more credible. - Yeah, so it's big enough 722 00:40:26,148 --> 00:40:27,649 for the, if there were a monster, 723 00:40:27,733 --> 00:40:31,904 it could have credibly hidden for all this time. 724 00:40:31,987 --> 00:40:36,200 The story of Nessie evolved over centuries, 725 00:40:36,283 --> 00:40:41,371 but it was in the 1930s that things really took off. 726 00:40:41,455 --> 00:40:44,166 That was when the Loch Ness monster, 727 00:40:44,249 --> 00:40:47,544 that we know and love today, was born. 728 00:40:47,628 --> 00:40:52,049 There's the multi-humped sea serpent 729 00:40:52,132 --> 00:40:54,134 and the plesiosaur. 730 00:40:54,218 --> 00:40:56,553 - The idea of a prehistoric monster... - With the long neck. 731 00:40:56,637 --> 00:40:59,181 ...long necked, four flippers, stumpy body. 732 00:41:05,979 --> 00:41:08,273 We used to spend a lot of time 733 00:41:08,357 --> 00:41:10,275 in trying to work out what was in Loch Ness 734 00:41:10,359 --> 00:41:13,612 with our fish nets, towing things like that around. 735 00:41:13,695 --> 00:41:15,864 Then we'd spend hours and hours and hours 736 00:41:15,948 --> 00:41:17,241 looking through microscopes, 737 00:41:17,324 --> 00:41:20,077 identifying things, counting things. 738 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:23,622 But now there is a much more elegant way. 739 00:41:26,959 --> 00:41:28,919 Listen to this delicious... 740 00:41:30,921 --> 00:41:32,673 - Just a minute. - What a lovely noise. 741 00:41:32,756 --> 00:41:34,424 There we are. 742 00:41:34,508 --> 00:41:38,053 Using a process called Environmental DNA Sampling 743 00:41:38,136 --> 00:41:39,721 or E-DNA, 744 00:41:39,805 --> 00:41:43,934 scientists examined the different types of animal DNA 745 00:41:44,017 --> 00:41:46,520 found in Loch Ness water. 746 00:41:46,603 --> 00:41:48,730 - And there we go. - That's it. 747 00:41:48,814 --> 00:41:51,191 My very own bucket of Loch Ness water. 748 00:41:51,275 --> 00:41:52,401 That's right. 749 00:41:54,278 --> 00:41:55,946 There are many different theories 750 00:41:56,029 --> 00:41:59,783 as to the Loch Ness Monster's true identity. 751 00:41:59,866 --> 00:42:01,535 One that Adrian supports 752 00:42:01,618 --> 00:42:04,955 is that it could be an enormous eel. 753 00:42:06,790 --> 00:42:08,959 Eels are an elusive species. 754 00:42:09,042 --> 00:42:10,377 Much of their behavior 755 00:42:10,460 --> 00:42:12,838 and exactly how large they can grow 756 00:42:12,921 --> 00:42:15,507 is still a mystery to scientists. 757 00:42:16,925 --> 00:42:19,428 One of the biggest species in the world 758 00:42:19,511 --> 00:42:21,847 is the European conger eel, 759 00:42:21,930 --> 00:42:25,309 which is thought to grow to over three meters long. 760 00:42:28,437 --> 00:42:31,231 But some believe eels are capable 761 00:42:31,315 --> 00:42:34,067 of growing to a much larger size. 762 00:42:35,652 --> 00:42:37,571 Known as eunuch eels, 763 00:42:37,654 --> 00:42:41,325 their existence is somewhat controversial. 764 00:42:41,408 --> 00:42:46,246 Usually, adult eels swim into the Atlantic Ocean to breed, 765 00:42:46,330 --> 00:42:48,123 after which they die. 766 00:42:48,206 --> 00:42:52,085 But eunuch eels are said to be infertile, 767 00:42:52,169 --> 00:42:54,963 leading them to remain in freshwater, 768 00:42:55,047 --> 00:42:58,050 and continuing to grow for many years, 769 00:42:58,133 --> 00:43:00,761 potentially to a huge length. 770 00:43:03,347 --> 00:43:08,560 So will the DNA results confirm Adrian's suspicions? 771 00:43:08,644 --> 00:43:12,147 Now presumably, it will take a few days to get this analyzed, 772 00:43:12,230 --> 00:43:14,191 but you've had previous samples. 773 00:43:14,274 --> 00:43:17,778 Well, we certainly think we know what's in Loch Ness, 774 00:43:17,861 --> 00:43:21,281 and there weren't any great surprises from the DNA. 775 00:43:21,365 --> 00:43:22,699 What have you found? 776 00:43:22,783 --> 00:43:25,744 Bacteria, plankton, lots of fish. 777 00:43:25,827 --> 00:43:27,245 No reptiles. 778 00:43:27,329 --> 00:43:28,580 No reptiles. 779 00:43:28,664 --> 00:43:30,165 - Sad that, wasn't it? - Slightly disappointing. 780 00:43:30,248 --> 00:43:33,168 Didn't really expect them, to be quite honest, 781 00:43:33,251 --> 00:43:34,711 but there we are. 782 00:43:34,795 --> 00:43:38,465 But we got lots and lots of eel DNA. 783 00:43:38,548 --> 00:43:42,552 But, of course, it would be the same DNA 784 00:43:42,636 --> 00:43:47,724 for a ordinary eel as for a huge eunuch eel. 785 00:43:47,808 --> 00:43:51,478 An ordinary eel, which comes into Loch Ness, 786 00:43:51,561 --> 00:43:53,063 but likes it so much 787 00:43:53,146 --> 00:43:56,108 that it doesn't go back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. 788 00:43:56,191 --> 00:43:59,403 - It just grows huge. - Oh, so it avoids the famous life cycle. 789 00:44:01,405 --> 00:44:03,156 One of the things that's so intriguing 790 00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:06,868 is this latest DNA work that you've been doing, 791 00:44:06,952 --> 00:44:10,247 still leaves avenues open to believing, doesn't it? 792 00:44:10,330 --> 00:44:11,873 And that's the fun of it. 793 00:44:11,957 --> 00:44:15,585 - Yeah. That is... - Nature surprises us all the time. 794 00:44:15,669 --> 00:44:18,296 Exactly right. Exactly right. 795 00:44:19,172 --> 00:44:20,590 And so the mystery 796 00:44:20,674 --> 00:44:23,677 of the Loch Ness Monster continues. 797 00:44:38,734 --> 00:44:41,069 Our passion for all things magical, 798 00:44:41,153 --> 00:44:43,947 has never been stronger than it is today. 799 00:44:45,490 --> 00:44:49,286 Many of the most popular books and movies of our time 800 00:44:49,369 --> 00:44:53,331 are based on myths, legends and fantasy worlds, 801 00:44:53,415 --> 00:44:56,793 filled with some of the most extraordinary creatures 802 00:44:56,877 --> 00:44:58,295 you'll ever see. 803 00:45:00,756 --> 00:45:03,717 And now with cutting-edge computer technology, 804 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:07,721 we can bring them to life, like never before. 805 00:45:11,641 --> 00:45:14,394 Now, behind these doors 806 00:45:14,478 --> 00:45:18,482 is something just a little bit special. 807 00:45:25,363 --> 00:45:28,158 I've come to The Making of Harry Potter 808 00:45:28,241 --> 00:45:31,495 at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour near London, 809 00:45:31,578 --> 00:45:35,373 to see how the Fantastic Beasts of the Wizarding World 810 00:45:35,457 --> 00:45:37,375 are brought to life, 811 00:45:37,459 --> 00:45:40,128 and to discover how the natural world 812 00:45:40,212 --> 00:45:44,674 has often inspired these extraordinary creations. 813 00:45:44,758 --> 00:45:47,469 This is quite an honor for me. 814 00:45:47,552 --> 00:45:49,971 They don't usually let Muggles in here. 815 00:46:03,985 --> 00:46:05,779 But where do you start 816 00:46:05,862 --> 00:46:09,032 when trying to create a fantastic beast 817 00:46:09,115 --> 00:46:10,700 for the big screen? 818 00:46:10,784 --> 00:46:14,704 Surely, a description in a book can only tell you so much. 819 00:46:14,788 --> 00:46:16,206 Well, I've come here 820 00:46:16,289 --> 00:46:17,791 to find out some of the tricks of the trade, 821 00:46:17,874 --> 00:46:21,545 from visual effects supervisor, Christian Manz. 822 00:46:25,465 --> 00:46:28,051 Oh, now, hang on. 823 00:46:28,134 --> 00:46:32,055 I think I recognize where we are. 824 00:46:32,138 --> 00:46:33,974 This is Dumbledore's office. 825 00:46:34,057 --> 00:46:35,725 Yeah. 826 00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:39,145 Now, Christian, 827 00:46:39,229 --> 00:46:42,315 I'm sure a lot of people have heard of CGI as it's called, 828 00:46:42,399 --> 00:46:44,442 do you spend your whole time just looking at a computer screen 829 00:46:44,526 --> 00:46:47,237 doing mathematical things to create images? 830 00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:49,197 The brilliant thing about visual effects 831 00:46:49,281 --> 00:46:52,409 is it's a real marriage of the creative and the technical, 832 00:46:52,492 --> 00:46:55,787 and our inspiration, particularly with animation, 833 00:46:55,871 --> 00:46:59,624 is looking at creatures from all over the world, 834 00:46:59,708 --> 00:47:01,042 and make the audience believe 835 00:47:01,126 --> 00:47:03,086 that what they're seeing is real. 836 00:47:03,169 --> 00:47:04,462 Have you got some examples? 837 00:47:04,546 --> 00:47:06,965 In the second film, we had the Zouwu, 838 00:47:07,048 --> 00:47:11,011 a elephant-sized, really colorful big cat. 839 00:47:11,094 --> 00:47:12,512 In the script, it said that 840 00:47:12,596 --> 00:47:15,015 the Zouwu could travel a thousand miles a day, 841 00:47:15,098 --> 00:47:17,976 and that led us to that idea of speed. 842 00:47:18,059 --> 00:47:21,187 So here, this was a design that bedded in for a while actually... 843 00:47:21,271 --> 00:47:22,981 - The cobra-like head... - Yes. 844 00:47:23,064 --> 00:47:24,524 ...with a reptilian body. 845 00:47:24,608 --> 00:47:26,276 We got to the point of, you know, modelling it 846 00:47:26,359 --> 00:47:29,905 and animating it, but we were never quite sure about it, 847 00:47:29,988 --> 00:47:31,948 it didn't quite feel of our world, 848 00:47:32,032 --> 00:47:35,285 and then somebody came up with this design, this concept. 849 00:47:35,368 --> 00:47:37,454 - Goodness. - And we were like, 850 00:47:37,537 --> 00:47:39,456 - "Wow that feels bonkers." - Yes. 851 00:47:39,539 --> 00:47:44,961 And also felt very akin to some of the Chinese dragon dancers. 852 00:47:45,045 --> 00:47:46,630 The sort of ribbon, like... 853 00:47:46,713 --> 00:47:48,298 I've taken a look at those too, 854 00:47:48,381 --> 00:47:51,217 and I know what you mean, and that exactly suggests it, 855 00:47:51,301 --> 00:47:54,095 - that long sinuous, flowing tail. - Yes. 856 00:47:54,179 --> 00:47:56,056 And then, kind of, the cat-like face, 857 00:47:56,139 --> 00:47:57,974 and then the body which in the end, 858 00:47:58,058 --> 00:48:01,186 lizards, was a lot of our inspiration. 859 00:48:01,269 --> 00:48:03,772 So from that, we'd look at wildlife. 860 00:48:03,855 --> 00:48:06,316 So you've got coral, and is that a variegated tulip? 861 00:48:06,399 --> 00:48:07,984 Yeah, and a fighting fish, 862 00:48:08,068 --> 00:48:11,529 and also we tried it with the sea anemone. 863 00:48:11,613 --> 00:48:13,365 Yes, that's so surprising, 864 00:48:13,448 --> 00:48:15,909 'cause I can believe that you might look at lizards 865 00:48:15,992 --> 00:48:17,452 and you might look at large cats 866 00:48:17,535 --> 00:48:20,455 and things, but coral and flowers... 867 00:48:20,538 --> 00:48:23,667 And yet once you point it out, you can see that. 868 00:48:23,750 --> 00:48:27,003 What's so interesting, is that the most ancient stories 869 00:48:27,087 --> 00:48:28,755 of mythical creatures 870 00:48:28,838 --> 00:48:31,508 drew their inspiration from nature. 871 00:48:31,591 --> 00:48:34,678 And the most modern technological mythical creatures 872 00:48:34,761 --> 00:48:37,472 that you create, also draw from nature. 873 00:48:37,555 --> 00:48:40,517 And I suppose, as long as the lead times 874 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,478 and the process of doing computer graphics is, 875 00:48:43,561 --> 00:48:45,855 it's nothing compared to the millions of years... 876 00:48:45,939 --> 00:48:48,608 - No. - ...that nature has to try out new ideas. 877 00:48:48,692 --> 00:48:51,528 Yeah, I think that's one of our biggest learning experiences, really, 878 00:48:51,611 --> 00:48:54,030 that Mother Nature's definitely better at it than we are... 879 00:48:54,114 --> 00:48:56,199 But she's had practice. 880 00:48:56,282 --> 00:48:58,451 She's had so much practice. 881 00:49:21,099 --> 00:49:24,227 But where on Earth did all of this start? 882 00:49:25,770 --> 00:49:27,814 When did we very first create 883 00:49:27,897 --> 00:49:30,734 or imagine these mythical creatures? 884 00:49:32,819 --> 00:49:35,780 When early humans began to draw, 885 00:49:35,864 --> 00:49:38,491 we depicted the world we saw around us... 886 00:49:38,575 --> 00:49:41,578 the landscape, people, and animals, 887 00:49:41,661 --> 00:49:45,165 like this magnificent mastodon. 888 00:49:45,248 --> 00:49:47,250 But we also began to create 889 00:49:47,333 --> 00:49:50,211 entirely imaginary creatures too. 890 00:49:51,713 --> 00:49:55,050 There are examples of these mysterious creatures 891 00:49:55,133 --> 00:49:56,551 painted in caves, 892 00:49:56,634 --> 00:49:58,970 and on rocks, found around the world. 893 00:49:59,054 --> 00:50:04,142 Some dating back as far as 44,000 years ago. 894 00:50:04,225 --> 00:50:06,811 No one really knows why these images were created, 895 00:50:06,895 --> 00:50:10,065 but perhaps the most reasonable explanation 896 00:50:10,148 --> 00:50:14,861 is that they were one of the earliest forms of storytelling. 897 00:50:14,944 --> 00:50:18,114 I wanted to know more about this instinct 898 00:50:18,198 --> 00:50:20,617 to create mythical creatures, 899 00:50:20,700 --> 00:50:23,286 so I asked someone who knows a thing or two 900 00:50:23,369 --> 00:50:26,331 about telling stories... 901 00:50:26,414 --> 00:50:28,374 author of the Harry Potter books, 902 00:50:28,458 --> 00:50:31,669 and creator of Fantastic Beasts, 903 00:50:31,753 --> 00:50:33,713 J.K. Rowling. 904 00:50:38,551 --> 00:50:40,386 Why is it that we humans 905 00:50:40,470 --> 00:50:43,848 have to tell everything through stories and examples, 906 00:50:43,932 --> 00:50:47,102 it's our great creative power, isn't it? 907 00:50:47,185 --> 00:50:48,520 I think about this a lot, 908 00:50:48,603 --> 00:50:50,772 the fact that we're storytelling creatures, 909 00:50:50,855 --> 00:50:52,357 because to our knowledge, 910 00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:54,275 - we are the only animal that does this. - Yeah. 911 00:50:54,359 --> 00:50:57,112 And obviously it was an attempt I think to... 912 00:50:57,195 --> 00:50:59,030 certainly in terms of myth and folklore, 913 00:50:59,114 --> 00:51:01,533 it's an attempt to explain the natural world, 914 00:51:01,616 --> 00:51:03,159 things people didn't understand. 915 00:51:03,243 --> 00:51:06,788 I am very interested in story, inevitably. 916 00:51:06,871 --> 00:51:09,833 I'm not just interested in writing stories. 917 00:51:09,916 --> 00:51:13,211 I am interested in why we write stories. 918 00:51:13,294 --> 00:51:14,337 Yes. 919 00:51:14,420 --> 00:51:16,798 I'm even more fascinated by the fact 920 00:51:16,881 --> 00:51:20,552 that discrete cultures who'd never met, 921 00:51:20,635 --> 00:51:25,515 - create such similar archetypes and such similar creatures. - Yeah. 922 00:51:25,598 --> 00:51:28,518 So we see the fire bird, 923 00:51:28,601 --> 00:51:30,103 the phoenix as I called it, 924 00:51:30,186 --> 00:51:32,522 but you see the creation of a fire bird 925 00:51:32,605 --> 00:51:34,607 throughout different cultures. 926 00:51:34,691 --> 00:51:35,525 Yes. 927 00:51:35,608 --> 00:51:37,485 And what is that telling us 928 00:51:37,569 --> 00:51:39,362 about what it is to be human 929 00:51:39,446 --> 00:51:41,281 and what lives at the back of our minds, 930 00:51:41,364 --> 00:51:42,574 in our subconscious? 931 00:51:42,657 --> 00:51:45,034 You often see this in magical beasts, 932 00:51:45,118 --> 00:51:48,413 that very similar beasts have been imagined 933 00:51:48,496 --> 00:51:53,459 - by, after all, peoples who are living among different... - Yes. 934 00:51:53,543 --> 00:51:54,919 ...real animals. 935 00:51:55,003 --> 00:51:57,380 We're talking cultures across different continents. 936 00:51:57,463 --> 00:51:58,882 And that fascinates me, 937 00:51:58,965 --> 00:52:01,593 because that's clearly telling us about ourselves. 938 00:52:01,676 --> 00:52:03,761 And a perfect example is the dragon. 939 00:52:03,845 --> 00:52:05,471 - There you are. - All over the world. 940 00:52:05,555 --> 00:52:07,390 - In China, famously, of course. - All over... 941 00:52:07,473 --> 00:52:09,309 And what else are there? Mermaids. 942 00:52:09,392 --> 00:52:11,769 Mermaids, it's very interesting, isn't it? 943 00:52:11,853 --> 00:52:14,105 Because where did that myth come from? 944 00:52:14,189 --> 00:52:18,067 Even in Africa, these inland countries... 945 00:52:18,151 --> 00:52:20,111 - Yeah. - ...of course, have great rivers... 946 00:52:20,195 --> 00:52:23,448 - Yeah. - ...there is a form of mermaid, the Jengu. 947 00:52:23,531 --> 00:52:24,657 Ah. 948 00:52:24,741 --> 00:52:28,161 So again, this is something that has... 949 00:52:28,244 --> 00:52:31,915 has been created across these different cultures. 950 00:52:31,998 --> 00:52:36,753 Why were British sailors imagining fishtailed women 951 00:52:36,836 --> 00:52:41,007 when people in Africa were imagining fishtailed women, 952 00:52:41,090 --> 00:52:43,218 it's just extraordinary. 953 00:52:43,301 --> 00:52:45,595 Do you think it's possible to invent a creature 954 00:52:45,678 --> 00:52:47,305 that has no basis in nature? 955 00:52:47,388 --> 00:52:50,016 - I think it would be exceptionally difficult. - Wouldn't it? 956 00:52:50,099 --> 00:52:52,769 I created a creature, 957 00:52:52,852 --> 00:52:55,980 in Fantastic Beasts, the original book 958 00:52:56,064 --> 00:52:57,357 called a Lethifold. 959 00:52:57,440 --> 00:52:59,234 Yes, a nasty piece of work. 960 00:52:59,317 --> 00:53:01,152 Now that is my worst nightmare. 961 00:53:01,236 --> 00:53:03,821 I really had, there, gone for something 962 00:53:03,905 --> 00:53:07,575 - that would scare the bejesus out of me. - Yes. 963 00:53:07,659 --> 00:53:11,037 Although I was taking the idea from a cloak, 964 00:53:11,120 --> 00:53:13,665 when I stood back from what I'd invented, 965 00:53:13,748 --> 00:53:15,708 I thought, well, you've... That's just a manta ray. 966 00:53:15,792 --> 00:53:18,294 - And a manta means a cloak, doesn't it? Yes. - There you go. Exactly. 967 00:53:18,378 --> 00:53:21,631 So basically, I've invented a manta ray that doesn't need water. 968 00:53:21,714 --> 00:53:24,217 - And the niffler? - Well, I was going to say the niffler, exactly, 969 00:53:24,300 --> 00:53:26,469 so the niffler is a bit of a favorite of mine. 970 00:53:26,552 --> 00:53:28,888 It's a treasure seeker, it likes everything that glitters, 971 00:53:28,972 --> 00:53:31,140 so it can locate treasure for you. 972 00:53:32,141 --> 00:53:33,393 So for those who don't know, 973 00:53:33,476 --> 00:53:35,311 a niffler is a curious creature, 974 00:53:35,395 --> 00:53:38,648 - I suppose it's a cross between a magpie, in nature... - Yes. 975 00:53:38,731 --> 00:53:41,234 ...and a duck-billed platypus in appearance. 976 00:53:41,317 --> 00:53:43,695 - And a mole. - And a mole, exactly. 977 00:53:43,778 --> 00:53:45,530 But they used a platypus 978 00:53:45,613 --> 00:53:48,783 to get the snout-like appearance in the movie, 979 00:53:48,866 --> 00:53:50,410 which I adored. 980 00:53:50,493 --> 00:53:52,662 I mean, they ran these things past me and I just loved it. 981 00:53:52,745 --> 00:53:55,832 It gave it such an endearing appearance, I think. 982 00:53:58,251 --> 00:54:01,087 - So it's exceptionally difficult... - Yeah. 983 00:54:01,170 --> 00:54:02,380 ...to invent something. 984 00:54:02,463 --> 00:54:05,675 And often nature got there far better, 985 00:54:05,758 --> 00:54:09,053 because you look at some of nature's extraordinary creations, 986 00:54:09,137 --> 00:54:11,973 and you think, well, CGI will never match this. 987 00:54:18,271 --> 00:54:20,398 You created your own world 988 00:54:20,481 --> 00:54:22,692 that has its famous 989 00:54:22,775 --> 00:54:25,653 and knowable characters and creatures, 990 00:54:25,737 --> 00:54:28,281 um, which must give you enormous satisfaction, 991 00:54:28,364 --> 00:54:31,034 and you've done it by examining the real world 992 00:54:31,117 --> 00:54:32,744 and the world of the imagination 993 00:54:32,827 --> 00:54:34,037 that our ancestors had, 994 00:54:34,120 --> 00:54:36,039 all the way back through earliest myths. 995 00:54:36,122 --> 00:54:37,707 I was thinking about the creatures 996 00:54:37,790 --> 00:54:40,043 because we were gonna sit down and talk about this, 997 00:54:40,126 --> 00:54:41,836 and I realized 998 00:54:41,919 --> 00:54:46,591 that half the books fold without those creatures, 999 00:54:46,674 --> 00:54:48,760 you know, they're so important. 1000 00:54:50,470 --> 00:54:52,347 - Hedwig the owl. - Yeah. 1001 00:54:52,430 --> 00:54:55,516 And then we move through the Thestrals and the dragons, 1002 00:54:55,600 --> 00:54:58,227 and they are key plot points 1003 00:54:58,311 --> 00:55:01,356 and obviously, thematically, they work in terms of life 1004 00:55:01,439 --> 00:55:04,442 and death and power. And struggle and treasure. 1005 00:55:04,525 --> 00:55:08,071 But I realized when I really focused on those creatures, 1006 00:55:08,154 --> 00:55:11,115 just how important they were, and that shows, 1007 00:55:11,199 --> 00:55:12,950 we have a deep need, I think, 1008 00:55:13,034 --> 00:55:14,911 to be connected to the animal world. 1009 00:55:36,808 --> 00:55:42,146 Fantastic beasts have been with us since the dawn of time, 1010 00:55:42,230 --> 00:55:44,774 from the first imaginary creatures 1011 00:55:44,857 --> 00:55:47,110 sketched on cave walls, 1012 00:55:47,193 --> 00:55:49,195 to the state-of-the-art animals 1013 00:55:49,278 --> 00:55:51,614 that we see on our big screens today, 1014 00:55:51,697 --> 00:55:56,786 they are a fundamental part of our own history. 1015 00:56:02,500 --> 00:56:06,421 Our endless fascination with magical animals 1016 00:56:06,504 --> 00:56:10,341 and our instinctive curiosity about the world around us 1017 00:56:10,425 --> 00:56:13,469 could even lead to the discovery 1018 00:56:13,553 --> 00:56:16,139 of entirely new species... 1019 00:56:17,056 --> 00:56:19,308 If we keep our eyes 1020 00:56:19,392 --> 00:56:21,936 and our minds open, 1021 00:56:22,019 --> 00:56:25,565 who knows what might be out there? 1022 00:56:33,072 --> 00:56:36,200 The world is a magical place. 1023 00:56:36,284 --> 00:56:38,828 Fantastic Beasts show 1024 00:56:38,911 --> 00:56:42,957 there are still so many things to discover. 1025 00:57:24,439 --> 00:57:29,439 Provided by explosiveskull https://twitter.com/kaboomskull 82575

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