Al-Qazwini’s description of the sea turtle – not a distinct monster per se, just “sea turtles are huge and have vegetation on their backs and look like islands and people land on them”.

in awe at the size of that beaver

There’s a good reason why it’s front half horse, back half alligator and not the other way round

Sadly I will never be able to top Lewicki’s rendition of the alligator-horse, published in the LIFE Treasury of American Folklore.

Worth including in ABC? The dreaded alligator horse of Kentucky.

Sea hare dragon. Why not?

I hope to prove one day that, in the hands of an intelligent magpie, a quill pen has no less value than in the claws of a wolf or the paws of a fox.

J. J. Grandville, La vie privée des animaux.

Giant friendly crabs

tfw you want to be born but don’t want your mom to lick you to death

“She danced a saltarello”. [The pun is that saltarello, a dance, sounds like the French sauterelle, “grasshopper”, and both come from the same root meaning “to jump”]

Grandville, Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux.