Why and how do people invent and fuel myths about the Chupacabra, the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, and other cryptids, and why do they mythologize real animals?
In what ways are different bird species similar, and by what specific evolutionary adaptations do they differ?
How long have flamingos been nesting in Ukraine?
Is imagination necessary for studying fossil animals?
Why do some species of living creatures become part of our worldview, while others go unnoticed?
Leonid Horobets, DSc in Biology, paleo-ornithologist, Leading research fellow of the Paleontology Department at the National Museum of Natural History of the NAS of Ukraine, author of the Stromata popular science blog, discussed all these matters and much more in an interview with the Left Bank online publication.
- "There will always be myths. They are more interesting and simpler than real knowledge. Even if only one person remains on the planet, he/she will invent own myths about why this or that happens. Because it is an explanation of the world, and we will always find it. [...] We have searched for interlocutors in space, and we are searching for them on Earth now, in AI. [...] Myths are eternal. They have existed as long as humanity has, and will continue to exist. But we should approach them more consciously. Some things need to be reflected upon."
- "If we consider imagination as purposeful invention, then one can only imagine a fantastic world. I would rather talk about imagining. It is necessary [for a paleontologist], for example, to look at things more broadly. Zoologists sometimes complain: you paleontologists find one bone and conclude that this animal lived here. But what if it’s a coincidence? Indeed, we only get a tiny fraction of what once existed. But almost all the remains we find actually indicate a more or less numerous population that lived here for a long time, not just one random animal that happened to wander by. Another example: what a paleontologist calls a dinosaur bone is actually a stone. And anyone who says 'it’s just a stone' would be formally absolutely right. Imagination is needed to see not a random fragment, but the trace of a living creature."
- "This always amazes me in the evolutionary process. There is a limited number of organs, they usually do not disappear but transform, and at the same time an extraordinary number of variations and incredible diversity arise. And most importantly, it is very difficult to predict where evolution will lead."
- "In spring, people asked online: 'Have you noticed how many birds are singing this year?' Actually, by my subjective impression, even fewer than usual. But now people often don’t sleep at 4–5 a.m. after alarms and notice the singing," says Leonid. "People often ask, for example, about bullfinches, like where have they gone. But they haven’t disappeared, we just don’t pay attention to them."
Read the full text of the conversation.