Legendary creature
A legendary creature is a fictional creature. Some such as the dragon, the griffin or the unicorn have their origin in traditional myth and have at one time been believed to be real creatures. Others were based on real creatures, originating in garbled accounts of travellers' tales; such as the "Vegetable Lamb of Tartary", which supposedly grew tethered to the earth (and was actually the cotton bush). Examples of the semi-mythical creatures can be found in medieval bestiaries.Many of these appear prominently in fantasy fiction, often adding additional depth to the concept of the creature. (See fantasy bestiary for a list of these as well as newer creations.)
Conversely, some creatures once believed to be mythological have been found in recent times, such as the giant squid. As such, the boundaries between what is recognised in human culture as being a mythological and existent creature have been subject to the limitations of human perception.
Jorge Luis Borges wrote and edited the Book of Imaginary Beings in 1969, expanding his original 1957 Spanish edition El Libro de los Seres Imaginarios. This book contains descriptions of 120 mythical beasts from folklore and literature.