OpenTube

Mothman Biology Explained | The Science of the Mothman

Thought Potato

246,514 views

Get started with your own spec evo, fantasy, sci-fi, or any other world you can think of with World Anvil! Visit https://www.worldanvil.com/?c=Thought... for 40% off ALL NEW yearly subscriptions!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another entry in the mysterious archives uncovered at Angelwood University, authored and recorded by a mysterious scientist named Robert Zeiger. His topic for today: the biological properties of the Mothman.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out the ‘World of Cryptobiology’ on World Anvil!
▷ World Anvil: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-cryp...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All characters appearing in this work are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any character images are AI-generated.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This video was edited by ‪@CyanRameron‬ , who does excellent work!

Sources:
https://www.insidescience.org/news/ba...
https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions...
Horsley, Jason. The Secret Life of Movies: Schizophrenic and Shamanic Journeys in American Cinema. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2009, pp. 197-199.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/en...
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictures...
https://transportation.wv.gov/highway...
https://allthatsinteresting.com/silve...
Jenkins, Farish A., Jr. "The Evolution of the Avian Shoulder Joint." The American Journal of Science, vol. 293-4, 1993, pp. 253-262. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. https://earth.geology.yale.edu/~ajs/1....
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/M...

20 Comments

@ThoughtPotato Creator 3 years ago Pinned

Check out the Cryptobiology playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfLBOnfgLQs&list=PL6d_auYwbYn83SdwQzx3haDlK8jV-GI2m

@fabriziobiancucci7702 3 years ago

12:30 Maybe that predator doesn't exist anymore. Many animals today have adaptations for enemies that went extinct thousands of years ago. Maybe the Mothman had to share its territory with a much more dangerous hunter, but then it went extinct for some reason and the Mothman mantained its adaptations

@TeoDP7 3 years ago (edited)

The idea of moth man being a massive oversized owl is interesting and scary at the same time, imagine being a hunter alone in the woods and you suddenly see this thing staring into your soul

@MrPink.011 3 years ago

As a fan of both Myths and Speculative evolution, I can not get enough of this series. Thank you mate, you are great.

@WobblesandBean 3 years ago

Hi, zoologist here. A frightened owl in a defensive posture looks very much like the drawings people have done of mothman, if viewed head on. Their eyes are highly reflective, so if it was dark and you didn't know what you were looking at, it would very much look like a dark, neckless humanoid head and shoulders, with glowing white eyes. The screeching sound you played is also from an owl, specifically, a barred owl. Barred owls make the same defensive posture I described.

So, there you have it. The Mothman is just a barred owl.

@TooSkramz 3 years ago

Mothman is easily one of my favorite cryptids/monsters, and this is one of the few videos that has given me pause as far as the owl-based Mothman. Generally I've never liked the idea much, I always felt it kind of spoils the mysticism of the Mothman, which indeed is my favorite part. This presentation goes beyond that however, creating an equally compelling and almost existentially terrifying rendition that I might even consider a distinct entity from the more traditional depictions, I like the idea that there might just be multiple Mothmen of multiple species being confused in the wilderness by the untrained eye.

@SleepDeprived002 3 years ago

Crazy to think I was born on the anniversary of Mothman’s first sighting.

@Lily-L-Jane 2 years ago

we gonna get lore about the guy who manages to obtain all these creatures?

@wrexvincent 3 years ago

This species is also related to the one in the UK as well, which is known as 'Owlman'. There is notable similarity in the habitat area both in American Appalachia and the area. If you wish to investigate other specimens there?
-
-
-
-
-
Great video as always. Love the sciebtific takes on all these monsters

@SaphoSheep 3 years ago (edited)

Perhaps you should hunt for a Thunderbird in the Southwest next. You might just find out what was hypothetically hunting "the mothman".

@purplehaze2358 3 years ago

I'd be interested to hear a similar narrative applied to La Lechuza, the witch-owl of Northern Mexico and Southern Texas. Maybe a closely related species, perhaps.

@calebchristensen900 2 years ago (edited)

Rewatching the seminar, The thought occurs to me that there could be an entire family with multiple species across the globe. Mothman in northern Appalachia, the so called La Lechuza of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, the Owl man of the British isles and the most recent sightings in Italy, and the sightings of “black headless birds with bright red eyes.” In Western Russia. And potentially more

@justaalien7086 3 years ago

The way you were able to connect the coincidence of mothman sightings around the time of disasters, to low frequency sounds attracting the owl is genius

@purplejack2020 3 years ago

Ideas for future cryptids. Sea Serpents (includes Jormungandr, Nessie and Tiamat), Gargoyles, Sasquatch/Yeti/Woodwose, Ghouls, Sphinx, Fairies/ Fey, Giants (though they might just be misidentified sasquatch), Mongolian Death Worm, Banshee, Jorogumo

@TheSaneHatter 3 years ago

You've accomplished something very unique with this video: for the first time, your description of this likely endangered, but still formidable species makes em think, "I want to SEE this thing!" I'd give my arm to be the person who discovered this thing, presented my findings to science & government, and then got the creature and its habitat protected . . . so that we don't lose any more German Shepherds. 😢

I'm also increasingly curious about the "mid-20th-century" time frame of these fantasy recordings, since it mentions satellite pictures and the year 1967 as having gone by. At best, it's starting to sound like the 70s.....

@ryuujitakasu4602 3 years ago

I spoke to a Pagan and she said that "The Mothman is a confused spirit, stuck half way, in the human realm, and spirit realm. And the fact it just dissappeared is just it trying to go back to the spirit realm"

@thomaseasley2938 3 years ago

Owl mothman is best Mothman
Btw, thoughtpotato, have you considered working your magic on the manticore and or Sphinx? It just seems perfect for this series

@ethanemerson4862 2 years ago (edited)

May I offer the thought of the existence of convergent evolution to the Mothman in the form of an actual giant moth rather than an owl?
“But what about its call? Moths can’t vocalize”
All but one, the Death’s Head Hawk Moth is (to my knowledge) is the only moth that can vocalize in its adult form.
Further more, some moths and butterflies actually DRINK BLOOD.
Finally, if both these Mothman exist in the same universe, the Moth-Mothman has defensive mimicry, looking like the Owl-mothman. Some moths do have such mimicry, looking like snakes when their wings are closed.
So the existence of a Mothman that is an actual Moth is not that far off.

@brycefilms101 3 years ago (edited)

Once again this is a great video but couldn't help but wonder about the Mothman’s origins in this. It’s stated that Mothman’s size should have made it been detected, the detail about the cages in an old bunker, and even the satellite showing geography that differed from the maps. I wonder if the Mothman’s species was deliberately created via years of controlled breeding and genetic modification by the government. I think the reason Mothman wasn’t detected until now was because the population was kept in secret areas but eventually broke out or were driven out by their need for food. This also ties into why the maps didn’t match the actual geography of the area, the site was a top secret base. It’s stated that it’s a WW2 base so my theory is these creatures were bred to attack or at least disrupt enemy forces. It would explain the oddly convenient characteristics of Mothman such as the low-frequency vibrations that cause anxiety and disrupt technology, the way these things can make little to no audible noise when flying and attacking, and how they blend perfectly into the night sky. I’d even argue that the reason Mothman is attracted to the low-frequency vibrations that occur when disasters occur is so they can be lured into war-torn areas where destruction occurs and thus sabotage enemy forces. There is a decent chance that I’m VERY wrong but that’s what I theorized could be happening in this video.

@calebchristensen900 3 years ago

The thought of seeing this thing slink through the old growth and not flying, but jumping from limb to limb is honestly terrifying. I’d imagine more then a few hounds would be lost hunting at night. An amazing video as always!!! I’m curious to see what your plans are for the series continuation.