What is Animalia Paradoxa?
{{Italictitle}} '''''Animalia Paradoxa''''' is the label given to a few [[species]] of [[animal]], listed in [[Carolus Linnaeus]] early editions of [[Systema Naturae]]. Linné thought that these animals [[paradox|did not make sense]]. Today, such animals are usually called [[Cryptid]]s. The respective section lists [[legendary creature|fantastic creatures]] found in [[Bestiary|medieval bestiaries]] as well as those reported by explorers from abroad and gives explanations to why they are excluded from Systema Naturae. According to Swedish historian [[Gunnar Broberg]], it was to offer a natural explanation and demystify the world of superstition.<ref>{{cite book| last = Blunt| first = Wilfrid| title = Linnaeus, the man and his work| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=B3YOvgAACAAJ| year = 1983| publisher = University of California Press| location = Berkeley and Los Angeles| isbn = 978-0-7112-1841-3| pages = 176–177 }}</ref> ''Paradoxa'' was dropped from Linnaeus' classification system as of the 6th edition (1748).<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sandra Knapp |year=2002 |title=Fact and fantasy |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=415 |issue=6871 |page=479 |doi=10.1038/415479a|pmid=11823837 |s2cid=44480097 }} Also available on [https://www.scribd.com/doc/36109515/NPG-nature-vol-415-Issue-6871-Jan Scribd] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104200708/http://www.scribd.com/doc/36109515/NPG-nature-vol-415-Issue-6871-Jan |date=2012-11-04 }}.</ref> == Cryptic creatures == Included in the 1st (1735) edition: * [[Lernaean Hydra|Hydra]]: in 1735 Linnaeus inspected the alleged remains of a [[Carl_Linnaeus#Doctorate|Hydra in Hamburg]] which turned out to be made from weasels and snake skins. * [[Pseudis paradoxa|Rana-Piscis]]: a South American frog which is significantly smaller than its tadpole stage; it was thus (incorrectly) reported to Linnaeus that the metamorphosis in this species went from 'frog to fish'. In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Linnaeus named the species ''[[Pseudis paradoxa|Rana pa