
People have been drawn to stories about exotic animals throughout our history. The further you go back in that history, the less likely those stories were accurate. Here is a gorgeous compendium of illustrations showing how people imagined real animals they had only heard about.
Crocodiles from Liber Floridus (Book of Flowers), an encyclopedia by Lambert, Canon of Saint-Omer between 1090 and 1120.

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(via Erik Kwakkel)
Animals from the Rochester Bestiary, c. 1225-1250
A crocodile:

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Elephants:

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Lions and other animals:

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A lion:

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A colorful panther:

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A crocodile from the Northumberland Bestiary, fol. 49v, mid-1250s

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An elephant from the 13th century, by Guillaume le Clerc

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An elephant from Italy, c. 1440

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(via British Library)
Lions from the Ashmole Bestiary (f.10v), 1511

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A whale from Adriaen Coenen's Visboek (Fish Book), 1560s

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(via Koninklijke Bibliotheek)
An elephant and a giraffe by Noè Bianco, 1568

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(via NYPL Digital Library)
The History of Four-Booted Beasts and Serpents, by Edward Topsell, 1658

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A beaver:

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A dromedary:

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(via University of Houston Digital Library)
A history of the Earth and animated nature, by Oliver Goldsmith, 1825
A hippo:

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Seals:

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Lions:

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(via Biodiversity Heritage Library)
A striped hyena, by Aloys Zötl, 1831

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Gibbons, by Aloys Zötl, 1833

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The Hoolock Gibbons, by Aloys Zötl, 1835

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The Cheetah, by Aloys Zötl, 1837

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A rhinoceros, by Aloys Zötl, 1861

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A sea turtle, by Aloys Zötl, 1867

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A walrus, by Aloys Zötl, 1879

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(via Wikimedia Commons 1 –2 and British Library)
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DISCUSSION
Interesting. In most cases, they are not too far off. Interesting also how in every cases the elephants are missing the large ears. Seems something one would include in a description.