Cryptid world map

CashNet posted a weirdly wonderful map of popular local monsters from all around the globe. I have no idea why this was the sort of content that someone felt the need to make for a website about financial planning, but it happened.

You can check out a larger version of the world cryptid map here, which is by visual artist Laimute Varkalaite.

Here's what inspired the map:

For each country, we compiled a long list of famous mythical creatures using sources such as Heather Frigiola's Monsters and Mythical Creatures from around the World as well as Wikipedia and numerous independent sites.
To determine which mythical creatures from the long list were the most popular, we ranked them by total search results on Google, using the search terms [Country] + [Mythical Creature].
The results showed that numerous countries share the same mythical creature. In these instances, we added additional details that could help to distinguish them. For example, both England and China have 'dragon' as the most popular creature, but an English dragon has wings and a more lizard-like appearance, whereas a Chinese dragon does not have wings and has a more snake-like appearance.
For the full research behind this project, have a look here.

And here are some of their key findings from said research:

• The most famous mythical creature in the US is the Sasquatch, a hairy, forest-dwelling humanoid.
• The most famous in North America is Cuba's Madre de Aguas, a horned, bullet-proof snake as fat as a palm tree.
• South America's most famous cryptid is La Tunda, a hag with the power to shapeshift into the object of your desire (before sucking your blood).
• Dragons are the most-searched cryptids for a European country (England).
• The Turkish dragon is the most-searched in the Middle East & Central Asia region, with the Egyptian griffin (a lion with the head and wings of an eagle) in second-place.
• The Chinese dragon is the most-searched in the Rest of Asia and Oceania, followed by the cunning, ape-like Orang Pendek (Indonesia).
• The most famous cryptid in Africa is the Namibian Flying Snake.