These Pokemon Are Inspired By Actual Pre-Historic Species

The Pokemon Company has always been great at design and using the imagination of famous illustrators like Kouki Saitou and Tomokazu Komiya. The most intriguing pokemon are the ones that were uniquely thought about and include influence from biological species. The witty design is what makes the brand very intriguing. For instance, the pokemon "ekans" is snake backwards. The next evolution"Arbok" is Kobra backwards. Okay.... This example was not a mind blow. However, the utter thought of speciation and innuendos. If we take a further dive, think about the whole "pokemon evolution thing" and the idea that there are professors for each region in the anime. What I am trying to say here is, Pokemon has a heavy scientific influence when you think about it.

With this being said, here are some pokemon's designs that are uniquely influenced by science. More specifically, ancient species that are found in the anime and video games. Another interesting thing to add about this list is, not all of these pokemon are obvious influences. It will not include pokemon like "Tyranitar", which will be obvious to most as a Godzilla or a dinosaur-like species. Or a Pokemon like Aerodactyl which resembles the Teradactyl.

1. Anorith=Anomalocaris

This would not be a list if we did not include the pokemon, "Anortih". This generation III pokemon was introduced as a fossil pokemon and is a copy and paste of the Cambrian Period's, "Anomalocaris". As a young child this was just some strange creature that the creators blindly drew. However, it is not until later I recognized it to be a pre-historic creature.

Anomalcaris is a part of an extinct genus where fossils were found in The Burgess Shale. The name of the species is greek for, "unusual shrimp" and a predator to the deep sea.

For more check out the article: https://www.diondremompoint.com/post/top-5-weirdest-creatures-of-the-cambrian-period-the-cambrian-explosion

2. Relicanth=Coelacanth

This took me awhile to figure out. I remember learning about coelacanth in my biodiversity class. It is one of the oldest living species and is thought to be a living fossil. There are two known species in existence that are found off the east coast of Africa. In the pokemon world(in gaming) there is an abundance. Nonetheless, Relicanth is inspired by coelacanth with an emphasis on it being an armored fish.

3. Lileep/Cradily= Crinoids

This one was a head scratcher for a while. These designed seemed very random and maybe even lacking creativity. However, upon further knowledge and research, I've learned that Cradily and Lileep are influenced by pre-historic crinoids. Crinoids include sea lilies, starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers.