Add the propensity to colloquially grant newly discovered things names that borrow from existing things: sea cow, catfish, etc. so why couldn’t there be something called a tree octopus?

Today I learned that a tree crab is a thing. I knew a tree lobster was a thing. There is something that could plausibly be called a tree clam.

> Add the propensity to colloquially grant newly discovered things names that borrow from existing things: sea cow, catfish, etc. so why couldn’t there be something called a tree octopus?

There could be. The name of the animal isn't what gives the lie away.

People still call the dropbear a hoax.

Is it not? The Wikipedia article literally has in the tagline: famous hoax…

That's certainly what the dropbears want you to believe.

They are pretty good with web browsers and typing

Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

There are people who say birds aren’t real, or that Australia isn’t real, or that the earth is flat.

And haggis hunting: https://darachcroft.com/news/haggis-hunting-season-tips-and-...

> Add in that the animal world is full of wacky creatures that don't fit heuristic models for plausibility.

The animal involved not meeting heuristic models for plausibility may be something that should trigger skepticism, but its not the thing that should tell you this is a lie.