Is there such a thing as a Lynx owl? Real or fake status debunked as photo goes viral

A picture of a surreal-looking creature, which is being called a Lynx owl, has gone viral over the past week. The photo was shared on Instagram by Nicholas Brown, a digital creator. However, the strange creature in question is not real. It was created using AI art on Midjourney.

The AI image went viral when Twitter user Ezer Ratchaga reposted the photo on the platform on April 30. Though he posed the question in the caption regarding whether the image was real or fake, it was evident in the texture and composition of the photo that it was created with artificial intelligence.

Another user, Andrew Bluebells, also shared the same picture on Twitter and mentioned in the caption that it was AI art. The owl in this viral image appears to be a hybrid of a great horned owl and a lynx. It is seated against the backdrop of a desert.

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The internet reacts to the viral AI art of a Lynx owl

The viral Lynx owl looked like a character from a fantasy novel. It was also reminiscent of a tiger owl or a great horned owl. But the horns of the owl in the viral image appear to be longer than those of a tiger owl. The piercing, bright yellow eyes of this creature were similar to those of a great horned owl.

Unlike an owl, however, the Lynx owl featured muscly limbs. It resembled the white and brown patterns along with the fur and paws of a lynx. Twitter users reacted to the viral photo shared by Ezer.

Nicholas Brown, who originally uploaded the picture of the Lynx owl to Instagram, has an Instagram feed replete with AI art. He also runs a shop called Dreamers Zen, where he sells products featuring his digital art.

For this particular image of the Lynx owl, Nicholas used Midjourney, an artificial intelligence image-generating service that can be accessed on the Discord app. It follows the description of an image provided by the user and digitally creates AI images based on that.

Nicholas seemingly uses Midjourney for all these captivating artificial intelligence images of supernatural creatures, fantasy beings, and many more.

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Other viral creatures created with AI

In March, another AI-generated image of an unusual creature went viral on social media. It was called Serpens catus, or a snake cat. The picture was also shared on TikTok and left people in confusion regarding whether the creature existed in reality or not.

The snake cat had the face of a regular-looking household cat, however, it featured black and yellow patterns similar to those of a Boiga, a rear-fanged snake. There was no evidence that supported the existence of a Serpens catus. People also soon realized that the viral photo was skillfully photoshopped.

In April, a photo of another bizarre-looking creature called an Algerian gorilla fish went viral. The enormous creature appeared to be held by a man standing on a small boat in the photo. The creature had the face of a gorilla but the body of a seal with large fins.

However, netizens were certain that the image was photoshopped and that no such fish existed.