A person who identifies with a particular animal other than a human is known as a Therian. The phenomenon has taken off on Tok-Tok, where users dress up as cats, wolves, bears or dogs, add fur to their tails and wear masks to transform into such animals.
People disguised as animals PHOTO: Tik Tok
According to the medium, you can be a therian if you notice yourself changing (having urges to act like a non-human animal) or if you remember a past life as a certain animal. A therian is a person who identifies with a particular non-human animal.
The phenomenon has gained momentum on social networks, where videos have been published of teenagers behaving like cats or dogs, walking on all fours on the street or in parks. Images of teenagers disguised as animals also appeared in Romania.
A person who defines himself as a certain animal is called a therian. Therians describe themselves as that animal emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, but bear no physiological resemblance to that species.
For example, someone whose theriotype (identified species) is a frog might feel most fulfilled when hopping and croaking, while someone whose theriotype is a penguin might feel most comfortable waddling and sheltering from loved ones for warmth.
The term therian is derived from the zoological word Theria, which refers to a large group of mammals (including marsupials such as the koala and wombat, and placentals such as elephants and whales)
Terriers that identify as belonging to a specific species but look like other animals are called cladocerans.
A therian, for example, would identify itself as a gorilla, and a cladotherian, as all gorilla descendants, including monkeys, apes, and chimpanzees, would identify.
The group of therians who identify with extinct creatures such as dinosaurs are known as paleotherians.
