Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil is a legendary beast that is said to inhabit the area known as the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey, located in the United States. It's commonly seen as a horned, kangaroo-like creature with a goat's head, leathered wings that resemble those of a bat's, small arms with clawed hands, and hooves that are clovened, along with a forked tail.

Strictly speaking it's unclear whether the Jersey Devil falls into the category of the mythological creatures or the modern-day urban legends.

Origins
While there are many told origins for the Jersey Devil, the earliest legends date back to Native American folklore. The Lenni Lanape tribes referred to the area around the Barren Pines as "Popuessing", meaning "place of the dragon". Swedish explorers later named "Drake kill", drake translating to dragon and kill meaning arm of the sea.

One of the beasts many origins trace back to the Leeds family, who all lived in a New Jersey city (the story setting has been said to be one of several cities in the state, whichever one it is still up to debate), which consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Leeds and their 12 children, Mrs. Leeds became pregnant with her 13th and many believe believe she was cursed to give birth to a devil for the mistreatment of a minister, or she just got what she wanted when she said "I hope it's a devil". According to the popular version of the legend, the new-born baby was malformed and hideous, killed the rest of the family and then escaped into the woods. The creature is also referred as the Leeds Devil.

Possible Explanations
Although there are many reports of meeting with the Jersey Devil, the most famous of them from 1909 which earned much attention of the local newspapers, it's possible that the Jersey Devil is the product of mass hysteria multiplied by attention of the tabloid newspaper.

However this creature shows some resemblances to the so-called Black Goat-Man of Wittingau from the Western Slavic folklore. They both share similar environment (a densely forested area within humid marshlands caused by frequent rains) and even some physiological signs like a goat-like head, a black haired and hunchbacked humanoid body with long lower limbs. In some versions of the original legend, both were also reported to eat human flesh when disturbed.