The real Atlantis? Scientists discover lost islands that sank off the coast of the Canary Islands millions of years ago - and claim they could have been the inspiration for the famous legend

Atlantis is the world's most famous fictional island, invented by Greek philosopher Plato 2,300 years ago. But Spanish researchers claim to have found the source of his inspiration – a series of sunken islands off the northwest coast of Africa. The former islands would have been close to the modern-day Canary Islands, but they sunk millions of years ago, the experts think. They've christened the now-submerged lands'Los Atlantes', in reference to the myth of Atlantis which still persists today. Luis Somoza, a marine geologist at Geological Survey of Spain (IGME-CSIC), told Live Science: 'This could be the origin of the Atlantis legend.'