Lunarian (Concept)

Most modern scientific research has made one thing apparent, though Luna has a trace atmosphere of Sodium, Potassium and other assorted gases, it is not powerful enough to have any life (Including bacterial life) on it's surface.

But that hasn't stopped writers from creating a menagerie of lifeforms which inhabit the Earth's only natural satellite.

In Real Life
For most of history, scientists who looked into the concept of life on other planets believed that our Solar System was teaming with life, with heat resistant scientists on Mercury, golden haired humanoids on Venus, an Utopic society on Mars and of course, an Inhabited Luna.

In those days, the greatest scientific minds believed that the craters and deserts where islands and oceans which explains why there are places on the moon with names like "Sea of Tranquillity" and "Lake of Death".

This widespread belief made the citizens of the world flip their lids with joy when they heard Sir John Herschel (a widely known, highly credible astronomer at the time) had discovered evidence of life and civilization on Luna.

In the article from the New York newspaper The Sun (not to be confused with the modern British newspaper of the same name) it described how the the moon was indeed inhabited by humanoid bat creatures, creatures resembling unicorns, bipedal beavers, ox and goats.

When Herschel was interviewed about his remarkable discovery by other news sources he said that had found no such thing, and so, the master minds behind the hoax, a French astronomer and the editor for a literary magazine known as The Knickerbocker, where revealed to be the original authors.

In Fiction

 * Selenites are the Insectoid inhabitants of Luna in The First Men in the Moon
 * An unknown species of parasitic Aliens exist on Luna in Apollo 18
 * Luna itself was an egg stage of a life cycle for a race of space born Dragon-like creatures in Doctor Who
 * Moonlanders are an imperialistic species native to the moon in Ducktales (2017)
 * Giant Lunar Moths where some of the creature encountered by Doctor Dolittle when he went to Luna
 * Lunarians are the last members of a species who have slowly lost their sapience in A Honeymoon in Space