Cryptozoology: Study about many lesser known mystery creatures

Cryptozoology

Criticism

Cryptozoology has received little support in mainstream science and is considered a pseudoscience by mainstream zoologists and biologists. Noted objections to cryptozoology include unreliable eyewitness accounts, lack of scientific and physical evidence, and over-reliance on confirmation (confirmation bias) rather than refutation.

As historian Mike Dash notes, few scientists doubt there are thousands of unknown animals, particularly invertebrates, awaiting discovery; however, cryptozoologists are largely uninterested in researching and cataloging newly-discovered species of ants or beetles, instead focusing their efforts towards "more elusive" creatures that have often defied decades of work aimed at confirming their existence.

The majority of mainstream criticism of cryptozoology is thus directed towards the search for megafauna cryptids such as Bigfoot, the Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster which appear often in popular culture, but for which there is little or no scientific support. Scientists argue that mega-fauna cryptids are unlikely to exist undetected in great enough numbers to maintain a breeding population, and are unlikely to be able to survive in their reported habitats due to issues of climate and food supply. For example, most experts on the matter consider the Bigfoot legend to be a combination of folklore and hoaxes.

Cryptozoology is the study of still unknown species of animals. These cryptids, as they are called, include not only the Loch Ness monster, sasquatch and other "mega-monsters", but also many lesser known mystery creatures. (Some of these have more evidence going for them than the monster super-stars.) Cryptozoology often receives a bad rep because it is often practiced with little skepticism, or regard for scientifically supported facts and theories. Likewise, paranormal cryptozoologists do little to help the integrity of cryptozoology. It can, however, be a level-headed, interesting and possibly even scientific subject, if examined with open-minded skepticism and a scientific viewpoint.

Such an approach is the basis of this web site on cryptozoology. Ockham's razor, which basically states that the simplest explanation is probably the correct one, is a rationale that looms large here.

Overview

Invention of the term cryptozoology (adding the Greek prefix kryptós, or "hidden" to zoology to mean "the study of hidden animals") is often attributed to zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans. However, Heuvelmans himself (in his book In the Wake of Sea Serpents) attributes coinage of the term to the late Scottish explorer and adventurer Ivan T. Sanderson. Heuvelmans' 1955 book, On The Track of Unknown Animals traces the scholarly origins of the discipline to Anthonid Cornelis Oudemans and his 1892 study, The Great Sea Serpent. Loren Coleman, the modern popularizer of cryptozoology, has chronicled the history and personalities of the science in his books.

Another notable book was Willy Ley's Exotic Zoology (1959). Ley was best known for his books on rocketry and related topics, but he also wrote a number of books about animals. Exotic Zoology (which combined some of Ley's older writings with new ones) is of some interest to cryptozoology, as he discusses the Yeti and sea serpents, as well as reports of relict dinosaurs. The book's first section ("Myth?") entertains the possibility that some legendary creatures (like the sirrush, the unicorn or the cyclops) might be based on actual animals (or misinterpretation of animals and/or their remains).

Heuvelmans argued that cryptozoology should be undertaken with scientific rigor, but also with an open-minded, interdisciplinary approach. He also stressed that attention should be given to local and folkloric sources regarding such creatures. While often layered in unlikely and fantastic elements, folktales may indeed contain grains of truth and important information regarding these animals.

Some cryptozoologists align themselves with a more scientifically rigorous field like zoology, while others tend toward an anthropological slant or even a Fortean perspective. Cryptozoology is often considered a pseudoscience by mainstream zoologists and biologists.

Cryptozoology Web Links

The Cryptozoologist
The study of "hidden animals," includes Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monsters, Yeti, Myakka Skunk Ape, and hundreds of other cryptids.

Cryptozoology.com
The scientific study of hidden animals.

Unpublished Stories of Ogopogo
Bones discovered September 23 2004 may be first stealth dinosaur, a plesiosaur that lived over 230 million years ago in the shallow ocean off China.

La Bete the killing Machine of France
240 years ago in the now defunct Provence of Gevaudan France (now Lozere/Auvergne area) the killings began again.

Rich La Monica's Norka of Akron
Dedicated to the study of Ohio's cryptozoological creatures and its folklore. Home of the "Talker" recording.

Cameron's Cryptozoology Page
For those foreign with the concept of Cryptozoology, it is defined as the search for "hidden" animals.

The Cryptid Zoo: A Menagerie of Cryptozoology
A guide to the science of cryptozoology and the creatures it studies, from Bigfoot to the giant vampire bat.

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