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Cryptozoology (from Greek κρυπτός, kruptos, "hidden" + zoology; literally, "study of hidden animals") is the study of and search for animals which fall outside of contemporary zoological catalogues. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Zoology (from Greek ζῷον, zoon, "animal" + λόγος, " Logos " "knowledge" is the branch of It consists of two primary fields of research:

Those involved in cryptozoological study are known as cryptozoologists; the animals that they study are often referred to as "cryptids", a term coined by John Wall in 1983. The following is a list of Cryptids and Relicts, those animals studied under the field of Cryptozoology. [2] Cryptozoology has seen very little attention from the mainstream scientific community. The scientific community consists of the total body of Scientists its relationships and interactions

Contents

Overview

Invention of the term "cryptozoology" is often attributed to zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans. Zoology (from Greek ζῷον, zoon, "animal" + λόγος, " Logos " "knowledge" is the branch of Bernard Heuvelmans ( October 10, 1916 &ndash August 22, 2001) was a Belgian - French scientist explorer researcher and But in his book, In the Wake of Sea Serpents, Heuvelmans attributes coinage of the term to the late Scottish explorer and adventurer Ivan T. Sanderson. The Scots people ( Scots Gaelic: Albannaich) are a Nation and an Ethnic group indigenous to Scotland. Ivan Terence Sanderson ( January 30, 1911 – February 19, 1973) was a naturalist and writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland [3] Heuvelmans' 1955 book, On the Track of Unknown Animals, traces the scholarly origins of the discipline to Anthonid Cornelis Oudemans[4] and his 1892 study, The Great Sea Serpent. On the Track of Unknown Animals is a cryptozoological book by French author Bernard Heuvelmans that was first published in 1955 under This article is about sea serpents in mythology and cryptozoology Heuvelmans argued that cryptozoology should be undertaken with scientific rigor, but with an open-minded, interdisciplinary approach. Rigour or rigor (see spelling differences) has a number of meanings in relation to intellectual life and discourse In Academia, Pedagogy, Physical sciences, Earth sciences, Human sciences and Social sciences He also stressed that attention should be given to local, urban and folkloric sources regarding such creatures, arguing that while often layered in unlikely and fantastic elements, folktales can have small grains of truth and important information regarding these organisms. History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Loren Coleman, a modern popularizer of cryptozoology, has chronicled the history and personalities of cryptozoology in his books. Loren Coleman, MSW, is an author of books on wide-ranging topics including Sociology and Cryptozoology. [5]

Another notable book on the subject is Willy Ley's Exotic Zoology (1959). Willy Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in Germany and the United States. Ley was best known for his writings on rocketry and related topics, but he was trained in paleontology, and did write a number of books about animals. A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the Palaeontology redirects here For the Scientific journal, see Palaeontology (journal. Ley's collection Exotic Zoology is of some interest to cryptozoology, as he discusses the Yeti and sea serpents, as well as relict dinosaurs. This article is about sea serpents in mythology and cryptozoology The term relict is used to refer to surviving remnants of natural phenomena 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, through misinterpretation of the animals and/or their remains. A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature The sirrush (or mushhushshu) is a creature depicted on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, originally dating to the 6th century B A unicorn (from Latin unus 'one' and cornu 'horn' is a Mythological creature. In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, a cyclops (ˈsaɪklɒps or kyklops ( Greek) is a member of a primordial race of Perhaps the most rigorously scientific analyses of cryptids can be found in the works of British zoologist and cryptozoologist Dr. Karl Shuker, who has published 12 books and countless articles on numerous cryptozoological subjects since the mid-1980s. Dr Karl P N Shuker (born 1959) is a British Zoologist living in the West Midlands, England.

[1]

Mainstream science and cryptozoology

Discoveries of previously unknown animals are often subject to great attention, but cryptozoology per se has seen relatively little interest from mainstream scientists. As historian Mike Dash[6] notes, few scientists doubt there are thousands of unknown animals, particularly invertebrates, awaiting discovery. Mike Dash (born 1963 is a Welsh writer journalist and researcher However, as Dash notes, 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. Ants are social Insects of the family Formicidae and along with the related families of Wasps and Bees belong to the order Beetles are the group of Insects with the largest number of known Species.

The majority of mainstream criticism of cryptozoology is directed towards the search for megafauna cryptids such as Bigfoot, the Yeren, and the Loch Ness Monster which appear often in popular culture, but for which there is little or no scientific support. Megafauna are species of large Animals ( Greek μεγας large + modern Latin fauna animal Bigfoot or Sasquatch is alleged to be an Ape -like creature inhabiting remote forests mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada Yeren ( variously referred to as the Yiren, Yeh Ren, Chinese Wildman, ( Man-Monkey, or ( is a legendary creature said to be an as The Loch Ness Monster ( Nessiteras rhombopteryx) is an alleged animal family and upward Incertae sedis, purportedly inhabiting Scotland 's Loch Ness Scientists argue that mega-fauna cryptids are unlikely to exist undetected in great enough numbers to maintain a breeding population,[7] and are unlikely to be able to survive in their reported habitats due to issues of climate and food supply. [8]

As such, cryptozoology has never been embraced by the scientific community. Most experts on the matter consider the Bigfoot legend to be a combination of folklore and hoaxes [9] and cryptozoology is considered to be a pseudoscience by mainstream zoologists and biologists. Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the [10][11] Noted objections to cryptozoology include unreliable eyewitness accounts, lack of scientific and physical evidence, and over-reliance on confirmation rather than refutation. [9]

Cryptozoologists argue that much of the planet remains unexplored, especially deep oceans, so cryptozoological claims about oceanic cryptids should be given more credence. By plotting the discovery rate of new species, C. G. M. Paxton[12] estimated that as many as 47 large oceanic species remain undiscovered. The discoveries of the Coelacanth and the megamouth shark are examples of how deep-sea animals can remain undetected for years. Coelacanth (ˈsiːləkænθ adaptation of Modern Latin Cœlacanthus > cœl-us + acanth-us from Greek κοῖλ-ος + ἄκανθ-α) is the common name for The megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, is an extremely rare and unusual species of deepwater Shark.

Supporters

Cryptozoology supporters have claimed that in the early days of Western exploration of the world, many native tales of unknown animals initially dismissed as superstition by Western scientists, were later proven to have a basis in biological fact,[2] and that many unfamiliar animals, when initially reported, were considered hoaxes, delusions or misidentifications:[2] the platypus, giant squid, okapi, mountain gorilla, grizzly-polar bear hybrid and Komodo dragon are but a few creatures whose existence was denied by reputable scientists, who initially refused to consider the evidence seriously. Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin The term Indigenous Peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any Ethnic group who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest historical Superstition ( Latin superstitio, literally "standing over" derived perhaps from standing in awe used in Latin as a unreasonable or excessive belief A hoax is a deliberate attempt to Dupe, Deceive or trick an audience into believing or accepting that something is real when in fact it is not or that The Platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi- aquatic Mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The giant squid ( Genus: Architeuthis) is a deep-ocean dwelling Squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by The Okapi ( Okapia johnstoni) is a Mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Mountain Gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei Adult males have more pronounced bony crests on the top and back of their skulls giving their heads a more conical shape A Grizzly–polar bear hybrid is a rare Ursid hybrid that has occurred both The Komodo dragon ( Varanus komodoensis) is a species of Lizard that inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili

Supporters often argue[2] that cryptozoological evidence is evaluated not on its merits or failings, but rather based on ad hominem opinions of researchers, or on prevailing paradigms or world views. An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem ( Latin: "argument to the man" "argument against the man" The word paradigm ( Greek:παράδειγμα (paradigmacomposite from para- and the verb δείχνυμι "to show" as a whole -roughly- meaning "example" A comprehensive world view (or worldview) is a term Calqued from the German word Weltanschauung ( Welt is the German For example, biological anthropologists Grover Krantz and Jeff Meldrum have cited what they perceive to be ample physical evidence in support of the existence of Bigfoot. Gordon S " Grover " Krantz (November 5 1931 &ndash February 14 2002 was a professor of Physical anthropology at Washington State University D Jeffrey Meldrum (born 1958 is a tenured Associate Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology and Adjunct Associate Professor of the Department of Anthropology at Idaho State Bigfoot or Sasquatch is alleged to be an Ape -like creature inhabiting remote forests mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada Yet despite the fact that Krantz and Meldrum are recognized experts in their field, their arguments regarding Bigfoot have largely been dismissed by other scientists. Another supposedly well-attested cryptid that was largely ignored by scientists was the so-called Minnesota Iceman of the 1960s,[13] purportedly an unidentified hominid corpse inspected by two cryptologists, Ivan T. Sanderson and Bernard Huevelmans, who offered detailed descriptions and photos of the creature; despite their efforts towards evangelizing the case, very few scientists expressed an interest. The Minnesota Iceman is a purported man-like creature frozen in a block of ice and displayed at State fairs or Carnivals in and around Rollingstone, Ivan Terence Sanderson ( January 30, 1911 – February 19, 1973) was a naturalist and writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland Skeptics of cryptozoology counter that their skepticism regarding the subject prevents an unwarranted flood of misidentified animal sightings attributed to cryptids.

Evidence of cryptids

Supporters claim that as in legitimate scientific fields, cryptozoologists are often responsible for disproving their own objects of study. For example, some cryptozoologists have collected evidence that disputes the validity of some facets of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomenon. [14][15][16]

There are several animals cited as examples for continuing cryptozoological efforts:

List of Cryptids

Main article: List of Cryptids

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Simpson, George G. Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the Protoscience refers to historical philosophical disciplines which existed prior to the development of Scientific method, which allowed them to develop into Science Astrobiology (from Greek grc ἄστρον astron, "constellation star" grc βίος bios, "life" and grc -λογία (1984-03-30) "Mammals and Cryptozoology", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, p1, V128#1
  2. ^ a b c d Coleman, Loren and Clark, Jerome. Loren Coleman, MSW, is an author of books on wide-ranging topics including Sociology and Cryptozoology. Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. New York: Fireside/Simon and Schuster, 1999
  3. ^ Heuvelmans, Bernard. In the Wake of the Sea-Serpents. New York: Hill and Wang, 1968.
  4. ^ *Heuvelmans, Bernard. Bernard Heuvelmans ( October 10, 1916 &ndash August 22, 2001) was a Belgian - French scientist explorer researcher and On The Track Of Unknown Animals.  :-(New York: Hill and Wang, 1959.
  5. ^ Coleman, Loren. Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology. Thomas Baker "Tom" Slick Jr (1916&ndash October 6, 1962) was a San Antonio Texas based inventor Businessman, adventurer and Fresno, California: Craven Street Books/Linden Press, 2002.
  6. ^ a b Dash, Mike, Borderlands: The Ultimate Exploration of the Unknown, Overlook Press, 2000
  7. ^ Bigfoot hunting
  8. ^ Sjögren, Bengt, Berömda vidunder, Settern, 1980, ISBN 91-7586-023-6 (Swedish)
  9. ^ a b Bigfoot and Other Ape-Human Creatures
  10. ^ Stewart, Bruce G. 1995, 2005, 2007. "Pseudoscience: A Cultural Pathogen"
  11. ^ Radford, Benjamin. 2007. "Sci Fi Investigates, Finds Only Pseudoscience."
  12. ^ Paxton, C. G. M. 1998. A cumulative species description curve for large open water marine animals. Journal of the Marine Biologists Association, U. K. 78, 1389-1391.
  13. ^ see Coleman and Clark, 1999, and the Minnesota Iceman page for more information
  14. ^ Markotic, Vladimir and Krantz, Grover (eds) The Sasquatch and other unknown hominoids Calgary: Western Publishers, 1984
  15. ^ Roderick and Krantz, Grover (eds)The Scientist looks at the Sasquatch II Sprague
  16. ^ Napier, John Russel Bigfoot : the yeti and sasquatch in myth and reality New York: Dutton, 1973, c1972
  17. ^ Roesch, Ben S. The Minnesota Iceman is a purported man-like creature frozen in a block of ice and displayed at State fairs or Carnivals in and around Rollingstone, 1998. "A Critical Evaluation of the Supposed Contemporary Existence of Carcharodon megalodon. " The Cryptozoology Review 3 (2): 14-24
  18. ^ [http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=1329 Gee, Henry. 2004. "Flores, God and Cryptozoology: The discovery poses thorny questions about the uniqueness of Homo sapiens. "

Further reading

External links

Organizations

Lists and monster directories


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Dictionary

cryptozoology

-noun

  1. The study of animals whose existence has not been proven.
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