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What is cryptozoology?

Cryptozoology is the study of hidden animals. These animals are known as

cryptids. They are creatures, which existence is unproven, like the

Sasquatch, the Yeti or the Loch Ness Monster. They can be divided into

several subgroups, like sea monsters or hairy humanoids1.

People, who investigate these beings, are called cryptozoologists. Their

research subjects, the cryptids, are known from around the world. From the

jungles of Cameroon to the ice deserts of Antarctica, from the Gobi to the

Atacama, from the Alps to the Australian outback.

The cryptids themselves are so mysterious, that the explanations for some of

them are sometimes really alien. Some are said to be surviving non-avian

dinosaurs, like the Mokele-Mbembe, while others are said to even have

extraterrestrial origins, like the Dover Demon. And some are even said to be

supernatural, like the Jersey Devil2.

Some former cryptids were even proven to be real, for example the okapi,

the Komodo dragon, the giant squid and the mountain gorilla3.

Because cryptozoology investigates animals, which lack physical evidence,

cryptozoology is categorized as a niche study, or a pseudoscience. But still,

it’s unsure, if it should really be just a pseudoscience and nothing more or

less4.

1 Coleman, Loren; Clark, Jerome (1999): Cryptozoology A To Z: The Encyclopedia Of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras And Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. Touchstone. pp.

15-18. 2 Kosemen, C. M. (2013): A New Approach To Cryptozoology: C. M. Kosemen on the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London. 3 Kosemen, C. M. (2013): A New Approach To Cryptozoology: C. M. Kosemen on the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhoNnMmnz-o 4 Conway, John; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, Darren (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 8.

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1.0 The cryptids

The cryptids are mysterious to us, because no trustable physical evidence of

them exists. The appearance of the most hidden creatures differs in shape

and size from eye witness to eye witness. The best example is the legendary

bloodsucking Chupacabra from Mexico. This beast is sometimes depicted as

a furless canine creature and sometimes as an alien-like being with spines

on its back and red glowing eyes5.

Cryptids can be categorized by being distribution anomalies (like Alien Big

Cats), unusual variations of known animals (like the Maltese Tiger),

specimens of presumed extinct animal species (e.g. the Ngoubou), legendary

beasts with a zoological background (like the Tatzelwurm), paranormal and

supernatural creatures (like the Kappa), aliens that stay for a long time on

earth and become therefore residents (e.g. the Mothman), proofed hoaxes

(like the Hodag) and others6.

1.1 The art of being sceptic

While many cryptozoologists are really euphoric and positive of proofing the

existence of creatures like the Ropen (a bioluminescent pterosaur), the

Cadborosaurus (a Canadian sea serpent) or the Yeren (a Chinese hominid),

some other scientists see the witnesses and “evidences” in an even more

sceptical way7.

5 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 35. 6 Eberhart, George M. (2005): Mysterious Creatures: Creating a Cryptozoological Encyclopedia.

Journal of Scientific Exploration. Vol. 19, No. 1. pp. 103–113. 7 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 9.

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Many cryptid sightings were disproven by being nothing more than hoaxes.

Some others were possibly just stories, especially encounters with sea

monsters, for example the modern Megalodon and the Ningen. And others

are perhaps just myths from native or urban folklore8.

Because of the fact, that the existence of these creatures can hardly be

proven, cryptozoology is considered as a pseudoscience by many scientists9.

1.2 Monsters of the Deep

Since ancient times, giant monsters ruled the sea. They were the reflection

of the sailors’ fear. They were like giant forces of nature destroying ships as

if they were just wooden branches floating on the water surface. And with

the helpless crew on the boats watching the monstrous being while hoping

to survive the encounter.

Stories of aquatic beasts are still present today. The most famous example

may be the Loch Ness Monster, a mysterious lake monster from Scotland.

Every year, eye witness reports are made10.

And these reports, from photographs to stories, let biologists create the most

alien theories about the true identity of the Loch Ness Monster.

It is sometimes explained as being a long-necked seal11, a plesiosaur12, an

elephant, that got somehow into the loch13, a giant sea slug14, a giant eel15 or

even an elephant-like squid16.

8 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. pp. 9-10. 9 Hill, Kyle (2013): Why Bigfoot is Unlikely Only If You Know What “Unlikely” Means. But Not

Simpler

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/2013/10/01/why-bigfoot-is-unlikely-only-if-you-

know-what-unlikely-means/ 10 Naish, D. (2013): Photos of the Loch Ness Monster, revisited. Tetrapod Zoology ver 3

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/07/10/photos-of-the-loch-ness-monster-

revisited/ 11 Naish, D. (2009): The Loch Ness monster seen on land. Tetrapod Zoology ver 2

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/10/02/loch-ness-monster-on-land/ 12 Shuker, Karl (2013): Does the Loch Ness Monster have a split personality? Revealing Nessie’s strangest identities. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2013/07/does-loch-ness-monster-have-split.html 13 Chamberlain, Ted (2006): Photo in the News: Loch Ness Monster Was an Elephant?. National

Geographic News.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0309_0603009_loch_ness.html 14 (September 26th 1966): Loch Ness Monster a Giant Slug?. The Milwaukee Journal.

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15 (December 8th 1933): The Monster of Loch Ness – Official! Orders That Nobody is to Attack it ... A Huge Eel?. Daily Mirror. 16 Naish, D. (2013): Photos of the Loch Ness Monster, revisited. Tetrapod Zoology ver 3

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/07/10/photos-of-the-loch-ness-monster-

revisited/

Above: The true identity of the Loch Ness Monster remains a

mystery, while it is still controversial, if it even exists.

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Another example is the Con Rit, Cetioscolopendra, a sea serpent from the

South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and the coasts of Australia and most

famously Hongay, Vietnam.

Bernard Heuvelmans suggested that, if it exists, it may be a descendant of

Basilosaurus, a serpentine prehistoric whale. In his theory, the whale has

evolved extra fin-like appendages and armour plates on its back17.

In fact, he combined the features of different sea monster sightings. Some of

them can be explained as a dolphin pod, a turtle or a large oarfish18.

Most of these alleged sightings could just be those typical stories, sailors

enjoy to tell, after a long time at sea, to thrill their families and friends at

home. However, some sea monsters have already been proven to be real, for

example the megamouth shark Megachasma pelagios, the giant squid

Architeuthis sp. and the colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni.

1.3 Our shaggy Relatives

On every continent, except for Antarctica, hairy bipedal apes have been

spotted, most famously, the Bigfoot from North America and the Yeti from

the Himalaya.

They are known from ancient folklores and tales and even from recent

accounts, some people frequently claim to see them19.

The explanations for these humanoid creatures differ from descendants of

Gigantopithecus (Yet, Bigfoot)20 to surviving Homo erectus (Nguoi Rung)21

or even Neanderthals (Almas)22.

17 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. pp. 98-99. 18 Naish, D. (2013): Cryptids, Speculation and Skepticism: Darren Naish on the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGno9xA7gD4 19 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 21. 20 Campbell, Bernard G. (1979): Humankind Emerging. Little, Brown and Company. p. 100. 21 Eberhart, G. M. (2002): Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. ABC-CLIO Ltd. pp.

588-589. 22 Shackley, Myra (1986): Still Living?: Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma. Thames &

Hudson Ltd. p. 98.

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They seem to even appear at ecological realms, where no one would expect a

big tailless primate, like South America (De Loys’s Ape) or Australia

(Yowie)23.

The De Loys’s Ape was already disproven. It was nothing more, than a

hoax24. But the mythical Yowie from Australia is a bit harder to explain. It

was suggested, that some recent reports may originate from sightings of

gorillas, which escaped from a local zoo. However, this case has its deep

rooted origin in an age-old aboriginal lore of an ancient native people of

forest dwellers25.

The both humanoid cryptids, the Sasquatch and the Yeti, which are in the

main focus of the fringe science cryptozoology, may be the most complicated

subjects for such investigations. Footprints can easily be faked, as well as

footages, skins, hair, dung and anything else.

A well-known example is the Patterson footage. The female Bigfoot, which

was caught on tape, could have been as well a man in a suit. And it also may

not be a happenstance, that the Bigfoot, which was caught on film, looked

enormously similar to the description by Roe26.

Also the Yeti doesn’t have to be that, what it is expected to be. Travellers

often claim to see primate-like beings running around on the mountain

rocks27. However, “Yeti” DNA samples showed similarities with the DNA of

bears28. And Himalayan depictions of this cryptid show it as some kind of

humanoid demon with a short tail and carnivore fangs29.

23 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 21. 24 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. pp. 32-33. 25 (February 1842): Superstitions of the Australian Aborigines: The Yahoo. Australian and New

Zealand Monthly Magazine 1 (2). p. 47 26 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 22. 27Bonin, Werner F. (1983): Faszination des Unfassbaren: Geheimnisse und Rätsel des Übernatürlichen und Außerirdischen. Das Beste aus Reader’s Digest. pp.108-109. 28 Than, Ker (2013): Is the Abominable Snowman a Bear?. National Geographic

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131021-yeti-abominable-snowman-bigfoot-

polar-bear-cryptozoology/ 29 Naish, D. (2013): Tales from the Cryptozoologicon: the Yeti. Tetrapod Zoology ver 3

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/08/04/cryptozoologicon-yeti-teaser/

Right: The legendary Yeti portrayed as

a striped bear based on DNA samples,

which are claimed to originate from

the abominable snowman and Tibetan

illustrations of the beast.

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1.4 Survivors of a Lost World

It seems, as if non-avian dinosaurs and their fearsome relatives are still

alive. Various expeditions to locations, like the Congo River, the African

savannah and the South American rainforests have been made, to track

down the giants of forgotten times30.

Big dinosaurs seem to have survived on many different places. The Row, a

long-necked herbivore with a frilled neck and armour plates named after its

bloodcurdling call, is said to roam in the forests of New Guinea31, while the

Partridge Creek Beast, a bipedal carnivore with protofeathers, a nasal horn

and a taste for caribous, seems to hunt in the snowy areas near the Yukon32.

The most famous dinosaur cryptid is the Mokele-Mbembe from the Congo

River. Various expeditions have been started, to find this long-necked

quadruped giant.

The earliest evidence from an expedition was made by Bonaventure during

the 18th century. Many explorers followed, including Hagenbeck in 190933.

Even these days, expeditions are started, to find this mysterious beast, most

of them funded by television programs, like Beast Hunter, Destination

Truth or Monster Quest.

In these alleged “prehistoric survivors”, the impact of the Western culture

can be seen. In some way, they show how the Belgian rulers saw Africa and

its inhabitants. These monsters may reflect how the colonists saw the less

developed peoples of natives34.

30 Kosemen, C. M. (2013): A New Approach To Cryptozoology: C. M. Kosemen on the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhoNnMmnz-o 31 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 24. 32 (December 4th 1927): PREHISTORIC BEAST SEEN: Giant Saurian of Arctic Emerges. Siberians Report Monster. Believed to Live in Cherski Range. Creature Once Hunted Over Alaska Now Exciting Russ Savants. Los Angeles Times. 33 Clark, Jerome. (1993): Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. Visible Ink Press. pp. 274-340. 34 Kosemen, C. M. (2013): A New Approach To Cryptozoology: C. M. Kosemen on the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhoNnMmnz-o

Right: The Partridge Creek Beast is

the only non-avian cryptid dinosaur,

which is said to roam a cold habitat.

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2.0 The dark Cryptids

Beside the typical cryptids, that represent unknown animals, there also

supernatural, fearsome cryptids, known as “dark cryptids”.

They often have a strong link to UFO-folklore, demonology and

spiritualism35, such as the Jersey Devil, a demonic beast from New Jersey

with a goat’s head, bat wings, pig hooves and a long tail, that was born as

the 13th child of a woman, which was killed by the monster36, the Dover

Demon, a slender being from Massachusetts with pale skin, only eyes in its

face and an unusual number of fingers37 or the Mothman, a flying humanoid

with red-glowing eyes38.

They are hard to explain and often just represent myths or urban legends.

Some of these cases are quite complicated.

The Mothman, for example, is often claimed to be an alien or supernatural

entity. It seems to have a strong connection to extraterrestrial contacts. The

Mothman is also said to be responsible for, or to have a connection to a

bridge collapse. And it’s even said, that the Men in Black were involved in

this case.

It was sometimes explained, as being a hoax or a prank by a man, who was

dressed in a Halloween costume to scare people at night.

But the way, how these encounters happened, weren’t comparable or

compatible to typical pranks. However, Mothman hoaxes happened. Some

construction workers used helium balloons with red flashlights for this.

Although, these hoaxes happened, the original Mothman sightings were

probably real. A big winged humanoid with robust legs, a lumbering gait

and red glowing eyes is the most common type of sighting. It is reported to

not flap its wings, while walking and to sometimes squeal like a mouse.

In other reports, it was clearly identified as a bird, while in many others, it

is said, that the eyes only started to glow, when light hit it39.

35 Kosemen, C. M. (2013): A New Approach To Cryptozoology: C. M. Kosemen on the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhoNnMmnz-o 36 Monster Quest (2009): Devils in New Jersey. Monster Quest season 3. History Channel. 37 (1977. Retrieved 2014): Teeners report ‘creature’. Associated Press. 38 Spencer, John (1991): UFOs: The Definitive Casebook. Hamlyn. p. 28. 39 Nickell, Joe (2002): Mothman Revisited: Investigating on Site. Investigative Files vol 12.4. The

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/mothman_revisitedinvestigating_on_site/

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3.0 How to explain the not yet Explainable

The most drastic problem within cryptozoology is that there are no physical

evidences of the subjects of this fringe science. But if there were any, the

cryptids, of course wouldn’t be hidden creatures.

As long, as the evidence can’t be proven, the illustration of cryptids should

still be as scientifically plausible, as possible. Therefore speculative

evolution comes into focus40.

One of these speculative theories, for example, suggest, that the Bigfoot, the

Orang Pendek and the Yeti are closely related to each other and belong to

the pongidae and therefore to the same group, as orang-utans41. Another

categorizes the Tizheruk, a serpentine sea monster of Inuit mythology, as a

pinniped42.

While these hypotheses are quite optimistic, by imagining most of these

fabulous beasts as real, other theories are way more sceptical and criticize

the unconventional and bizarre conjectures.

But it doesn’t have to be always a hoax or a tale. In the case of the

Mothman, for example, the witnesses may have seen a real creature, but it

doesn’t have to be a monstrous humanoid alien being.

It may have been a striped owl (Strix varia), which is quite common

throughout North America. The red glowing eyes, caused by the red eye

effect, which is a normal result, when light hits the retina and the fact, that

when the senses are alarmed and in danger or fear situation, the human

eyes don’t realize the size of an object primarily and therefore not well, may

have created a monster in the minds of the eyewitnesses. And this is also a

result of alleged UFO sightings, at this time, which were in fact

misidentified planes. The people were prepared to see an alien, and

therefore they misidentified owls as such43.

40 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. p. 10. 41 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. pp. 16-20. 42 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. pp. 64-67. 43 Nickell, J. (2002): Mothman Revisited: Investigating on Site. Investigative Files vol 12.4. The

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/mothman_revisitedinvestigating_on_site/

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3.1 Finding the true Identity

Sometimes, weird carcasses or living creatures appear out of nowhere and

have been photographed or filmed, while these pictures hadn’t been proved

to be hoaxes.

It is often hard, to identify them. Especially, when they are dead and have

decayed for weeks. One great example for this is the famous Zuiyo Maru

Creature. In 1977, the Japanese fishing vessel Zuiyo Maru fished something

big out of the water.

This catch was a true surprise. It was a bad-smelling carcass with a length

of about 10m. It had four fins, a comparatively small skull and a long neck.

This monster resembled a prehistoric plesiosaur. The carcass was

photographed by the crew and tissue samples have been saved for later

identification.

In reality, it may have been a shark carcass, possibly a basking shark. The

jaw is the heaviest part of the body and often sinks to the ground first. The

fins start to move away from their normal position, as the tissue is rotting.

The result can look similar to a plesiosaur or another marine reptile44.

Similar incidents happened all around the world, where “pseudo-

plesiosaurs” have been washed ashore45. For example the famous Trunko

from South Africa, a creature of the same kind, that was witnessed during

the 20s46.

44 Conway, J.; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, D. (2013): Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular books. pp. 45-46. 45 Shuker, K. (2013): Two Sea Monsters for the Price of One!. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2013/09/two-sea-monsters-for-price-of-one.html 46 Shuker, K. (2010): Behold, Trunko!!. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2010/09/behold-trunko.html

Above: The mysterious Zuiyo Maru carcass is now considered to have been a

dead shark.

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Another interesting case is the one of the Chupacabra, Mexico’s famous

parasitic fabulous beast. When searching on the web for this cryptid, lots of

pictures and videos will appear, showing alleged caught or killed

Chupacabras. They look like grey hairless dogs.

But there is even a known hairless Mexican animal, with the physical

appearance of a dog and it is in fact a real dog. The Mexican hairless dog,

also known as Xoloitzcuintle might be the true identity of the goat sucker47.

Another possibility might be deceased wild dogs, like coyotes or foxes with

scabies. The dogs lose their fur and get the typical look of a Chupacabra.

These symptoms are caused by the mite species Sarcoptes scabiei.

While we are far more immune to these mites, as we’ve evolved specialized

defence mechanisms, dogs are less adapted to this condition. It is likely, that

we’ve transferred these mites to domesticated dogs. They were less prepared

for this and it was only a matter of time, until the first wild dogs became the

next victims.

Extremely weakened, it was harder for them, to hunt wild animals, so they

killed livestock, which explains the “typical Chupacabra behaviour”48.

47 Butler, Rhett A. (2007): Chupacabra story is a hoax; likely a Xolo dog breed. Mongabay.com

http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0904-chupacabra.html 48 Viegas, Jennifer (2010): Chupacabra Mystery Solved. Discovery News

http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/chupacabra-mystery-solved.htm

Left: From left to right: A hairless

“Chupacabra” dog and the classic

reptilian kangaroo-like Chupacabra.

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3.2 Hoaxes and Media: A life-long Relationship

Identifying hoaxes as such is often easy, but some cases are harder to

disproof. Especially today, since it is easy to manipulate photographs or to

create realistic models and publish them somewhere within the internet. In

the second stage, naive people will think, it’s possibly a new species, an

alien creature, a ghost, a demon, a mythical creature or something even

more unusual.

Sometimes, people even tend to take pictures from somewhere else and

make them cryptid hoaxes, while the original picture was often just an

artwork, depicting a cryptid or a creature, invented by the artist.

A great example for these cases would be a screenshot from the Japanese

kaiju film “Gamera the Brave” that ended up as a photograph of a giant

tortoise from Amazon49 50. Funny enough, the site, where this hoax

appeared, also claims that recently scientists have cloned a dinosaur from

DNA, which was preserved within a fossil from an exhibit.

This dinosaur, an Apatosaurus, lived during the Late Jurassic, and

therefore 150 million years ago. So it’s unlikely, that the DNA could still be

preserved. The site also shows a picture of the “dinosaur”, which looks

surprisingly just like a newborn kangaroo51. The author remains unknown.

While this page has a “SHARE ON FACEBOOK” button, it possible, that

such fake “news” can be spread easily around the web.

Another example is Alan Friswell’s sea serpent photo manipulation. It

started as an artwork, but someone copied it to claim, that a real mythical

sea serpent was found, showing the picture in the internet52.

49 Shuker, K. (2014): Exposing online fakes and frauds of the cryptozoological kind - a ShukerNature top ten listing. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2014/01/exposing-online-fakes-and-frauds-of.html 50 Morris, Sarah (2013): World’s Largest Tortoise found in Amazon Basin- 800lb. News-Hound

http://news-hound.org/world-largest-tortoise-found-in-amazon-basin-800lb/ 51 (2014): British Scientists Clone Dinosaur. News-Hound

http://news-hound.org/british-scientists-clone-dinosaur/ 52 Shuker, K. (2014): Exposing online fakes and frauds of the cryptozoological kind

- a ShukerNature top ten listing. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2014/01/exposing-online-fakes-and-frauds-of.html

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4.0 Are hidden Animals still out there?

Every year new species are discovered. The tropical rainforests contain lots

of unknown animals, plants, fungi and other life forms. The deep sea also

possesses lots of unknown beings. And even in the own garden, the living

room’s aquarium or somewhere else, where no one would expect them, new

species could be find53.

Not only small insects, frogs and other microfauna are discovered recently,

but also big animals, for example Tapirus kabomani, a new species of tapir

recently described in 2013.

It is the latest described tapir species since Baird’s tapir 1865. Unlike most

tapirs, T. kabomani has short limbs, compared to its relatives, which makes

it a unique species within the tapir family tree54.

Lots of newly discovered species are already endangered, when they

described, sometimes because of overhunting by the natives even before the

species was known to international public and sometimes because its

ecological environment was already heavily destroyed by mankind’s “hunger

for resources”.

An example for this is the snub-nosed monkey species Rhinopithecus

strykeri, discovered in 2010. It is the first snub-nosed monkey species

known from Myanmar. It is an easy prey for hunters during the rainy

seasons, because its extraordinary nose is not protected against the drops of

water from above. When they are getting into the nose, the monkey has to

sneeze, and that makes it easy to be heard by the hunters55.

Some species are even going to be extinct, as soon, as they are discovered,

for example species of the small, but odd looking snail of the genus

Plectostoma.

The species P. sciaphilum was first discovered in 1952 and now extinct. And

this fate may also be the future for P. tenggekensis, first described March 28

this year, and this species may never last until the end of 201456.

53 Burnie. David (2004): The Kingfisher Illustrated Nature Encyclopedia. Kingfisher. p. 114. 54 Naish, D. (2013): A new living species of large mammal: hello, Tapirus kabomani!. Tetrapod

Zoology ver 3

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/12/17/new-living-species-of-tapir/ 55 Kaufman, Rachel (2010): New Snub-Nosed Monkey Discovered, Eaten. National Geographic

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101027-snub-nosed-monkey-sneezes-new-

species-science-discovered-eaten/ 56 Platt, John R. (2014): Microjewels: Stunningly Beautiful Snails Going Extinct As Soon As They Are Discovered. Extinction Countdown

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2014/03/28/microjewels-snails-extinct/

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Conclusion

Cryptozoology is in fact a niche study, but it is more, than just a pseudo-

science.

Cryptozoology itself contains aspects of ethnology, mythology, anthropology,

cultural studies, evolution biology and psychology.

Cryptids can give us an insight into the minds of people and reflect their

fears, wishes and the id and how it influences the ego.

By trying to explain some mysterious creatures, we get a deeper insight into

evolution and even our own ancestry, since all the speculations, if Bigfoot,

Yeti and other mystery apes might be relatives of Neanderthals, Homo

erectus, orang-utans or even the majestic Gigantopithecus blackii.

At the same time, cryptids make us curious. Giant dinosaurs and monstrous

entities with glowing eyes are just amazing. Such creatures fascinate us, as

dragons and unicorns fascinated our ancestors.

And this fascination always gets uncovered, when something extraordinary

is found, that could be dung, a footprint, a carcass or even a living creature.

The unknown being is often proofed, to be just a misidentification, as with

the famous Zuiyo Maru carcass. But this carcass wasn’t a whole failure,

because it showed us, how sharks decay after death.

Above: Sea Serpents and other aquatic monsters reflected the

fear of water, people had since ancient times, and even today

giant aquatic monsters, like modern Megalodons or

plesiosaurs, are reported by fishers and other people around

the world.

15

Cryptozoology makes us curious, if there are still undiscovered animals in

the woods of the forests, on the tops of the mountains or in the dark deeps of

the sea. It makes us think of nature, our place in it and increases our

ecological way to think.

Because it’s always too sad, when species are already wiped out by

mankind, before we could have discovered and described them.

Therefore is cryptozoology more, than just a niche study, because it gives us

a deeper insight into many different sciences. Still, the main study object of

this subject, the cryptids, should never be taken too serious, but the whole

study and speculation around them open doors to other scientific fields, that

have perhaps never been opened before. And cryptozoology should get the

scientific respect and acceptance, it deserves.

Above: Mysterious creatures may still lurk in remote areas, like the

deep sea, where real monsters, like giant squids, have been found.

16

Appendix

Bibliography

Coleman, Loren; Clark, Jerome (1999): Cryptozoology A To Z: The

Encyclopedia Of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras And Other

Authentic Mysteries of Nature. Touchstone.

Conway, John; Kosemen, C. M.; Naish, Darren (2013): Cryptozoologicon:

The Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals. Vol. 1. Irregular

books.

Eberhart, George M. (2005): Mysterious Creatures: Creating a

Cryptozoological Encyclopedia. Journal of Scientific Exploration. Vol. 19,

No. 1.

Campbell, Bernard G. (1979): Humankind Emerging. Little, Brown and

Company.

Eberhart, G. M. (2002): Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology.

ABC-CLIO Ltd.

Shackley, Myra (1986): Still Living?: Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal

Enigma. Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Dr Bonin, Werner F. (1983): Faszination des Unfassbaren: Geheimnisse und

Rätsel des Übernatürlichen und Außerirdischen. Das Beste aus Reader’s

Digest.

Clark, Jerome. (1993): Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible

Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. Visible Ink Press.

Spencer, John (1991): UFOs: The Definitive Casebook. Hamlyn.

Burnie. David (2004): The Kingfisher Illustrated Nature Encyclopedia.

Kingfisher.

17

Magazine and Newspaper Article Sources

(September 26th 1966): Loch Ness Monster a Giant Slug?. The Milwaukee

Journal.

December 8th 1933): The Monster of Loch Ness – Official! Orders That Nobody is to Attack it ... A Huge Eel?. Daily Mirror.

(February 1842): Superstitions of the Australian Aborigines: The Yahoo.

Australian and New Zealand Monthly Magazine 1 (2). p. 47

(December 4th 1927): PREHISTORIC BEAST SEEN: Giant Saurian of Arctic Emerges. Siberians Report Monster. Believed to Live in Cherski Range. Creature Once Hunted Over Alaska Now Exciting Russ Savants. Los Angeles Times.

(1977. Retrieved 2014): Teeners report ‘creature’. Associated Press.

Television Program Sources

Monster Quest (2009): Devils in New Jersey. Monster Quest season 3. History

Channel.

Internet Sources

Kosemen, C. M. (2013): A New Approach To Cryptozoology: C. M. Kosemen on

the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London.

Hill, Kyle (2013): Why Bigfoot is Unlikely Only If You Know What “Unlikely” Means. But Not Simpler http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/2013/10/01/why-bigfoot-is-

unlikely-only-if-you-know-what-unlikely-means/

Naish, D. (2013): Photos of the Loch Ness Monster, revisited. Tetrapod Zoology

ver 3 http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/07/10/photos-of-

the-loch-ness-monster-revisited/

Naish, D. (2009): The Loch Ness monster seen on land. Tetrapod Zoology ver 2

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/10/02/loch-ness-monster-on-land/

Shuker, Karl (2013): Does the Loch Ness Monster have a split personality? Revealing Nessie’s strangest identities. ShukerNature

18

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2013/07/does-loch-ness-monster-have-split.html

Chamberlain, Ted (2006): Photo in the News: Loch Ness Monster Was an Elephant?. National Geographic News.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0309_0603009_loch_ness.html

1 Naish, D. (2013): Cryptids, Speculation and Skepticism: Darren Naish on the Cryptozoologicon Book Launch. Conway Hall, London.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGno9xA7gD4

Than, Ker (2013): Is the Abominable Snowman a Bear?. National Geographic

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131021-yeti-abominable-

snowman-bigfoot-polar-bear-cryptozoology/

Naish, D. (2013): Tales from the Cryptozoologicon: the Yeti. Tetrapod Zoology ver

3 http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-

zoology/2013/08/04/cryptozoologicon-yeti-teaser/

Nickell, Joe (2002): Mothman Revisited: Investigating on Site. Investigative Files

vol 12.4. The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/mothman_revisitedinvestigating_on_site/

Shuker, K. (2013): Two Sea Monsters for the Price of One!. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2013/09/two-sea-monsters-for-price-of-one.html

Shuker, K. (2010): Behold, Trunko!!. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2010/09/behold-trunko.html

Butler, Rhett A. (2007): Chupacabra story is a hoax; likely a Xolo dog breed.

Mongabay.com http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0904-chupacabra.html

Viegas, Jennifer (2010): Chupacabra Mystery Solved. Discovery News

http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/chupacabra-mystery-solved.htm

Shuker, K. (2014): Exposing online fakes and frauds of the cryptozoological kind - a ShukerNature top ten listing. ShukerNature

http://karlshuker.blogspot.de/2014/01/exposing-online-fakes-and-frauds-of.html

19

Morris, Sarah (2013): World’s Largest Tortoise found in Amazon Basin- 800lb.

News-Hound

http://news-hound.org/world-largest-tortoise-found-in-amazon-basin-800lb/

(2014): British Scientists Clone Dinosaur. News-Hound

http://news-hound.org/british-scientists-clone-dinosaur/

Naish, D. (2013): A new living species of large mammal: hello, Tapirus kabomani!. Tetrapod Zoology ver 3

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/12/17/new-living-

species-of-tapir/

Kaufman, Rachel (2010): New Snub-Nosed Monkey Discovered, Eaten. National

Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101027-snub-

nosed-monkey-sneezes-new-species-science-discovered-eaten/

Platt, John R. (2014): Microjewels: Stunningly Beautiful Snails Going Extinct As Soon As They Are Discovered. Extinction Countdown

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2014/03/28/microjewels-

snails-extinct/

20

Additional Pictures

Above: The Tizheruk or Sea Wolf of Inuit mythology is an example of sea

monsters reflecting the fear of water within a particular culture.

Below: The mythological griffin was inspired by fossilized ceratopsian

dinosaur skeletons from Asia, which had both a beak like an eagle and four

legs like a lion.

21

Above: The Dover Demon resembles strongly a grey alien and also the

Mannegishi, a spirit from the mythology of the Cree, a Native American

people.

Below: The Mapinguari, a mythical beast from the Amazon rainforest, is

said to have a single eye and an additionally mouth on its stomach.

22

Above: The Tatzelwurm from the Alps is perhaps a dragon-like reptile or

amphibian.

Below: The Loch Ness Monster portrayed as a curious looking giant sea

slug.

23

Above: The famous Con Rit, one of the sea monsters of Heuvelmans’ list,

portrayed as a sea slug.