Cryptozoology

The “study of unknown animals” is one definition of cryptozoology, but animals that are classified as “cryptids” seem to be known through stories or through a limited number of eyewitnesses. They are just unknown in the sense of being unclassified by Western science.

 

Creatures like Nessie, Ogopogo, ropen, indava, and Mokele-Mbembe may be so-called “prehistoric” living representatives of plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs. Science does not require that “ancient” creatures must be extinct. Extinction is just an axiom or general assumption regarding creatures that are portrayed in textbooks as ancient. The Coelacanth is one example of a supposedly ancient creature that was discovered to be still living (early 20th Century discovery).

 

Old legends of dragons may be at least partially based on actual creatures that were living centuries ago. Some dragons may have been dinosaurs; others may have been pterosaurs (now commonly, but imprecisely, called “pterodactyls”).

 

Scientific reasoning and testing can be applied to some evidence of cryptids, even though cryptozoology seems to be on the fringe of science, even a pseudo-science. Consider the web pages on the right.

The Ogopogo, of Lake Okanagan in Canada, was the subject of a television episode of “Proof Positive.” Careful evaluation of all evidences presented in the mini-documentary reveals the reasonableness of the conclusion that strange creatures, some or one of them large, live in this lake.

 

The Loch Ness phenomena, or sightings of “Nessie,” (Scotland) have been followed by many investigations over several decades. Like most “lake monsters,” this cryptid is elusive. Nessie is the best known potential living fossil that remains just beyond reach of cryptozoologists.

 

The ropen of Papua New Guinea (which seems to be the same creature that is called “indava” deep in the mountainous interior of the mainland) has been the subject of many expeditions since the mid-1990’s. Until the “Destination Truth” television series coverage of this pterosaur-like creature (2007), the ropen seekers had been almost entirely American creationists.

 

The Mokele-Mbembe, of Central Africa, seems to live in one of the most inaccessible tropical areas in the world: a giant swamp. It is reported in descriptions strongly suggesting it is a sauropod dinosaur (walking on four legs).