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List of cryptids

Topic: Unsolved

 From HandWiki - Reading time: 11 min

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Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected by the scientific community. While biologists regularly identify new species following established scientific methodology, cryptozoologists focus on entities mentioned in the folklore record and rumor. Entities that may be considered cryptids by cryptozoologists include Bigfoot, Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Mokele-mbembe.

Scholars have noted that the cryptozoology subculture rejected mainstream approaches from an early date, and that adherents often express hostility to mainstream science. Scholars have studied cryptozoologists and their influence (including the pseudoscience's association with Young Earth creationism),[1][2] noted parallels in cryptozoology and other pseudosciences such as ghost hunting and ufology, and highlighted uncritical media propagation of cryptozoologist claims.

List

Aquatic or semi-aquatic

Name Other Names Description Purported Location Depiction
Cadborosaurus {{{2}}}

[3]

Caddy Sea animal Pacific Coast of North America
Champ[4] Champy Lake monster Lake Champlain, North America
Cryptid Whales[5][6] Giglioli's Whale, Rhinoceros dolphin, High-finned sperm whale, Alula whale, Unidentified beaked whales Sea animal Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean
Dobhar-chú[7] Water Hound, King Otter Extra-large otter-like carnivorous aquatic mammal Ireland
Gloucester sea serpent[8] Large serpent Gloucester, Cape Ann
Iemisch[9] Iemisch Listai Mix of a jaguar and otter Patagonia
Kempenfelt Kelly Lake monster Lake Simcoe, Ontario (Canada)
Issie Lake monster Japan
Labynkyr Devil[10][11][12] Lake monster Oymyakonsky Ulus, Sakha Republic, Russia
Loch Ness Monster[13] Nessie Lake monster Loch Ness, Scotland Sculpture of the Loch Ness monster as a plesiosaurus
Loveland Frog[14] Loveland frogman, Loveland lizard Humanoid frog Loveland, Ohio
Lusca[15] Blue holes in the Bahamas
Lake monster South Africa
Winnipogo Lake monster Lake Manitoba, Canada
Megalodon[15] Otodus megalodon Giant Shark Oceans
Mokele-mbembe[16] Dinosaur (lake, river and/or swamp monster) Republic of the Congo
Ogopogo[4] N'ha•a•itk, Naitaka Lake monster Lake Okanagan, Canada
Sea serpents[17] Sea animals, dinosaurs All bodies of water
Selma[citation needed] Seljordsormen Lake monster Lake Seljord, Telemark, Norway
Steller's sea ape[18] Sea animal Pacific Ocean

Terrestrial

Name Other names Description Purported location Depiction
British big cats[19] Alien big cats (ABCs), phantom cats, mystery cats, England lions,
Beast of Bodmin, Beast of Exmoor 		Carnivorous mammal Great Britain
Bukit Timah Monkey Man[20] BTM, BTMM Forest-dwelling hominid or other primate Singapore
Chupacabra[21] Chupacabras (Spanish for goat-sucker) Puerto Rico (originally),
South and Central America,
Southern North America
Dover Demon[22] Dover, Massachusetts
Eastern Cougar[23] Eastern United States
Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp[24] Lizard Man of Lee County Bipedal South Carolina, United States
Malagasy hippo[25] Malagasy pygmy hippopotamus, Madagascan pygmy hippopotamus, kilopilopitsofy, tsy-aomby-aomby, omby-rano, laloumena, mangarsahoc Hippo Madagascar
Mapinguari[26] Mapinguary Giant Ground Sloth or primate Amazons
Michigan Dogman[27] Humanoid dog Wexford County, Michigan
Minhocão[citation needed] Big Earthworm Caecilian South America
Moa[28] Flightless bird New Zealand
Mongolian death worm[29] Allghoi (or orghoi) khorkhoi Worm-like animal Gobi Desert (Asia)
Nandi bear[30] Chemosit, Kerit, Koddoelo, Ngoelo, Ngoloko, Duba Large carnivore Eastern Africa
Queensland Tiger[31] Yarri Large feline Queensland
Thylacine[32][33] Tasmanian Tiger, Tasmanian Wolf Marsupial Australia, New Guinea
Zanzibar leopard[34] Large feline Zanzibar

Hominid

Name Other names Description Purported location Depiction
Almas[4] Abnauayu, almasty, albasty, bekk-bok,
biabin-guli, golub-yavan, gul-biavan, auli-avan,
kaptar, kra-dhun, ksy-giik, ksy-gyik, ochokochi,
mirygdy, mulen, voita, wind-man, Zana 		Non-human ape or hominid Asia/Caucasus
Amomongo[35] Orang Mawas, Impakta Ape or hominid Negros Occidental, Philippines
Barmanu, Big Hairy One Ape or hominid Middle East/Asia
Bigfoot[36] Sasquatch Large and hairy ape-like creature United States and Canada
Capelobo[37] Humanoid anteater monster Brazil
Chuchunya[38] Large hominid Russia
Fouke Monster[39] Jonesville Monster, Southern Sasquatch, Boggy Creek Monster Hominid or other primate Arkansas, United States
Grey alien[40] Cryptoterrestrial, Majeena', Wandjina Humanoid creature associated with UFO abductions and close encounters, interpreted as a terrestrial hidden race within the framework of the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis Brazil, Mount Rainier, Mount Shasta, and Antarctica in Nazi UFO conspiracy lore
Honey Island Swamp monster[41] Letiche, Tainted Keitre Hominid or other primate Louisiana, United States
Orang Pendek Small hominid Sumatra
Nittaewo[42] Nittevo Small hominids Sri Lanka
Skunk ape[43] Stink Ape, Myakka Ape, Myakka Skunk Ape Primate Florida, United States
Yeren[44][43] Yiren, Yeh Ren, Chinese Wildman Primate (possible hominin) China
Yeti[45] Abominable Snowman Large and hairy human-like entity, various other descriptions Himalayas (Asia)
Yowie[42] Large and hairy human-like entity, various other descriptions Australia

Flying

Name Other names Description Purported location Depiction
Jersey Devil[13] Leeds Devil Winged bipedal horse United States, mainly the South Jersey Pine Barrens, as well as other parts of New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania
Mothman[46] Winged Man, Bird Man, UFO-Bird, Mason Bird Monster Winged bipedal Mason County, West Virginia, United States
Rod[47] Skyfish, Air Rod, Solar Entity Small flying stick-like creatures Worldwide
Ropen[48] Large bat-like creature or pterosaur New Guinea
Thunderbird[49][50] Giant bird North America

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hill, Sharon A. (2017). Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers. McFarland. p. 66. ISBN 9781476630823. 
  2. ↑ Card, Jeb J. (2016). "Steampunk Inquiry: A Comparative Vivisection of Discovery Pseudoscience". Lost City, Found Pyramid: Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices. University of Alabama Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780817319113. "Creationists have embraced cryptozoology and some cryptozoological expeditions are funded by and conducted by creationists hoping to disprove evolution." 
  3. ↑ Loxton & Prothero 2013, pp. 261–295.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Shermer, Michael; Linse, Pat (November 2002). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 72. ISBN 9781576076538. https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&pg=PA72. 
  5. ↑ Mörzer Bruyns, W. F. J. (1971). Field guide of whales and dolphins. Rivonverhandeling. Tor. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-90-70055-09-7
  6. ↑ Cetaceans with two dorsal fins
  7. ↑ "Ireland's hound of deep - Dobhar Chu". Irish Central News. https://www.irishcentral.com/irelands-hound-of-the-deep-dobhar-chu. 
  8. ↑ Nicaise, Alexander (2019-09-05). "Gloucester Sea-Serpent Mystery: Solved after Two Centuries | Skeptical Inquirer" (in en-US). https://skepticalinquirer.org/2019/09/gloucester-sea-serpent-mystery-solved-after-two-centuries/. 
  9. ↑ Gilmore, David D. (2003). Monsters : evil beings, mythical beasts, and all manner of imaginary terrors. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0322-6. OCLC 802059457. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/802059457. 
  10. ↑ Lallanilla, Marc (4 February 2013). "Reports Surface of Monster Lurking in Russian Lake". Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/26836-lake-labynkyr-devil-vorota-monster.html. 
  11. ↑ "Divers preparing for icy waters of Russia's 'Loch Ness'". The Siberian Times. 5 March 2014. https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/divers-preparing-for-icy-waters-of-russias-loch-ness/. 
  12. ↑ "Meet the creature found by divers in Russia's Loch Ness, famed for legends of monsters". The Siberian Times. 21 April 2014. https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/meet-the-creature-found-by-divers-in-russias-loch-ness-famed-for-legends-of-monsters/. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Velasquez, S.J. (31 October 2015). "The monster you should never find". BBC Online. British Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20151029-the-monster-you-should-never-find. 
  14. ↑ Haupt, R. (30 June 2015). "Skeptoid #473: The Loveland Frog". https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4473. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Guimont, Edward (2021-10-05). "The Megalodon: A Monster of the New Mythology" (in en). M/C Journal 24 (5). doi:10.5204/mcj.2793. ISSN 1441-2616. https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/2793. 
  16. ↑ Loxton & Prothero 2013, pp. 187–188.
  17. ↑ Loxton & Prothero 2013, pp. 228–326.
  18. ↑ Nickell, Joe (Winter 2016–2017). "Steller's Sea Ape: Identifying an Eighteenth-Century Cryptid". Skeptical Briefs (Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) 26 (4). https://www.csicop.org/sb/show/stellers_sea_ape_identifying_an_eighteenth-century_cryptid. 
  19. ↑ "Fantastic Cryptids And Where To Find Them". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanmadden/2018/11/16/fantastic-cryptids-and-where-to-find-them/#6b1949ed1d99. 
  20. ↑ "On the hunt for the elusive Bukit Timah Monkey Man". Channel NewsAsia. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/on-the-hunt-for-the-elusive-bukit-timah-monkey-man-9816486. 
  21. ↑ Regal, Brian (15 October 2009). Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia: A Critical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-35508-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=c6PACQAAQBAJ. 
  22. ↑ Sullivan, Mark (29 October 2006). "Decades later, the Dover Demon still haunts". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/29/decades_later_the_dover_demon_still_haunts. 
  23. ↑ "Skeptoid: Anatomy of a Real Cryptid Case". https://skeptoid.com/blog/2012/11/15/anatomy-of-a-real-cryptid-case/. 
  24. ↑ Laycock, Joseph P. (11 July 2018). "A Search for Mysteries and Monsters in Small Town America" (in en). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/monster-festival-pilgrimage-small-town-america-180969568/. 
  25. ↑ Burney, David A.; Ramilisonina (December 1998). "The Kilopilopitsofy, Kidoky, and Bokyboky: Accounts of Strange Animals from Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar, and the Megafaunal "Extinction Window"" (in en). American Anthropologist 100 (4): 957–966. doi:10.1525/aa.1998.100.4.957. ISSN 0002-7294. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1525/aa.1998.100.4.957. 
  26. ↑ "Twilight of the mammoths: Ice Age extinctions and the rewilding of America". Choice Reviews Online 43 (8): 43–4679-43-4679. 2006-04-01. doi:10.5860/choice.43-4679. ISSN 0009-4978. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.43-4679. 
  27. ↑ Hudson, Alison (28 July 2015). "Skeptoid #477: Wag the Dogman". https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4477. 
  28. ↑ kreidler, Marc (2017-05-26). "The New Zealand Moa: From Extinct Bird to Cryptid | Skeptical Inquirer" (in en-US). https://skepticalinquirer.org/newsletter/the-new-zealand-moa-from-extinct-bird-to-cryptid/. 
  29. ↑ "Mongolian Death Worm: Elusive Legend of the Gobi Desert" (in en). 2014-06-21. https://www.livescience.com/46450-mongolian-death-worm.html. 
  30. ↑ Simpson, George Gaylord (1984). "Mammals and Cryptozoology". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 128 (1): 1–19. ISSN 0003-049X. https://www.jstor.org/stable/986487. 
  31. ↑ Smith, Malcolm (1996). Bunyips & bigfoots : in search of Australia's mystery animals. Alexandria, NSW: Millennium Books. ISBN 1-86429-081-1. OCLC 36719441. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36719441. 
  32. ↑ Loxton, Daniel (2013). Abominable science! : origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other famous cryptids. Donald R. Prothero. New York. ISBN 978-0-231-52681-4. OCLC 854902238. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/854902238. 
  33. ↑ "Cryptids and credulity: The Zanzibar leopard and other imaginary beings", Anthropology and Cryptozoology (New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. | Series: Multispecies: Routledge): pp. 70–106, 2016-11-03, doi:10.4324/9781315567297-11, ISBN 9781315567297, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315567297-11, retrieved 2023-09-09 
  34. ↑ "The Zanzibar Leopard Between Science and Cryptozoology | PDF | Panthera | Organisms" (in en). https://www.scribd.com/document/14568104/The-Zanzibar-Leopard-between-Science-and-Cryptozoology. 
  35. ↑ "'Amomongo' frightens villagers in Negros". ABS-CBN News. http://news.abs-cbn.com/classified-odd/06/16/08/amomongo-frightens-villagers-negros. 
  36. ↑ Loxton & Prothero 2013, pp. 29–70.
  37. ↑ "Capelobo" (in pt-BR). 2016-08-11. https://www.portalsaofrancisco.com.br/folclore/capelobo. 
  38. ↑ O'Carroll, Eoin (28 September 2018). "Bigfoot and beyond: Why tales of wild men endure". The Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2018/0928/Bigfoot-and-beyond-Why-tales-of-wild-men-endure. 
  39. ↑ Dunning, B. (4 March 2014). "Skeptoid #404: The Boggy Creek Monster". https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4404. 
  40. ↑ Tonnies, Mac (March 2010). The Cryptoterrestrials A Meditation on Indigenous Humanoids and the Aliens Among Us. Anomalist Books. p. 34, 37, 113. ISBN 9781933665467. https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Mac%20Tonnies%20-%20The%20Cryptoterrestials.pdf. Retrieved Dec 6, 2023. 
  41. ↑ Frances, Leary (December 2003). "The Honey Island Swamp Monster: The Development and Maintenance of Folk and Commodified Belief Tradition". pp. 4–6. https://research.library.mun.ca/10863/1/Leary_Frances.pdf. 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can't Trust Our Brains. Springer Publishing Company. 8 March 2016. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-8261-9426-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Miy2CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA154. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can't Trust Our Brains. Springer Publishing Company. 8 March 2016. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-8261-9426-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Miy2CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170. 
  44. ↑ "It's the monstrous new trend sweeping travel – what is cryptid-tourism?". Irish Examiner. https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/its-the-monstrous-new-trend-sweeping-travel-what-is-cryptid-tourism-873583.html. 
  45. ↑ Loxton & Prothero 2013, p. 73.
  46. ↑ Kantrowitz, Lia; Fitzmaurice, Larry; Terry, Josh (16 January 2018). "People Keep Seeing the Mothman in Chicago". https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/paqv9z/mothman-sightings-in-chicago. 
  47. ↑ "rods - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com". https://www.skepdic.com/rods.html. 
  48. ↑ "Don't Get Strung Along by the "Ropen" Myth". https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dont-get-strung-along-by-the-ropen-myth-78644354/. 
  49. ↑ Nez, Noah (18 July 2012). "Thunderbirds". Skeptical Inquirer. https://skepticalinquirer.org/newsletter/thunderbirds/. 
  50. ↑ "The mythic child-stealing Thunderbirds of Illinois". Atlas Obscura. 5 August 2015. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-mythic-child-stealing-thunderbirds-of-illinois. 

Bibliography

  • Loxton, Daniel; Prothero, Donald (2013). Abominable Science: Origins of Yeti, Nessie, and other Famous Cryptids. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-52681-4. 



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