Cryptozoology

study of extinct or legendary animals

Cryptozoology involves searches for and studies of unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster.[1] Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids. Cryptozoology was originally founded in the 1950s by zoologists Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson. Scientists who practice mainstream science do not consider the methods used in cryptozoology to be a scientific method; therefore, they categorize it as a pseudoscience and reject the practice as being neither a branch of zoology nor of folklore studies. Over time, there have been anecdotal accounts and narratives depicting large creatures, frequently characterized as monstrous or menacing, that do not align with scientifically recognized species.[2] Scientific findings are subject to change based on future research, fostering a mindset of continual exploration. Rarely do scientists declare absolute truths; instead, they acknowledge the inherent uncertainty that accompanies the quest for knowledge at the forefront of discovery. This enduring curiosity is what propels scientific progress.[3]

## Contents

* 1 Terminology, history, and approach
* 1.1 Young Earth creationism
* 1.2 Lack of critical media coverage
* 2 Reception and pseudoscience
* 3 Organizations
* 4 Museums and exhibitions
* 5 See also
* 6 Notes and citations
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Terminology, history, and approach[edit | edit source]

As a field, cryptozoology originates from the works of Bernard Heuvelmans, a Belgian zoologist, and Ivan T. Sanderson, a Scottish zoologist. Notably, Heuvelmans published On the Track of Unknown Animals (French Sur la Piste des Bêtes Ignorées) in 1955, a landmark work among cryptozoologists that was followed by numerous other like works. Similarly, Sanderson published a series of books that assisted in developing hallmarks of cryptozoology, including Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life (1961).[4][5]

The term cryptozoology dates from 1959 or before—Heuvelmans attributes the coinage of the term cryptozoology 'the study of hidden animals' (from Ancient Greek: κρυπτός, kryptós "hidden, secret"; Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion "animal", and λόγος, logos, i.e. "knowledge, study") to Sanderson.[4][6] Patterned after cryptozoology, the term cryptid was coined in 1983 by cryptozoologist J. E. Wall in the summer issue of the International Society of Cryptozoology newsletter.[7] According to Wall "[It has been] suggested that new terms be coined to replace sensational and often misleading terms like 'monster'. My suggestion is 'cryptid', meaning a living thing having the quality of being hidden or unknown ... describing those creatures which are (or may be) subjects of cryptozoological investigation."[8] The Oxford English Dictionary defines the noun cryptid as "an animal whose existence or survival to the present day is disputed or unsubstantiated; any animal of interest to a cryptozoologist".[9] While used by most cryptozoologists, the term cryptid is not used by academic zoologists.[10] In a textbook aimed at undergraduates, academics Caleb W. Lack and Jacques Rousseau note that the subculture's focus on what it deems to be "cryptids" is a pseudoscientic extension of older belief in monsters and other similar entities from the folklore record, yet with a "new, more scientific-sounding name: cryptids".[11]

While biologists regularly identify new species, cryptozoologists often focus on creatures from the folklore record. Most famously, these include the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, the chupacabra, as well as other "imposing beasts that could be labeled as monsters". In their search for these entities, cryptozoologists may employ devices such as motion-sensitive cameras, night-vision equipment, and audio-recording equipment. While there have been attempts to codify cryptozoological approaches, unlike biologists, zoologists, botanists, and other academic disciplines, however, "there are no accepted, uniform, or successful methods for pursuing cryptids".[4] Some scholars have identified precursors to modern cryptozoology in certain medieval approaches to the folklore record, and the psychology behind the cryptozoology approach has been the subject of academic study.[4]

Few cryptozoologists have a formal science education, and fewer still have a science background directly relevant to cryptozoology. Adherents often misrepresent the academic backgrounds of cryptozoologists. According to writer Daniel Loxton and paleontologist Donald Prothero, "Cryptozoologists have often promoted 'Professor Roy Mackal, PhD.' as one of their leading figures and one of the few with a legitimate doctorate in biology. What is rarely mentioned, however, is that he had no training that would qualify him to undertake competent research on exotic animals. This raises the specter of 'credential mongering', by which an individual or organization feints a person's graduate degree as proof of expertise, even though his or her training is not specifically relevant to the field under consideration." Besides Heuvalmans, Sanderson, and Mackal, other notable cryptozoologists with academic backgrounds include Grover Krantz, Karl Shuker, and Richard Greenwell.[12]

Historically, notable cryptozoologists have often identified instances featuring "irrefutable evidence" (such as Sanderson and Krantz), only for the evidence to be revealed as the product of a hoax. This may occur during a closer examination by experts or upon confession of the hoaxer.[13]

### Young Earth creationism[edit | edit source]

A subset of cryptozoology promotes the pseudoscience of Young Earth creationism, rejecting conventional science in favor of a Biblical interpretation and promoting concepts such as "living dinosaurs". Science writer Sharon A. Hill observes that the Young Earth creationist segment of cryptozoology is "well-funded and able to conduct expeditions with a goal of finding a living dinosaur that they think would invalidate evolution."[14] Anthropologist Jeb J. Card says that "Creationists have embraced cryptozoology and some cryptozoological expeditions are funded by and conducted by creationists hoping to disprove evolution."[15] In a 2013 interview, paleontologist Donald Prothero notes an uptick in creationist cryptozoologists. He observes that "[p]eople who actively search for Loch Ness monsters or Mokele Mbembe do it entirely as creationist ministers. They think that if they found a dinosaur in the Congo it would overturn all of evolution. It wouldn't. It would just be a late-occurring dinosaur, but that's their mistaken notion of evolution."[16]

Citing a 2013 exhibit at the Petersburg, Kentucky-based Creation Museum, which claimed that dragons were once biological creatures who walked the earth alongside humanity and is broadly dedicated to Young Earth creationism, religious studies academic Justin Mullis notes that "Cryptozoology has a long and curious history with Young Earth Creationism, with this new exhibit being just one of the most recent examples".[17] Academic Paul Thomas analyzes the influence and connections between cryptozoology in his 2020 study of the Creation Museum and the creationist theme park Ark Encounter. Thomas comments that, "while the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter are flirting with pseudoarchaeology, coquettishly whispering pseudoarchaeological rhetoric, they are each fully in bed with cryptozoology" and observes that "Young-earth creationists and cryptozoologists make natural bed fellows. As with pseudoarchaeology, both young-earth creationists and cryptozoologists bristle at the rejection of mainstream secular science and lament a seeming conspiracy to prevent serious consideration of their claims."[18]

### Lack of critical media coverage[edit | edit source]

Media outlets have often uncritically disseminated information from cryptozoologist sources, including newspapers that repeat false claims made by cryptozoologists or television shows that feature cryptozoologists as monster hunters (such as the popular and purportedly nonfiction American television show MonsterQuest, which aired from 2007 to 2010). Media coverage of purported "cryptids" often fails to provide more likely explanations, further propagating claims made by cryptozoologists.[19]

## Reception and pseudoscience[edit | edit source]

There is a broad consensus among academics that cryptozoology is a pseudoscience.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] The subculture is regularly criticized for reliance on anecdotal information[27] and because in the course of investigating animals that most scientists believe are unlikely to have existed, cryptozoologists do not follow the scientific method.[28] No academic course of study nor university degree program grants the status of cryptozoologist and the subculture is primarily the domain of individuals without training in the natural sciences.[29][30][31]

Anthropologist Jeb J. Card summarizes cryptozoology in a survey of pseudoscience and pseudoarchaeology:

Cryptozoology purports to be the study of previously unidentified animal species. At first glance, this would seem to differ little from zoology. New species are discovered by field and museum zoologists every year. Cryptozoologists cite these discoveries as justification of their search but often minimize or omit the fact that the discoverers do not identify as cryptozoologists and are academically trained zoologists working in an ecological paradigm rather than organizing expeditions to seek out supposed examples of unusual and large creatures.[32]

Card notes that "cryptozoologists often show their disdain and even hatred for professional scientists, including those who enthusiastically participated in cryptozoology", which he traces back to Heuvelmans's early "rage against critics of cryptozoology". He finds parallels with cryptozoology and other pseudosciences, such as ghost hunting and ufology, and compares the approach of cryptozoologists to colonial big-game hunters, and to aspects of European imperialism. According to Card, "Most cryptids are framed as the subject of indigenous legends typically collected in the heyday of comparative folklore, though such legends may be heavily modified or worse. Cryptozoology's complicated mix of sympathy, interest, and appropriation of indigenous culture (or non-indigenous construction of it) is also found in New Age circles and dubious "Indian burial grounds" and other legends...invoked in hauntings such as the "Amityville" hoax ...".[33]

In a 2011 foreword for The American Biology Teacher, then National Association of Biology Teachers president Dan Ward uses cryptozoology as an example of "technological pseudoscience" that may confuse students about the scientific method. Ward says that "Cryptozoology ... is not valid science or even science at all. It is monster hunting."[34] Historian of science Brian Regal includes an entry for cryptozoology in his Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia (2009). Regal says that "as an intellectual endeavor, cryptozoology has been studied as much as cryptozoologists have sought hidden animals".[35]

In a 1992 issue of Folklore, folklorist Véronique Campion-Vincent says:

>     Unexplained appearances of mystery animals are reported all over the world today. Beliefs in the existence of fabulous and supernatural animals are ubiquitous and timeless. In the continents discovered by Europe indigenous beliefs and tales have strongly influenced the perceptions of the conquered confronted by a new natural environment. In parallel with the growing importance of the scientific approach, these traditional mythical tales have been endowed with sometimes highly artificial precision and have given birth to contemporary legends solidly entrenched in their territories. The belief self-perpetuates today through multiple observations enhanced by the media and encouraged (largely with the aim of gain for touristic promotion) by the local population, often genuinely convinced of the reality of this profitable phenomenon."[36]

Campion-Vincent says that "four currents can be distinguished in the study of mysterious animal appearances": "Forteans" ("compiler[s] of anomalies" such as via publications like the Fortean Times), "occultists" (which she describes as related to "Forteans"), "folklorists", and "cryptozoologists". Regarding cryptozoologists, Campion-Vincent says that "this movement seems to deserve the appellation of parascience, like parapsychology: the same corpus is reviewed; many scientists participate, but for those who have an official status of university professor or researcher, the participation is a private hobby".[36]

In her Encyclopedia of American Folklore, academic Linda Watts says that "folklore concerning unreal animals or beings, sometimes called monsters, is a popular field of inquiry" and describes cryptozoology as an example of "American narrative traditions" that "feature many monsters".[37]

In his analysis of cryptozoology, folklorist Peter Dendle says that "cryptozoology devotees consciously position themselves in defiance of mainstream science" and that:

>     The psychological significance of cryptozoology in the modern world...serves to channel guilt over the decimation of species and destruction of the natural habitat; to recapture a sense of mysticism and danger in a world now perceived as fully charted and over-explored; and to articulate resentment of and defiance against a scientific community perceived as monopolising the pool of culturally acceptable beliefs.[38]

In a paper published in 2013, Dendle refers to cryptozoologists as "contemporary monster hunters" that "keep alive a sense of wonder in a world that has been very thoroughly charted, mapped, and tracked, and that is largely available for close scrutiny on Google Earth and satellite imaging" and that "on the whole the devotion of substantial resources for this pursuit betrays a lack of awareness of the basis for scholarly consensus (largely ignoring, for instance, evidence of evolutionary biology and the fossil record)."[39]

According to historian Mike Dash, 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.[28]

Paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson (1984) lists cryptozoology among examples of human gullibility, along with creationism:

>     Humans are the most inventive, deceptive, and gullible of all animals. Only those characteristics can explain the belief of some humans in creationism, in the arrival of UFOs with extraterrestrial beings, or in some aspects of cryptozoology. ...In several respects the discussion and practice of cryptozoology sometimes, although not invariably, has demonstrated both deception and gullibility. An example seems to merit the old Latin saying 'I believe because it is incredible,' although Tertullian, its author, applied it in a way more applicable to the present day creationists.[40]

Paleontologist Donald Prothero (2007) cites cryptozoology as an example of pseudoscience and categorizes it, along with Holocaust denial and UFO abductions claims, as aspects of American culture that are "clearly baloney".[41]

In Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers (2017), Hill surveys the field and discusses aspects of the subculture, noting internal attempts at creating more scientific approaches and the involvement of Young Earth creationists and a prevalence of hoaxes. She concludes that many cryptozoologists are "passionate and sincere in their belief that mystery animals exist. As such, they give deference to every report of a sighting, often without critical questioning. As with the ghost seekers, cryptozoologists are convinced that they will be the ones to solve the mystery and make history. With the lure of mystery and money undermining diligent and ethical research, the field of cryptozoology has serious credibility problems."[42]

## Organizations[edit | edit source]

There have been several organizations, of varying types, dedicated or related to cryptozoology. These include:

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2018)

|

* International Fortean Organization – a network of professional Fortean researchers and writers based in the United States
* International Society of Cryptozoology – an American organisation that existed from 1982 to 1998
* Kosmopoisk – a Russian organisation whose interests include cryptozoology and Ufology

## Museums and exhibitions[edit | edit source]

The zoological and cryptozoological collection and archive of Bernard Heuvelmans is held at the Musée Cantonal de Zoologie in Lausanne and consists of around "1,000 books, 25,000 files, 25,000 photographs, correspondence, and artifacts".[43]: 19

In 2006, the Bates College Museum of Art held the "Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale" exhibition, which compared cryptozoological creatures with recently extinct animals like the thylacine and extant taxa like the coelacanth, once thought long extinct (living fossils). The following year, the American Museum of Natural History put on a mixed exhibition of imaginary and extinct animals, including the elephant bird Aepyornis maximus and the great ape Gigantopithecus blacki, under the name "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids".[43]: 18–19

## See also[edit | edit source]

* Ethnozoology
* Fearsome critters, fabulous beasts that were said to inhabit the timberlands of North America
* Folk belief
* List of cryptids, a list of cryptids notable within cryptozoology
* List of cryptozoologists, a list of notable cryptozoologists
* Scientific skepticism

## Notes and citations[edit | edit source]

1. ^ "What is Cryptozoology?". International Cryptozoology Museum. September 28, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
2. ^ "A cultural phenomenon". RSB. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
3. ^ Achenbach, Joel (March 1, 2015). "Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science?". Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
4. ^ a b c d Regal (2011a: 326–329).
5. ^ Mullis (2021: 185): "Historians attempting to trace the beginnings of cryptozoology typically locate the practice's origins in the mid-twentienth century when Belgian-French zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans (1916–2001), with deference to Scottish-born naturalist Ivan T. Sanderson (1911–1973), is believed to have coined the term."
6. ^ Additionally, see discussion at "cryptozoology, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2016. Web. 25 October 2016.
7. ^ Regal (2011b: 197–198).
8. ^ Wall, J. E. (1983: 10): "The Spring, 1983, issue featured an interview with Paul LeBlond and Forrest Wood, in which it was suggested that new terms be coined to replace sensational and often misleading terms like "monster." My suggestion is "cryptid," meaning a living thing having the quality of being hidden or unknown. As far as I know, this would be an entirely new word, describing those creatures which are (or may be) subjects of cryptozoological investigation."
9. ^ "cryptid, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2016. Web. 25 October 2016.
10. ^ Paxton (2011: 7–20).
11. ^ Lack & Rousseau (2016: 153, cf. p. 272).
12. ^ Loxton & Prothero (2013: 304–305).
13. ^ Radford (2014: 161–170).
14. ^ Hill (2017: 66).
15. ^ Card (2016: 32).
16. ^ Shea (2013).
17. ^ Mullis (2019: 249).
18. ^ Thomas (2020: 80–81).
19. ^ Lack (2016: 170, cf. 159–160).
20. ^ Mullis (2021: 185): "Eschewing the rigors of science, cryptozoologists publish for a popular audience rather than for experts resulting in the practice itself frequently being derided as a pseudoscience."
21. ^ Uscinski (2020: 38): "Cryptozoology is the pseudoscientific study of animals ..."
22. ^ Lack & Rosseau (2016: 153–174): "Cryptids are the focus of study in cryptozoology, a field most scientists label as pseudoscientific."
23. ^ Loxton & Prothero (2013: 332): "Whatever the romantic appeal of monster mysteries, cryptozoology as it exists today is unquestionably a pseudoscience." Loxton & Prothero (2013: 320): "Cryptozoology has a reputation of being part of a general pseudoscientific fringe—just one more facet of paranormal belief." (Both quotes from Donald Prothero)
24. ^ Church (2009: 251–252): "Cryptozoology has acquired a bad reputation as a pseudoscience... Until detailed, methodical research becomes standard practice among cryptozoologists, the field will remain disrespected by more traditional biologists and zoologists."
25. ^ Roesch & Moore (2002: 71–78): "Pointing to this rampant speculation and ignorance of established scientific theories in cryptozoology, as well as the field's poor record of success and its reliance on unsystematic, anecdotal evidence, many scientists and skeptics classify cryptozoology as a pseudoscience."
26. ^ Lee (2000: 119): "Other examples of pseudoscience include cryptozoology, Atlantis, graphology, the lunar effect, and the Bermuda Triangle".
27. ^ Shermer (2003: 27).
28. ^ a b Dash (2000).
29. ^ Mullis (2021: 185): "No university offers a degree in it so the vast majority of cryptozoologists lack any formal academic training in those fields that intersect with their interests, such as zoology, paleontology, or evolutionary biology."
30. ^ Hill (2017: 66): "there is no academic course of study in cryptozoology or no university degree program that will bestow the title 'cryptozoologist'."
31. ^ Bartholomew (2012: 121): "There are no university degrees for cryptozoology, although a few real scientists from a variety of disciplines dabble in the subject, mostly in the field of zoology and biology. The search for hidden animals lies on the fringe of orthodox science, attracting a large number of amateurs who lack training in the natural sciences."
32. ^ Card (2016: 23–32).
33. ^ Card (2016: 24–25).
34. ^ Ward (2011: 440).
35. ^ Nagel (2009: 50).
36. ^ a b Campion-Vincent (1992: 160–183).
37. ^ Watts (2007: 271).
38. ^ Dendle (2006: 190–206).
39. ^ Dendle (2013: 439).
40. ^ Simpson (1984: 1–19).
41. ^ Prothero (2007: 13–15).
42. ^ Hill (2017: 56–69).
43. ^ a b Turner, Stephanie S. (2017). "The place of cryptids in taxonomic debates". In Hurn, Samantha (ed.). Anthropology and Cryptozoology: Exploring Encounters with Mysterious Creatures. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 12–31. doi:10.4324/9781315567297-9. ISBN 978-1-315-56729-7.

## References[edit | edit source]

* Bartholomew, Robert E. 2012\. The Untold Story of Champ: A Social History of America's Loch Ness Monster. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1438444857
* Campion-Vincent, Véronique. 1992. “Appearances of Beasts and Mystery-cats in France”. Folklore 103.2 (1992): 160–183.
* Card, Jeb J. 2016. "Steampunk Inquiry: A Comparative Vivisection of Discovery Pseudoscience" in Card, Jeb J. and Anderson, David S. Lost City, Found Pyramid: Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices, pp. 24–25. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0817319113
* Church, Jill M. (2009). Cryptozoology. In H. James Birx. Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology & Culture, Volume 1. Sage Publications. pp. 251–252. ISBN 978-1-4129-4164-8
* Dash, Mike. 2000. Borderlands: The Ultimate Exploration of the Unknown. Overlook Press. ISBN 0-440-23656-8
* Dendle, Peter. 2006. "Cryptozoology in the Medieval and Modern Worlds". Folklore, Vol. 117, No. 2 (Aug., 2006), pp. 190–206. Taylor & Francis.
* Dendle, Peter. 2013. "Monsters and the Twenty-First Century" in The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-1472418012
* Hill, Sharon A. 2017. Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476630823
* Lack, Caleb W. and Jacques Rousseau. 2016. Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can't Trust Our Brains. Springer. ISBN 978-0826194268
* Lee, Jeffrey A. 2000. The Scientific Endeavor: A Primer on Scientific Principles and Practice. Benjamin Cummings. ISBN 978-0805345964
* Loxton, Daniel and Donald Prothero. 2013. Abominable Science: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other Famous Cryptids. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-52681-4
* Mullis, Justin. 2019. "Cryptofiction! Science Fiction and the Rise of Cryptozoology" in Caterine, Darryl & John W. Morehead (ed.). 2019. The Paranormal and Popular Culture: A Postmodern Religious Landscape, pp. 240–252. Routledge. ISBN 978-1351731812.
* Mullis, Justin. 2021. "Thomas Jefferson: The First Cryptozoologist?". In Joseph P. Laycock & Natasha L. Mikles (eds). Religion, Culture, and the Monstrous: Of Gods and Monsters, pp. 185–197. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1793640253
* Nagel, Brian. 2009. Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.
* Paxton, C.G.M. 2011. "Putting the 'ology' into cryptozoology." Biofortean Notes. Vol. 7, pp. 7–20, 310.
* Prothero, Donald R. 2007. Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231511421
* Radford, Benjamin. 2014. "Bigfoot at 50: Evaluating a Half-Century of Bigfoot Evidence" in Farha, Bryan (ed.). Pseudoscience and Deception: The Smoke and Mirrors of Paranormal Claims. University Press of America.
* Regal, Brian. 2011a. "Cryptozoology" in McCormick, Charlie T. and Kim Kennedy (ed.). Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art, pp. 326–329. 2nd edition. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-241-8.
* Regal, Brian. 2011b. Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-11829-4.
* Roesch, Ben S & John L. Moore. (2002). Cryptozoology. In Michael Shermer (ed.). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: Volume One. ABC-CLIO. pp. 71–78. ISBN 1-57607-653-9
* Shea, Rachel Hartigan. 2013. "The Science Behind Bigfoot and Other Monsters".National Geographic, September 9, 2013. Online.
* Shermer, Michael. 2003. "Show Me the Body" in Scientific American, issue 288 (5), p. 27. Online.
* Simpson, George Gaylord (1984). "Mammals and Cryptozoology". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 128, No. 1 (Mar. 30, 1984), pp. 1–19. American Philosophical Society.
* Thomas, Paul. 2020. Storytelling the Bible at the Creation Museum, Ark Encounter, and Museum of the Bible. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0567687142
* Uscinski, Joseph. 2020. Conspiracy Theories: A Primer. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1538121214
* Wall, J. E. 1983. The ISC Newsletter, vol. 2, issue 10, p. 10. International Society of Cryptozoology.
* Ward, Daniel. 2011. "From the President". The American Biology Teacher, 73.8 (2011): 440–440.
* Watts, Linda S. 2007. Encyclopedia of American Folklore. Facts on File.

## External links[edit | edit source]

Look up cryptozoology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Cryptozoology.

* Media related to Cryptozoology at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Cryptozoology

Core topics|

* Cryptozoology
* List of cryptids

Cryptozoologists|

* Henry H. Bauer
* Jon-Erik Beckjord
* John Bindernagel
* David Hatcher Childress
* Loren Coleman
* William R. Corliss
* Peter Costello
* Tim Dinsdale
* Richard Ellis
* Richard Freeman
* Charles Gould
* Rupert Gould
* John Willison Green
* Richard Greenwell
* Bernard Heuvelmans
* Ralph Izzard
* John Keel
* Aleksandr Kondratov
* Grover Krantz
* Willy Ley
* Roy Mackal
* Vladimir Markotic
* Jeffrey Meldrum
* John R. Napier
* Michael Newton
* Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans
* Boris Porshnev
* Ivan T. Sanderson
* Karl Shuker
* Gardner Soule
* Roderick Sprague
* Odette Tchernine

Books and
television|

* Animal X
* Animalia Paradoxa
* Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World
* Beast Hunter
* Beast Legends
* Destination Truth
* Exotic Zoology
* Extinct or Alive
* Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files
* Fortean TV
* In Search of...
* Is It Real?
* Lost Tapes
* MonsterQuest
* Monsters and Mysteries in America
* On the Track of Unknown Animals
* Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science
* Strange Abominable Snowmen
* The Hunt for the Buru
* The Sasquatch and Other Unknown Hominoids
* The X Creatures
* The Secret Saturdays
* Weird Travels

Skeptics|

* Joshua Blu Buhs
* Robert Todd Carroll
* Steuart Campbell
* Peter Dendle
* Brian Dunning
* Sharon A. Hill
* Henry Lee
* Daniel Loxton
* Sherrie Lynne Lyons
* Darren Naish
* Joe Nickell
* Donald Prothero
* Benjamin Radford
* Brian Regal
* Michael Shermer
* George Gaylord Simpson

See also|

* Biology
* Fearsome critters
* Folklore studies
* Hypothetical species
* Pseudoscience
* Young Earth creationism
* Zoology

* Commons
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Pseudoscience

List of topics characterized as pseudoscience

Terminology|

* Cargo cult science
* Charlatan
* Crank
* Fringe theory
* Fringe science
* Pseudoarchaeology
* Pseudohistory
* Junk science
* Paranormal
* Pathological science
* Quackery
* Snake oil
* Superseded scientific theory
* True-believer syndrome
* Voodoo Science

Topics
characterized as
pseudoscience|

| Medicine|

* Acupuncture
* Aromatherapy
* Adrenal fatigue
* Alternative medicine
* Anthroposophic medicine
* Applied kinesiology
* Ayurveda
* Bates method
* Biorhythms
* Bloodletting
* Body memory
* Chiropractic
* Chromotherapy
* Correactology
* Cryonics
* Crystal healing
* Cupping
* Detoxification
* Colon cleansing
* Doctrine of signatures
* Doktor Koster's Antigaspills
* Ear candling
* Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
* Energy medicine
* Germ theory denialism
* HIV/AIDS denialism
* Homeopathy
* Humorism
* Iridology
* Leaky gut syndrome
* Lunar effect
* Magnet therapy
* Miracle Mineral Supplement
* Naturopathy
* Palmistry
* Panchagavya
* Patent medicine
* Phrenology
* Primal therapy
* Radionics
* Reiki
* Traditional medicine
* Traditional Chinese medicine
* Trepanning
* Vertebral subluxation
* Wind turbine syndrome

|

Social science|

* 2012 phenomenon
* Ancient astronauts
* Catastrophism
* Conspiracy theory
* 5G conspiracy
* 9/11 conspiracy theories
* Chemtrail conspiracy theory
* Climate change denial
* COVID-19 misinformation
* Moon landing conspiracy theories
* Conversion therapy
* Hollow Earth theory
* Indigo children
* Japhetic theory
* Mediumship
* Nazi archaeology
* Nibiru cataclysm
* Parapsychology
* Pseudoarchaeology
* Pseudohistory
* Genocide denial
* Historical negationism
* Holocaust denial
* Pseudolaw
* Recovered-memory therapy
* Past life regression
* Scientific racism
* Aryan race
* Melanin theory
* Generational theory
* Generationism
* Strauss–Howe generational theory

Other|

* Alchemy
* Aquatic ape hypothesis
* Astrology
* Biodynamic agriculture
* Creation science
* Cryptozoology
* Dianetics
* Auditing
* Dowsing
* Electronic voice phenomenon
* Eugenics
* Facilitated communication
* Feng shui
* Flat Earth theory
* Graphology
* Intelligent design
* Laundry ball
* Levitation
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* Numerology
* Orgone
* Perpetual motion
* Polygraph
* Pseudoscientific metrology
* Quantum mysticism
* Rapid prompting method
* Statement analysis
* Ufology
* Voice stress analysis
* Water memory

Promoters of
pseudoscience|

* Mehmet Oz
* Joseph Mercola
* Deepak Chopra
* Sucharit Bhakdi
* Gaia, Inc.
* Max Gerson
* Goop (company)
* Nicholas Gonzalez
* William Donald Kelley
* Mike Lindell
* Jenny McCarthy
* Theodor Morell
* Hans Alfred Nieper
* Randolph Stone
* Andrew Wakefield
* Ministry of Ayush
* Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

Related topics|

* Bogdanov affair
* Bourgeois pseudoscience
* Demarcation problem
* Scientific method
* Suppressed research in the Soviet Union

Resources|

* Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
* Cults of Unreason
* Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science
* Fortean Times
* JREF
* Quackwatch
* Skeptical Inquirer
* The Natural History of Quackery
* The Psychology of the Occult
* The Ragged Edge of Science
* The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience
* The Skeptic's Dictionary

* v
* t
* e

Creation science

People|

* Andrew A. Snelling
* Carl Wieland
* Duane Gish
* Frank Lewis Marsh
* George McCready Price
* Harold W. Clark
* Henry M. Morris
* John Baumgardner
* John C. Sanford
* John C. Whitcomb
* John D. Morris
* John Hartnett
* Jonathan Sarfati
* Ken Ham
* Kent Hovind
* Kurt Wise
* Marcus R. Ross
* Paul Nelson
* Raymond Vahan Damadian
* Robert V. Gentry
* Russell Humphreys
* Thomas G. Barnes
* Walt Brown
* Walter Veith

Organizations|

* Answers in Genesis (AIG)
* Anti-Evolution League of America
* Biblical Creation Society (BCS)
* Caleb Foundation
* Creation Ministries International (CMI)
* Creation Research Society (CRS)
* Creation Science Movement (CSM)
* Geoscience Research Institute (GRI)
* Institute for Creation Research (ICR)

Facilities|

* Creationist museums

Lawsuits|

* Hendren v. Campbell (1977)
* McLean v. Arkansas (1982)
* Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
* Webster v. New Lenox School District (1990)

Legal and
philosophical|

* Creation and evolution in public education
* Creation–evolution controversy
* Creationism
* Creationist cosmologies
* Cryptozoology
* Objections to evolution
* Omphalos hypothesis
* Pseudoscience
* "Teach the Controversy"

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