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The A to Z Challenge – C for Cryptozoology

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Today’s Calliope’s Writing Tablet post is brought to you by the letter C — C for Cryptozoology.

Fifty-four years ago, Lucien Blancou coined the term Cryptozoology out of a combination of three Greek words: kryptos, zoon and logos, which mean, respectively, Hidden, Animal, and Discourse. By definition, it is the study of unknown animals.

Global exploration expanded when man mastered the sea. New uncharted lands held strange plants and animals never before seen. These native legends, rare sightings, and tales of inexplicable bodies seemingly made of parts, weren’t believed to exist. On this skeptic’s list from the past are creatures we all know today. Here are just a few: giraffe, kangaroo, tapir, beaver, okapi, panda, duck-billed platypus, Komodo dragon, orangutan, and the living fossil fish, the coelacanth.

Then you have creatures on the truly odd list. The most famous is the Loch Ness Monster. Actually many large bodies of water around the world have purported Nessie-ish creatures — Lake Champlain has Champy, and the Congo River has Mokèlé-mbèmbé for example. Then we have the chupacabra, the Sasquatch, and the recently verified Giant Squid (the possible Kraken of mythology.) More often than not, Cryptozoology is dismissed as pseudo-science by conventional fields of study. I think it’s that whole Big Foot thing.

Several years ago I came upon a local legend and recently wrote a what if story around it.

Read More: USA Today — The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo