Cryptozoology

Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that aims to prove the existence of entities from the folklore record, such as Bigfoot, the chupacabra, or Mokele-mbembe. Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids, a term coined by the subculture. Because it does not follow the scientific method, cryptozoology is considered a pseudoscience by the academic world: it is neither a branch of zoology nor folkloristics. It was originally founded in the 1950s by zoologists Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson.

Scholars have noted that the pseudoscience rejected mainstream approaches from
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Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras & Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature
The Beasts that Hide from Man: Seeking the World's Last Undiscovered Animals
Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation's Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots, and Creepiest Creatures
The Mothman Prophecies
Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science
On the Track of Unknown Animals
Abominable Science!  Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids
Bigfoot!: The True Story of Apes in America
Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life
The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters
American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America
The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings
Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology
The Beast of Boggy Creek The True Story of the Fouke Monster
In the Wake of the Sea-Serpents
Gnomes by Wil HuygenFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt ScamanderFaeries by Brian FroudA Tolkien Bestiary by David DayThe Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges
Bestiaries
270 books — 136 voters
The Complete Books by Charles FortThe Tao of Physics by Fritjof CapraEntangled Minds by Dean RadinDancing Wu Li Masters by Gary ZukavQuantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum
The Fortean Bookshelf
321 books — 25 voters

Roanoke Ridge by J.J. DupuisDevolution by Max BrooksMisadventures of a Cryptid Hunter by Michael KelsoBigfoot Crank Stomp by Erik WilliamsKillerpede by Marek Z. Turner
Best Cryptid Fiction
46 books — 28 voters


J.W. Ocker
But cryptids exist in yet another way beyond stories and monuments. Many who love cryptids love them more as symbols of the natural world than as secrets of it. Cryptids are hopeful concepts: hope that the world is still a diverse place full of discovery. Hope that humankind hasn't zoned every square inch of the planet for McDonald's franchises. Hope that we haven't grown bored with our mother planet, that she still harbors wonders for us. ...more
J.W. Ocker

In a single stroke, the Linnaean classification system wiped monsters off the face of the map. There might still be unknown beasts and fearsome creatures out there, but now they each would have a family, a genus, a species; no matter how strange an animal might be, it was now under the rubric of scientific study and discussion. Thus, the medieval world's monsters and wonders were, one by one, either incorporated into this taxonomy or excluded as myth. The kraken became the genus Architeuthis, th ...more
Colin Dickey, The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained

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