Cryptozoology

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Dissemination of alleged sightings of Bigfoot in 2009.

The cryptozoology ( ancient Greek κρυπτός kryptós "hidden, secret", ζῷον zóon "animal, living being" and λόγος lógos "doctrine") deals with animals whose existence there is only weak and dubious evidence, such as folklore , legends , eyewitness reports , Footprints and (mostly blurry) photos or films. Scientific zoology is not concerned with such beings; they are the subject of folklore and mythology . Cryptozoologists suspect that reports about animals that are normally classified as mythical creatures can be traced back in part to as yet undiscovered species. Such a species is called a cryptid in cryptozoology . Cryptids must not be confused with the cryptospecies .

Cryptobotany , e.g. B. looking for man-eating plants , and cryptozoology is sometimes summarized as cryptobiology . The cryptozoology is divided u. a. into Dracontology , which deals with water cryptids , i.e. sea ​​monsters (e.g. Ogopogo or sea ​​serpent ), hominology , which looks for ape-men such as Yeti and Orang Pendek , as well as Mythological Cryptozoology , which speculates about the genesis of mythical creatures.

The term cryptozoology was coined in the 1940s and 1950s by Ivan T. Sanderson and Bernard Heuvelmans . Because of its central position, Heuvelmans is often referred to as the "father of cryptozoology". Even before cryptozoology emerged, others had dealt with the topic, such as Charles Fort .

From outsiders, cryptozoology is classified as a pseudoscience . The International Society of Cryptozoology (ISC), founded in 1982 and inactive since about 2004 , campaigned for cryptozoology to be recognized as a serious science . In German-speaking countries, this task was taken over by the Association for Cryptozoological Research from its founding in 2005 to its dissolution in 2008 .

Cryptids

Schematic representation of the various forms in which the Loch Ness Monster is sighted.

Cryptozoologists are known to look for large animals that, like mothman , chupacabras or werewolves, don't seem to fit into the existing classification schemes. However, there are also many cryptids that are believed to be relatives of known species, such as the Marozi and the African dwarf elephant .

Cryptozoologists are also investigating traces that could indicate the survival of species considered extinct. So one hopes for the so-called Lazarus effect . In addition to dinosaurs like Mokele-Mbembe, these include the thylacine and the moa . According to the prehistoric survivor paradigm widespread in cryptozoology , the Loch Ness monster, for example, is explained as a plesiosaur or a basilosaurus .

"Normal" species are also considered to be cryptids if they are sighted in areas where they are not normally found. These so-called out-of-place sightings include Alien Big Cats .

The Beast of Gévaudan - a historical event in the south of France - can also be viewed as an object of cryptozoology.

literature

From a cryptozoological point of view
  • Chad Arment: Cryptozoology. Science & Speculation. Coachwhip Publications, Landisville PA 2004, ISBN 1-930585-15-2 .
  • Loren Coleman, Jerome Clark: Cryptozoology A to Z. The Encyclopedia Of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. Fireside, New York NY 1999, ISBN 0-684-85602-6 .
  • Lothar Frenz: giant octopuses and tiger wolves. On the trail of cryptozoology (= Rororo 61625 rororo science ). Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-499-61625-4 .
  • Bernard Heuvelmans : On the Track of Unknown Animals. Translated from the French by Richard Garnett. Revised, 3rd English Edition. Kegan Paul International, London 1995, ISBN 0-7103-0498-6 . (First edition: 1958)
  • Ingo Krumbiegel : About new and undiscovered animal species . Kosmos - Society of Friends of Nature Frank'sche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1950.
  • Michael Newton: Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology. A Global Guide to Hidden Animals and their Pursuers . Mcfarland & Co Inc, Jefferson NC 2005, ISBN 0-7864-9756-4 .
  • Karl PN Shuker : The Beasts that hide from Man. Seeking the World's last undiscovered Animals. ParaView Press, New York NY 2003, ISBN 1-931044-64-3 .
From a scientific and skeptical point of view
  • John Conway, CM Kosemen, Darren Naish: Cryptozoologicon. Volume 1. Irregular Books, p. L. 2013, ISBN 978-1-291-62153-2 .
  • Richard Ellis : Sea Monsters. Myths, Fables and Facts. Birkhäuser, Basel a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-7643-5422-4 .
  • Daniel Loxton, Donald R. Prothero: Abominable Science! Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other Famous Cryptids. Columbia University Press, New York NY et al. a. 2013, ISBN 978-0-231-15320-1 .
  • Ulrich Magin: Trolls, Yetis, Tatzelworms. Puzzling phenomena in Central Europe (= Beck'sche series. 1004). CH Beck Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-406-37394-1 .
  • Benjamin Radford, Joe Nickell : Lake Monster Mysteries. Investigating the World's Most Elusive Creatures. The University Press of Kentucky, Lexington KY 2006, ISBN 0-8131-2394-1 .
  • Brian Regal: Searching for Sasquatch. Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology (= Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology. ). Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan 2013, ISBN 978-1-137-34943-9 .

Web links

Commons : Cryptozoology  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive for the “Cryptobotany” on www.cryptomundo.com (English).
  2. ↑ Approximately from: Taylor Reints: An Introduction to Cryptobiology (unexplained-mysteries.com 2013) ( Memento from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Kryptozoologie-Online: Dracontologie
  4. ↑ Kryptozoologie-Online: Hominologie - A taxonomic overview
  5. ↑ A rather rare term. Used by: Michael Schneider: On the trail of the unknown. The fantastic world of cryptozoology. Twilight-Line GbR, Krombach 2009, ISBN 978-3-941122-48-2 , p. 31 ff., ( Online access to googlebooks.de )
  6. ↑ Cryptozoology Online: Heuvelmans, Bernard
  7. ^ Robert T. Carroll: The Skeptic's Dictionary. 1994-2009  : “Cryptozoology is, literally, the study of hidden animals. (...) It is not a recognized branch of the science of zoology. (...) Since cryptozoologists spend most of their energy trying to establish the existence of creatures, rather than examining actual animals, they are more akin to psi researchers than to zoologists. "
  8. ↑ Ben S. Roesch, John L. Moore: Cryptozoology. In: Michael Shermer (Ed.): The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. Volume 1. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA u. a. 2002, ISBN 1-57607-653-9 , pp. 71–78, here p. 71 : “Cryptozoology ranges from pseudoscientific to useful and interesting, depending on how it is practiced.”
  9. ↑ Spektrum.de - Lexicon of Biology - Cryptozoology : "Cryptozoology is therefore not a scientifically recognized discipline (pseudoscience) - even if it cannot be ruled out that its representatives might discover one or the other unknown 'normal' animal by chance."
  10. ↑ Cryptozoology Online: International Society of Cryptozoology (ISC)
  11. ↑ Sharon Hill: Prehistoric Survivors? They Are Really Most Sincerely Dead . 2014 (English).
  12. ↑ Michael Schneider: On the trail of the unknown. The fantastic world of cryptozoology. Twilight-Line GbR, Krombach 2009, ISBN 978-3-941122-48-2 , p. 39 ff. ( Online access to googlebooks.de )