List of cryptids
This is a list of cryptids, which are animals presumed by followers of the cryptozoology pseudoscientific subculture to exist on the basis of anecdotal or other evidence considered insufficient by mainstream science. While biologists regularly identify new species following established scientific methodology, cryptozoologists focus on entities mentioned in the folklore record and rumour. Entities that may be considered cryptids by cryptozoologists include Bigfoot, Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, the Loch Ness Monster, or Mokele-mbembe. Related pseudosciences include young Earth creationism,[1][2] ghost hunting, and ufology. Some dictionaries and encyclopedias define the term "cryptid" as an animal whose existence is unsubstantiated.[3][4]
List
Animals
Aquatic or semi-aquatic
Name | Other names | Description | Purported location | Depiction |
---|---|---|---|---|
Altamaha-ha | Altie | Sturgeon or plesiosaur-like river animal | Georgia, United States | |
Bear Lake monster | Lake monster | Idaho/Utah, United States | ||
Bessie | Lake Erie Monster | Lake monster | Lake Erie, North America | |
Brosno dragon[5] | Brosnya | Lake monster | Lake Brosno, Russia | |
Bunyip[6] | Lake and cave animal | Australia | ||
Cadborosaurus[7] | Caddy | Sea animal | Pacific Coast of North America | |
Champ[5][8] | Champtanystropheus americanus, Champy | Lake monster | Lake Champlain, North America | |
Chessie | Sea animal | Atlantic Coast of the United States, especially Chesapeake Bay | ||
Dingonek[9] | Jungle walrus | A tusked water-dwelling animal | Western Africa | |
Dobhar-chú[10] | Water Hound | Extra-large otter-like carnivorous aquatic mammal | Ireland | |
Giant anaconda[11] | Megaconda | Giant snake | South America | |
Igopogo[5] | Kempenfelt Kelly | Lake monster | Lake Simcoe, Ontario (Canada) | |
Isshii[5] | Issie | Lake monster | Japan | |
Kraken | Sea animal | World's oceans | ||
Kusshii[5] | Kussie | Lake monster | Japan | |
Lagarfljót Worm[12] | lagarfljóts ormurinn | Lake monster | Iceland | |
Lake Van Monster | Van Gölü Canavarı | Lake monster | Lake Van, Van, Turkey | |
Loch Ness Monster[13] | Nessie, Nessiteras rhombopteryx | Lake monster | Loch Ness, Scotland | |
Mamlambo[5] | Lake monster | South Africa | ||
Manipogo[5] | Winnipogo | Lake monster | Lake Manitoba, Canada | |
Mokele-mbembe[7] | Dinosaur | Republic of the Congo | ||
Nahuelito[5] | Nahuel Huapi Lake Monster | Lake monster | Nahuel Huapi Lake, Argentina | |
Ogopogo[5][8] | N'ha•a•itk, Naitaka | Lake monster | Lake Okanagan, Canada | |
Sea serpents[14] | Sea animals, dinosaurs | All bodies of water | ||
Selma[5] | Seljordsormen | Lake monster | Lake Seljord, Telemark, Norway | |
Steller's sea ape[15] | Sea animal | Pacific Ocean | ||
Tahoe Tessie | Lake Tahoe monster | Lake monster | Lake Tahoe, in California and Nevada, United States | |
Trinity Alps giant salamander | Giant salamander[16] | California, United States |
Terrestrial
Name | Other names | Description | Purported location | Depiction |
---|---|---|---|---|
Almas[5][8] | 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 | |
Barmanou[5] | Barmanu, Big Hairy One | Ape or hominid | Middle East/Asia | |
Beast of Bodmin Moor[17] | Large felid | Cornwall, England | ||
Beast of Exmoor[11] | Big cat | England | ||
Bigfoot[18] | Sasquatch | Large and hairy ape-like creature | United States and Canada | |
British big cats[17] | Alien big cats (ABCs), phantom cats, mystery cats, English lions, Beast of Bodmin, Beast of Exmoor |
Carnivorous mammal | Great Britain | |
Bukit Timah Monkey Man[19] | BTM, BTMM | Forest-dwelling hominid or other primate | Singapore | |
Chuchunya[20][5] | Large hominid | Russia | ||
Chupacabra[21] | Chupacabras (Spanish for goat-sucker) | Puerto Rico (originally), South and Central America, Southern North America |
||
Ebu gogo[22] | Small primate, possible early hominid | Flores, Indonesia | ||
Elwetritsch[23] | Mammal | Germany | ||
Fouke Monster | Jonesville Monster, Southern Sasquatch, Boggy Creek Monster | Hominid or other primate | Arkansas, United States | |
Great Spider | Jba Fofi, Congolese Giant Spider, Giant Spider | Enormous Spider | Congo, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Louisiana, United States, Zimbabwe | |
Honey Island Swamp monster | Letiche, Tainted Keitre | Hominid or other primate | Louisiana, United States | |
Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp | Lizard Man of Lee County | Bipedal | South Carolina, United States | |
Mapinguari[24][25][26] | English: Brazilian bigfoot,[27] Karitiana: kida harara,[28] Machiguenga: segamai[29][30] |
Alternately described as a hairy humanoid cyclops with a gaping mouth on its belly, or a relict giant ground sloth | South America, particularly Brazil | |
Minhocão[5] | Big Earthworm | Caecilian | South America | |
Mngwa[17] | Nunda | Carnivorous mammal | Tanzania | |
Mogollon Monster | Mug-ee-yun Monster | Bipedal primate | Mogollon Rim, Arizona, United States | |
Mongolian death worm[11] | Allghoi (or orghoi) khorkhoi | Worm-like animal | Gobi Desert (Asia) | |
Monkey-man of Delhi[11] | Black Monkey | Big black monkey | Old Delhi, India | |
Orang-bati[5] | Bipedal | Indonesia | ||
Orang Mawas[5] | Mawas, Orang Dalam, Hantu Jarang Gigi | Primate | Malaysia | |
Ozark Howler | Ozark Black Howler | Carnivorous mammal | Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, United States | |
Shunka Warakin | Carnivorous mammal; wolf-like, boar-like, hyena-like | Western United States (especially Montana) | ||
Skunk ape[31] | Stink Ape, Myakka Ape, Myakka Skunk Ape | Primate | Florida, United States | |
Yeren[32][31] | Yiren, Yeh Ren, Chinese Wildman | Primate (possible hominin) | China | |
Yeti[33] | Abominable Snowman | Large and hairy human-like entity, various other descriptions | Himalayas (Asia) | |
Yowie[34] | Large and hairy human-like entity, various other descriptions | Australia |
Winged
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[35] | Popularized by John A. Keel's book The Mothman Prophecies | Winged bipedal | Mason County, West Virginia, United States | |
Thunderbird[36] | Giant bird | North America |
See also
Citations
- Hill, Sharon A. (2017), Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers, McFarland, p. 66, ISBN 9781476630823
- Card, Jeb J. (2016), "Steampunk Inquiry: A Comparative Vivisection of Discovery Pseudoscience", in Card, Jeb J.; Anderson, David S. (eds.), 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.
- "Cryptid". The Oxford Dictionary. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "Sasquatch". Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- "The world's greatest imaginary animals". Salon. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- "Australia's terrifying cryptid of the swamp". Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- Loxton and Prothero (2015:261-295).
- Michael Shermer; Pat Linse (November 2002). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 72. ISBN 9781576076538.
- "10 mysterious monsters of Africa". Afrikanza. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- "Ireland's hound of deep - Dobhar Chu". Irish Central News. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- "Cryptozoology: What else is out there?". TNT Magazine. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- "Is this Iceland's Loch Ness monster? Lagarfljot river worm caught on film". The Independent. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- S.J. Velasquez (31 October 2015). "The monster you should never find". BBC Online. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- Loxton and Prothero (2015:228-326).
- Nickell, Joe (Winter 2016–2017). "Steller's Sea Ape: Identifying an Eighteenth-Century Cryptid". Skeptical Briefs. Vol. 26 no. 4. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
- Fortean Times. John Brown Pub. 1997. p. 43.
- "Fantastic Cryptids And Where To Find Them". Forbes. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- Loxton and Prothero (2015:29–70).
- "On the hunt for the elusive Bukit Timah Monkey Man". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- O'Carroll, Eoin (28 September 2018). "Bigfoot and beyond: Why tales of wild men endure". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- Brian Regal (15 October 2009). Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia: A Critical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-35508-0.
- "Maybe Bigfoot believers aren't crazy after all". New York Post. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- Press, Clayton. "Oliver Laric Celebrates the Year of the Dog at Metro Pictures". Forbes. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- Eberhart, George M. (2002). Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-283-5. OCLC 50562074.
- Coleman, Loren; Clark, Jerome (2008). The Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. Paw Prints. ISBN 978-1-4395-6477-6. OCLC 259258061.
- Coleman, Loren (26 July 2014). "Giant Anteaters Kill Two Hunters in Brazil ~ An anteater "stood on its hind legs"? #Mapinguari?". Twitter. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- "Man v. Monster: Brazilian Bigfoot Full Episode | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- Felipe Ferreira Vander Velden "Sobre caes e indios: domesticidade, classificacao zoologica e relacao humano-animal entre os Karitiana", Revista de Antropología 15 (2009) p. 125-143
- Oren, David C. "Does the Endangered Xenarthran Fauna of Amazonia Include Remnant Ground Sloths?", Edentata (June 2001) p. 2-5
- Rohter, Larry (8 July 2007). "A Huge Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- Caleb W. Lack, PhD; Jacques Rousseau, MA (8 March 2016). Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can't Trust Our Brains. Springer Publishing Company. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-8261-9426-8.
- "It's the monstrous new trend sweeping travel – what is cryptid-tourism?". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- Loxton and Prothero (2015:73–117).
- Caleb W. Lack, PhD; Jacques Rousseau, MA (8 March 2016). Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can't Trust Our Brains. Springer Publishing Company. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-8261-9426-8.
- Kantrowitz, Lia; Fitzmaurice, Larry; Terry, Josh (16 January 2018). "People Keep Seeing the Mothman in Chicago". Vice. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- "The mythic child-stealing Thunderbirds of Illinois". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
References
- 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.
External links
The dictionary definition of cryptid at Wiktionary Media related to Cryptozoology at Wikimedia Commons