Cryptozoology: who and why is looking for the Loch Ness monster and other mythical animals

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Alas, it is unlikely that the Yeti or Nessie exist.

What is cryptozoology and who does it

Cryptozoology is a branch of knowledge that deals with the search and study of animals, the existence of which is controversial or not proven by science. Such animals are called cryptids. There is also cryptobotany and cryptobiology, combining the search for fictional plants and animals together.

One of the first representatives of cryptozoology was the Franco-Belgian zoologist Bernard Eyvelmans, who wrote the book "In the footsteps of unknown animals" in 1955. Today, enthusiasts without a biological education classify themselves as this discipline. Among them are opponents of the theory of evolution, creationists, supporters of the existence of the paranormal, newagers and those who simply play on the interest of the general public in everything mysterious.

Who are considered cryptids

This is the name of any hypothetical animals that are not described by science. Here are the most famous ones:

• The Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) is a huge long-necked waterfowl allegedly living in the Scottish Loch Ness. According to one hypothesis, it is not clear how the surviving dinosaur (plesiosaur) is.
• Other river and lake monsters like Nessie: Mokele-mbembe from Nigeria, American monsters Champlain and George.
• Yeti - they are also called Bigfoot, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Alamas - huge upright primates. According to the most plausible hypothesis, they are descendants of gigantopithecus - a huge monkey that became extinct 100 thousand years ago.
• The Chupacabra is a creature described as an upright bipedal monster or a dog-like animal. He is accused of killing livestock and sucking blood.
• Pterosaurs are flying dinosaurs supposedly preserved in Africa.
• Phantom cats are large cats like cougars that inhabit uncharacteristic habitats for them, namely the British Isles.
• Mermaids, dragons, giant snakes and other creatures from myths, legends and urban legends.

Animals that have become extinct can also be considered cryptids. For example, these include the Tasmanian wolf (thylacin) or the sea cow.

Also, animals with rare genetic mutations can be written into cryptids. For example, the royal cheetahs, which were nicknamed for their unusual color - large black spots and stripes on the back, uncharacteristic for the species.

Royal cheetah. Photo: Olga Ernst / Wikimedia Commons

A common cheetah. Photo: Mukul2u / Wikimedia Commons

Why the scientific community does not recognize this discipline

Scientists have many complaints about cryptozoology.

There is no clear evidence for the existence of cryptids

In biology, there have been cases where the existence of animals considered fictional has been confirmed. This, for example, happened with gorillas, okapis, platypuses, as well as giant squids, which may have become the prototype of the kraken.

But these cases are isolated, and they do not speak in favor of the existence of cryptids.

Cryptozoologists themselves have only circumstantial evidence that cannot be verified. For example, the stories of eyewitnesses who became the only witnesses and saw the creature from afar and only in passing. Where is the guarantee that they did not mistake, for example, a heron for a pterodactyl or a stone protruding from under the snow for a yeti? Stories about encounters with snowmen or lake monsters may well be associated with the effect of apophenia, when we see something that actually does not exist.

All videos and photos of the alleged cryptids are either very vague or fake. For example, in this video from Lake Champlain on the border between the United States and Canada, you can see an incomprehensible creature, or you can see a swimming elk, a wounded bird or a log.

What cryptozoologists call traces and remains of cryptids, too, are not being tested by scientists.

So, hairs, bones and teeth, supposedly belonging to a Yeti or Bigfoot, were 1.

2. studied by geneticists. All samples turned out to be tissues of common animals: bears, dogs, wolves, horses, cows, raccoons, deer and porcupines. And one even belonged to a person.

The situation with the lake monsters is even worse. For example, no plesiosaur skeleton has been found in Loch Ness.

Cryptozoologists use unscientific methods

They draw a large layer of information from folklore: myths, legends and traditions. Representatives of quasi-science are serious about such sources, since they supposedly could have recorded the existence of creatures unknown to science. It is from there that information about snowmen, chupacabras, krakens or Mokele-mbembe - a surviving dinosaur-sauropod living in the valley of the Congo River, is from there.

Sometimes cryptobiologists also refer to historical records of encounters with unusual creatures. So, the Loch Ness monster has been known since the 6th century AD.

However, the evidence from the past is an unreliable source. After all, before people could be subject to illusions no less. So, for many centuries, meeting sailors with strappy fish, capable of growing up to eight meters in length, gave birth to stories about sea snakes.

At the same time, cryptozoologists do not use modern methods of detecting animals. Although new technologies make it possible to do this quite efficiently. So, camera traps take pictures of the once elusive snow leopards. And the study of blood samples found, for example, in leeches, helps to verify the existence of rare or endangered species.

Also, biologists have learned from soil or water samples to find traces of all creatures living in a given environment. Thus, in Loch Ness, no markers were found indicating plesiosaurs, but traces of eels were found.

Cryptozoologists can only oppose all this with faith. They, for example, believe that cryptids have supernatural powers that help them avoid detection. Snowmen are allegedly somehow connected with UFOs or know how to control infrasound and disappear in a flash of light, and Nessie breaks the shooting equipment, apparently with the help of electromagnetic pulses.

Cryptozoology ignores the discoveries of biologists and common sense

The hypotheses about the origin of cryptids look just as ridiculous. Such events that could lead to the appearance of long-necked pinnipeds from seals or Yeti from Neanderthals simply did not exist. Therefore, all the evolutionary constructions of pseudoscientists do not stand up to any criticism.

Cryptozoologists and data from biology-related disciplines are not taken into account. For example, geography. Even if we agree with their arguments that 20 thousand years ago, Loch Ness, Champlain and George were under the ice, it is still unclear how giant sea creatures could get there. After all, lakes are lakes that do not have access to the world's oceans. In addition, the water in them is fresh, which means that marine dinosaurs simply would not survive in it.

As you can see, even logic is ignored in such constructions. How, for example, such a huge beast as Nessie, can get the necessary amount of food in Loch Ness Lake, quite deep, but relatively small - only 56 km²? And in general, dinosaurs have become extinct for 65-70 million years. If that were not the case, paleontologists would find remains or even living creatures in many other parts of the world, but this is not happening.

The question also begs: if the monster is one, then how long does it live and how does it multiply? A cryptid cannot be the only individual, otherwise its species would simply disappear. This means that there must be at least a few of the same snowmen. In this case, they, at a minimum, should leave much more traces, which would inevitably lead to their detection.

Why Cryptozoologists Continue The Search

Despite criticism from scientists, representatives of pseudoscience do not give up.

They really believe in the existence of cryptids

Some cryptozoologists are inspired by myths or eyewitness accounts of Bigfoot or surviving dinosaurs. Others claim to have met the cryptid themselves. And although, most likely, they were simply deceived by their imaginations, such an event was deeply imprinted in their minds.

They think they can make a great discovery

Cryptozoologists often do not know or ignore the discoveries of biologists. But it is the achievements of science that often inspire pseudoscientists. It is significant, for example, that the stories of the Mokele-mbemba began to appear after the large skeletons of sauropods were first shown in New York.

Being marginalized from science, cryptozoologists try to "wipe their nose" with real scientists, demonstrate the limitations of their theories, and, of course, gain fame thanks to an incredible discovery. For example, to prove that the theory of evolution is wrong, but in reality the history of the Earth is much shorter and corresponds to the biblical description.

They make money from it

Tales of yeti, lacustrine plesiosaurs, chupacabras and mermaids are the only and quite significant way of earning money for many of them. Filming in questionable TV shows and publications in the yellow media not only bring such people a certain popularity, but also help, for example, sell books.

Rumors of cryptides are beneficial to the tourism industry as well. Paranormal phenomena are a great tourist attraction. A castle with a ghost or a lake with a monster will be much more willing to visit. And this makes a profit for local hotels, restaurants, tour organizers and souvenir sellers. Thus, there is evidence that the Loch Ness monster brings the Scottish economy 41 million pounds (54 million dollars) a year.