C is for Cryptozoology

Living Legend is coming out a little later this year and in the progress of writing it, I did a lot of research nto Cryptozoology. I thought it was going to a journey into strange desires and controversies. I was wrong.

It’s fascinating.

The pseudoscience is most commonly associated with the study of creatures like the Loch Ness monster and bigfoot, and though that’s part of it, it’s not the whole of it.

Cryptozoology is the study of animals whose existence is not proven. On the surface, that may sound like the same thing, but there are some differences.

Trying to prove a species still exists after being declared extinct would fall under Cryptozoology. If you go out and make it your goal to find a living dodo bird, guess what, you’re a Cryptozoologist.

The second difference is not all animals searched for are sasquatches and dinosaur-like creatures. These studies have actually brought about the discovery of a few brand new species.

The Okapi was thought to be a joke or a hallucination due to how absurd it must have sounded to describe to someone. “Well, you see, it’s somewhere between a giraffe and a deer with zebra stripes.” Who wouldn’t think you were drinking? But in 1901 these funny-looking guys were discovered in the Congo.

Same story goes for the Komodo Dragon. It was feared and revered as a myth known only as the Giant Monitor. The real thing was found in the Indonesian islands in 1912.

Most cryptozoologists reject supernatural beliefs and prefer to follow the scientific method, though they sometimes have to stray when physical proof isn’t available. Still, when other stories turned out to be real could you ever completely dismiss a myth again?