Cryptozoology

Crptozoology is "the study of, and search for, animals which fall outside of contemporary zoological catalogs."

The Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Yetis, the Mothman, etc. are things that fall into this category.

Cryptids are the animals they search for.

So what is your favorite Cryptid and what do you think of this branch of science?

I think that for the most part it's bollocks, and I'm probably going to get eaten alive on this thread for being close-minded, but meh, I'm very much a practical sort of person.
So, yeah. Loch Ness Monster, Mothman - complete and utter bollocks.

The Shunka Warakin was proved to exist.

Yeah, but how often does that happen? How many times is it a hoax?
I'm not saying it's an invalid branch of zoology, I just think most of the reports on so-called sightings, "evidence" etc. of these creatures are usually too vague for me to be anything but sceptical.
I mean, that Loch Ness Monster photo... :roll:

Dead Meat.:

Yeah, but how often does that happen? How many times is it a hoax?
I'm not saying it's an invalid branch of zoology, I just think most of the reports on so-called sightings, "evidence" etc. of these creatures are usually too vague for me to be anything but sceptical.
I mean, that Loch Ness Monster photo... :roll:

Generally it's not proven to be a hoax.
Generally there is just inconclusive evidence to prove it exists, which is why they have the branch of science dedicated to it.

I don't know, perhaps I'm just a sceptic.
It is a hoax quite a lot of the time, though, isn't it? Doctored photos and made-up sightings? And half the creatures end up disregarded as entirely mythical.
I don't know enough about this topic to discuss it, really.
I'm all into inconclusive scientific theories, but I really don't have time for crptozoology. It baffles me how it can be so difficult for zoologist to conclude the existence of animals what with all our modern scientific progressions. I mean, yeah, black hole theories, alien life, that's gotta be a bitch to prove, but hairy yetis and lake monsters? Nah.

On the extensive list of cryptids that Wikipedia has, only five were hoaxes. The majority are simply unconfirmed or mythological.

Also, the kraken was confirmed.

Wow I clicked on the link and there was a huge list of animals/creatures waiting to be confirmed?!

I think it would be very interesting to discover, however I believe there are more important areas of science than trying to prove that some mythlogical creatures exist.
I am sure some do, it is unlikely we have discovered all the living beings on our planet. However, others I am more skeptical about.

druscilla; red queen:

On the extensive list of cryptids that Wikipedia has, only five were hoaxes. The majority are simply unconfirmed or mythological.

Also, the kraken was confirmed.

Isn't the kraken a giant squid?

Or am I thinking of something else...?

Spaztastic:

Isn't the kraken a giant squid?

Or am I thinking of something else...?

Yeah, it's a giant squid. :mrgreen:

My personal favorite cryptid is Bigfoot. That may only be because I live in Oregon, and there are woods, like, everywhere. Not really everywhere, but a lot, I mean. I used to spend a lot of time in the woods, and, sometimes, there are sounds, or even sights, that make me think of Bigfoot. It's probably not Bigfoot, but it just kinds of gets me thinking that there is something out there that we don't know about yet, or can't prove.

I read up on Mothman a bit. I had, like, tingles rush up and down my spine. I wonder if he eats people. The Beast of Bray Road also kind of intrigued me, but, really, Bigfoot is my favorite.

The science overall, in my opinion, is probably one of the coolest things ever. If people don't have faith in something, can it still exist? (For example, if nobody believed in God, would He still exist?) I think this science stresses that, and it's stepping away from a lot of people's reasoning that there's "nothing out there". I don't know what I'm saying, really. I just really like the thought of new things that are different from the average dog.

My view on it? Those things are considered 'monsters' in a way. I don't believe in such things. Our minds are set to believe and fear the unknown. If we're told about such things and what they're supposed to look like, we can think we're seeing something that resembles it, but often we're just mistaking something else for it. We create monsters because of fear.

Just like it happened in The Lord of the Flies when everyone thought there was a 'beasty' on the mountain, but it was just a parachute. Everyone believed it because they feared that something was up there, and when they saw it, they didn't take a chance to actually look at what it was. Since they were warned there was a 'beasty' they had the set view that there actually was one up there.

I know it's fiction, but it's a very good view on how the human mind works.

Does Jonah's fish count?
I suppose not since it's just a huge fish mentioned in the Bible, but still, if I were to have a favorite cryptid it would be that one.
Or or... John Crace's Mondazy fish. Wait, that's a fictional character.
I just like big fish.

I don't think anyone could define evolution. Some cryptids sound plausible, others don't. It's really not about God or religion, just evolution. If you're not adapted, you don't survive.

I would have to say my favorite is Bigfoot. All of this really intriuges me.

My mother and father are very biased against stuff like this. They're really closed-minded. They like to believe in the facts and the facts only. But I think my mother's a tad bit open-minded than my father.

I'm the kind of person who believe in fairies XD So I believe that anything is possible. We are still discovering fish we thought were extinct for millions and millions of year. Whose to say that hidden under the sea is a giant sea monster? Or sea dinosaur that managed to survive extinction? I don't think I have a favorite kind of crytoid, but am fond on reading up on them and seeing the evidence gather on them. I am still waiting til they find a fire breathing dragon >_>

Faeries are real.

I personally would love to see at least one of those. It's a very interesting topic.
The ones that interested me a lot are mostly from mythology, like Manticore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manticore

Read the Legacy part.

am i just stupid or does sasquatch exsist?
sasquatch is probably the coolest creature of the whole catagory

The Jersey Devil seems pretty cool. lol

Loch Ness monster. :cute:
I used to go up to Loch Ness and look for it. I believed in it so much. :XD

Also Mermaids.
I'm so fascinated with them.