Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

How to Use This Book
My first brush with cryptozoology was in 1960
when I read On the Track of Unknown Animals
by Belgian zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans. It
was a life-changing experience. Heuvelmans’s
masterful scientific, historical, and literary
sleuthing in quest of elusive fauna was both exciting
and scholarly: he seemed a combination
of Sherlock Holmes and The Lost World’s Professor
Challenger. His volume prodded my tenyear-old
brain to take a keen interest in not only
science and history but also different languages
and cultures, the evaluation of evidence, and the
rich discoveries that await the fearless explorer
of large library collections. In that sense, I have
been writing this book ever since, and I hope
that, in turn, it may stimulate others to seek out
new species or identify the animals that are lurking
just behind the myths.
What Constitutes a Cryptid?
Cryptids are the alleged animals that a cryptozoologist
studies. Obviously, someone—either
an ethnic group familiar with a specific habitat,
a traveler to a remote region, or a surprised
homeowner who sees an ALIEN BIG CAT or
SKUNK APE in the backyard—first has to allege
that such animals exist. (Words set in SMALL
CAPITALS refer to entries in the text.) The examination
and evaluation of ethnographic, testimonial,
and physical evidence to determine the
identity of a cryptid is what cryptozoology is all
about.
Some would say that only those animals
with a reasonable chance of one day becoming
recognized as new species should be included
in this volume and that bizarre, red-eyed ENTI-
TIES such as MOTHMAN or mythical creatures
such as DRAGONS and UNICORNS are beyond
its scope. This is a practical approach for the
zoologist whose aim is to add to knowledge of
the world’s biodiversity, and it is one of cryp-
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tozoology’s primary goals as well. However, I
have taken a broader view in this encyclopedia,
for it can be equally important to show how
known animals can pose as cryptids or how
people’s belief systems and expectations can
color their observations of the natural world.
Do Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) occasionally
get reported as BIG BIRDS or THUNDER-
BIRDS? Are witnesses of HAIRY BIPEDS or EAST-
ERN PUMAS in certain parts of Maryland
influenced by the tales of GOATMAN and SNAL-
LYGASTER in those areas?
Solving historical puzzles also seems relevant
to cryptozoology. Just what animals were responsible
for medieval BASILISK lore? Could the
Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)
or the Giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus)
have survived somewhat later in time than is
currently supposed and thus be responsible for
Native American legends of the STIFF-LEGGED
BEAR?
Most of the mystery animals in this book fall
into one of the following ten categories:
1. Distribution anomalies, or well-known
animals found in locales where they have not
previously been found or are thought extinct,
such as the EASTERN PUMA.
2. Undescribed, unusual, or outsize variations
of known species, such as the BLUE
TIGER, HORNED HARE, or GIANT ANA-
CONDA.
3. Survivals of recently extinct species, such
as the IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER in the
southern United States, thought extinct since
the 1960s.
4. Survivals of species known only from the
fossil record into modern times, such as the
ROA-ROA of New Zealand, which might be a
surviving moa.
5. Survivals of species known only from the