Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

are a good place to begin a general search for
specific mystery beasts:
AMPHIBIANS (Unknown)
BATS (Unknown)
BEARS (Unknown)
BIRDS (Unknown)
CATS (Unknown)
CEPHALOPODS (Unknown)
CETACEANS (Unknown)
CIVETS AND MONGOOSES (Unknown)
CROCODILIANS (Unknown)
DINOSAURS (Living)
DOGS (Unknown)
ELEPHANTS (Unknown)
ENTITIES
FISHES (Unknown)
FLYING REPTILES
FRESHWATER MONSTERS
GIANT HOMINIDS
HOOFED MAMMALS (Unknown)
HYENAS (Unknown)
HYRAXES (Unknown)
INSECTIVORES (Unknown)
INVERTEBRATES (Unknown)
LIZARDS (Unknown)
MARSUPIALS (Unknown)
MERBEINGS
OTTERS (Unknown)
PANGOLINS (Unknown)
PRIMATES (Unknown)
RABBITS (Unknown)
RODENTS (Unknown)
SEA MONSTERS
SEALS (Unknown)
SEMIMYTHICAL BEASTS
SIRENIANS (Unknown)
SLOTHS (Unknown)
SMALL HOMINIDS
SNAKES (Unknown)
TURTLES (Unknown)
WEASELS (Unknown)
WILDMEN
A few mystery animals of uncertain taxonomy
are included in more than one category,
such as the NANDI BEAR, a cryptid with varying
characteristics that turns up under BEARS, HYE-
NAS, and PRIMATES.
Most of the entries are structured in a similar
fashion, with a brief identification of the cryptid
followed by information arranged under as
many as twelve of the following sections:
Etymology. The derivation or meaning of the
cryptid’s name. In a few cases, the date of the
name’s first appearance is provided, as well as information
on the person who coined the term. If
the cryptid’s name is not an English word, the
language is given. The language family is shown
in parentheses for non-Western languages—for
example, Lingala (Bantu), “water monster.” Current
names for ethnic groups, their languages, and
language families were identified or verified in
Ethnologue: Languages of the World, at
http://www.ethnologue.com, or Andrew Dalby’s
Dictionary of Languages (1998). Numerous phrase
books and dictionaries were also consulted.
Scientific name. In some cases, a cryptid has
been assigned a Latin or Greek scientific name
by a researcher who has investigated it, such as
Nessiteras rhombopteryx for NESSIE, given by
Peter Scott and Robert Rines in 1975. When a
cryptid is welcomed into the ranks of known animals,
such a name could become the genus and
species designation used for the formal scientific
description, unless an existing genus is more appropriate.
The binomial method of naming living
creatures was proposed in the eighteenth
century by Carl von Linné. The first name is
generic, as in Homo; the second is specific, as in
sapiens. Animals with the same generic name are
said to belong to the same genus, while the specific
name identifies the species.
Variant names. Other names by which a
cryptid is known are found in this section.
These may include alternate spellings and geographic
variants. Other languages, language
families (following the slash mark), and meanings
(in quotation marks) are given in parentheses—for
example, Meshe-adam (Azerbaijani/
Turkic, “forest man”).
Physical description. This section provides a
summary of the appearance of the cryptid. Information
is listed in the following order: general
appearance, length, height, diameter,
weight, color or coat, head, face, eyes, ears, nostrils,
cheeks, mouth and teeth, chin, neck and
shoulders, chest and torso, arms, hands, wings,
back, legs, feet, and tail. Since the description is
often derived from multiple sources (sighting reports
and other testimony), there is a possibility
that some erroneous data are included.
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