Cryptozoology

The tiny fishing trawler bounced and pitched in the choppy gray sea. The date: December 22, 1938.

Suddenly there was a commotion on deck. The skipper hurried back to see what was going on. He found his crew standing around a large, odd fish that lay flopping and snapping on the wooden planks. The skipper had never seen anything like it. It didn't look very edible so the crew was about to toss it back into the sea with the rest of the "trash" fish when the skipper halted them. The creature was so unusual that perhaps it would have another value...

He was right. The fish was called a coelacanth and when scientists on shore where able to view it they placed it in a subclass of the Crossopterygii, or "lobe-finned fish." The creature was well known to paleontologists, but no naturalist had ever expected to see the fish in the flesh since everyone thought the coelacanth had died out with the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period some sixty five million years ago.

Are there large, unknown creatures that survive today in remote lakes, or deep seas, or high mountain valleys? The coelacanth argues yes. If a species of fish can survive that long without being detected by man why not a sea serpent? Or a dinosaur? Or a primitive ape man?

Story continued below

Monsters of the Lake

Nessie of Loch Ness - Perhaps the most well-known, but unknown creature swims in the depths of this famous lake in the Scottish Highlands. Is there really something here, or have imaginations just run wild?

The Surgeon's Hoax - There have been countless hoaxes associated with the monster in Loch Ness. Find out how this one fooled people for more than half a century.

Champ of Lake Champlain - Not as famous as the monster in Loch Ness, but well known in the nearby states, does a strange creature really live in this North American Lake?

The Monsters of Okanagan and Manitoba Lakes - Several North American Lakes have tales of monsters that supposedly give tourists the occasional scare.

The White River Monster - This creature scared a few people, but it probably has a logical explanation.

Sea Serpents and Ocean Monsters

The Kraken - The most feared of the monsters of the sea was this legendary animal that could use its tentacles to pull a ship to the bottom of the ocean

The Giant Squid - Long thought to be just a wild story, now we have proof that these monsters live deep in our seas.

The Colossal Octopus - In the late 19th century a strange carcass washed up on the beach in Florida. Was it really the remains of a enormous octopus?

The Monstrous Sea Serpent of Gloucester - The creature has appeared again and again to witnesses off the coast of New England. Are they just seeing things?

Sea Serpent - Sightings of the these infamous snakes of the water.

Sea Monster Tales - Stories of monsters at sea have been passed among sailors for centuries. Sit back and let us tell you a few.

Sea Monsters the Weren't - Sometimes it's just a case of mistaken identity.

There Be Sea Monsters Here - Our Flash documentary explores what monsters might lie below the ocean's surface.

Unknown Creatures of the Land

Mokele-Mbembe - According to this legend there is a dinosaur still alive in the jungles of the Congo in Africa.

Flying Reptiles - There were definitely flying reptiles in Texas millions of years ago, but a few people claim they've seen them more recently.

Of Mastodons, Mammoths and and Other Giants of the Pleistocene - After the Age of Dinosaurs there was an age of Giant Mammals. Are any of them still with us?

The Giant Sloth - These giants disappeared at least 10,000 ago - maybe.

Tasmanian Tiger - This creature was thought to have gone extinct just in the last century, but are there any still hiding in the forests of Austrialia waiting to be found?

The Legendary Ape-Men

Sasquatch - The Big Foot of North America.

Yeti - Also known as the Abominable Snowman.

Alma - The Russian wild man of Central Asia.

Cryptozoological Hoaxes

"Nondescript" - A ape-man with a familiar face.

The Zeuglodon - This was a real prehistoric creature, until some 19th century showman got a hold of it and made it into a sideshow sea serpent.

Minnesota Iceman - Sideshow carnival freak or important cryptozoological find?

Piltdown Man - This peusdo-discovery left scientists with egg on their face. Who was the culprit?

The Surgeon's Hoax - There have been countless hoaxes associated with the monster in Loch Ness. Find out how this one fooled people for more than half a century.

Unknown Creatures in Entertainment

Stop-Motion Photography - How did they made those dinosaurs and other monster move in old movies?

King Kong - The great-grandaddy of all giant monster movies.

Werewolf - This creature haunts our dreams through the power of books and movies, more than he haunts the woods.

Films with Cryptozoological Themes - Our big list of films with strange and unknown creatures.

Arthur Conan-Doyle's The Lost World - The tale of four explorers who stumble onto an isolated location in South America where dinosaurs still rule. Conan-Doyle's most well-known book adapted to the graphic novel format online. Or download The Lost World graphic novel as an Adobe PDF file appropriate for printing.

Cryptozoological Alumni

Coelacanth - It was supposed to have died out with the dinosaurs, until it was found alive and well in the 20th century.

The Giant Squid - Long thought to be just a wild story, now we have proof that these monsters live deep in our seas.

The Colossal Squid - Riddle: What has eight arms and two tentacles, lives in the deep ocean and is bigger than a giant squid? Answer: The Colossal Squid.

Komodo Dragon - It seems like a dinosaur that escaped the extinction or a dragon from a fairy tale, but instead it is true cryptozoological find.

Crypto Alumni - a list of large animals discovered in the last century.

Copyright 1996-2008 Lee Krystek. All Rights Reserved.