Cryptozoology Thread

[Nautipus]

That was incredibly funny!!

I'm gonna buy a tee-shirt!

[Nautipus]

I bought a bumper sticker from them. I like the looks I get.


Now: to try and start up this threrad again, I'm going to dredge up these little things. i know it explains them in the article, but there is at least one incident (possibly two) that can be used in debate.

[Mari]

Sounds like some people need to clean their lenses more often

I read about it in a magazine at the dentist though. Must have been over a year ago.

[Nautipus]

I agree that it is probably just birds and flying insects that move past the camera. But there is one incident that I cannot find any mention of (but that I saw on TV) of a rod stopping and backing up over a stream. I'll look on youtube, and see if I can spot it. Until then, Here's a list of cryptids.
Pick one, and we will pick up the conversation on a more credible "animal".

[Mari]

My my, a man eating tree. What do you think, should I try to plant one in our garden as well? We have enough sacrifices to keep it happy...
The cat-fox sounds very interesting. In Japan foxes are seen as mostly "evil", shapeshifters. I just think they are cute. And I love cats... a catfox would therefore be perfect! I do wonder if they can really crossbreed though. Or if it's supposed to be a mutation or whatever.

[Nautipus]

I doubt they can, Canine and felines arent close enough to cross-breed, I dont beleive they are anyway. What's there that you want to discuss in any kind of length? Toss out a name.

[Mari]

I don't know any of them, besided the Phoenix and the Unicorn, so perhaps you'd better choose. I'm in for anything

[Earniel]

Man, that's a long list of cryptids, but I wonder what the characteristics are that they used to include or exclude creatures. For some, sightings seems the defining key between folklore and cryptids, but not for all creatures listed.

[Nautipus]

Well, at least one of the animals on there is a known animal that went extinct: Stellar's sea cow. They may have included all the animals that are either A) improbable B) known only by hunters or laymen, or C) have never been seen as a carcass. I'm sure there are more reasons, because it is a huge list.


Alright, Mari, here's one.

[Earniel]

Likewise with the thylacine, Javan tiger and moa among others. Although in their case, it can be argued that since they're officially extinct, the many sightings of them give them cryptid-status. Still, the reasons for including some of the creatures seems shaky.

Have you noticed how many lake monsters have names very similar to Nessie?

[Nautipus]

Very much so, especially Bessie (). Which ones jumped out at you as shaky? For me there was the Stellar's sea cow, Bergman's bear, and the Caspian tiger to name three.

[Earniel]

Shaky, in regard to the species, or in regard to the claimed sightings?

[Mari]

I was very surprised to see that the sabertooth tiger is more related to the current day kangaroo then to cats!

But as to your choice of animal: I think the stories on giant Anaconda's go way back. I'm not sure, but I think I remember a Mayan or Aztec story on it. I think it had something to do with a temple where it was venerated (?) and then came to life and claimed the temple as its territory. I can check the story for you in 2 weeks when I'm home.
Anyway, I wonder if the story is based only on stories from local tribes or also from hunters etc. There are sizes mentioned, but how do you think they thought of those. And there seems to be no scientific research into this. I'm going to check the Internet now to see if there's something more relating to science and big snakes and the possibility thereof.

[Earniel]

The Aztec (I think, I always mix these guys with the Maya for some reason) had a very important god Quetzalcoatl, whose names means 'feathered serpent'. Something like that would make a smashing cryptid on it's own. I'd love the hear about that story too, Mari.

[Nautipus]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Shaky, in regard to the species, or in regard to the claimed sightings?

Let's say the animals themselves.


Mari- Go ahead and research it, but I think I remember an expedition that went looking for it on either animal planet or discovery channel. It would be neat to know. I'm gonna get off for a little while, seeya.

[Mari]

I found this on giant Anaconda's: http://www.trueauthority.com/cryptozoology/anaconda.htm
I do think the name of the site is extremely funny though! I mean come on, it's a site on cryptozoology...

[Nautipus]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

The Aztec (I think, I always mix these guys with the Maya for some reason) had a very important god Quetzalcoatl, whose names means 'feathered serpent'. Something like that would make a smashing cryptid on it's own. I'd love the hear about that story too, Mari.

My favorite Aztec god was Huitzilopoctli, just cuz his name is fun to say, but it was related to a horrible practice....

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Nautipus

Let's say the animals themselves.

In that case I'd say most of the tigers, other big cats and bears mentioned in the list can be reasonably easy attributed to wrong identification. A tiger will look like any tiger, and the same with a bear, to the casual observers. I most certainly wouldn't be able to tell a Caspian tiger from a Javan, sumatrian or siberian tiger. (Okay, maybe the siberian).

The large birds are in my opinion also easily wrongly identified. Especially in relation to the sizes, sizes and wingspans are easily misjudged on a distance and in the air where you have nothing to relate the size too.

Creatures that have many diverse shapes attributed to them, are also unlikely.

[Nautipus]

Yes, yes, and yes. I agree. Although, with the birds, there have apparently been sightings by seasoned ornithologists, but I cant find any list of names, so that is probably just a smoke screen. I'm gonna go get something to eat, bye.

[Nautipus]

Bunicula