List of cryptids
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely critiqued by scientists.[1][2][3][4] The subculture is regularly criticized for reliance on anecdotal information[5] and because in the course of investigating animals that most scientists believe are unlikely to have existed, cryptozoologists do not follow the scientific method.[6] Many scientists have criticized the plausibility of cryptids due to lack of physical evidence,[7] likely misidentifications[8] and misinterpretation of stories from folklore.[9] While biologists regularly identify new species following established scientific methodology, cryptozoologists focus on entities mentioned in the folklore record and rumor.
List
Aquatic or semi-aquatic
| Name | Other names | Description | Purported location | Depiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anguila peluda[10] | Hairy eel[citation needed] | Giant eel | Pamital ravine, Canary Islands | |
| Beast of Busco[11] | Oscar[12] | Giant snapping turtle | Churubusco, Indiana, United States | |
| Bunyip[13] | Amphibious creature, described originally in Aboriginal Australian legends as a cross between a large Ratite bird and an alligator.[14] | Australia |  | |
| Cadborosaurus[15] | Caddy | Sea animal | Pacific Coast of North America |  |
| Champ[16] | Champy | Lake monster | Lake Champlain, North America | ![](#/media/File:Artistic_representation_of_Sandra_Mansi's_1977_photograph_of_"Champ"_lake_monster.jpg) |
| Cryptid whales[17][18] | Giglioli's whale, Rhinoceros dolphin, High-finned sperm whale, Alula whale, Unidentified beaked whales | Sea animal | Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean |  |
| Dobhar-chú[19] | Water Hound, King Otter | Extra-large otter-like carnivorous aquatic mammal | Ireland |  |
| Gloucester sea serpent[20] | Large serpent | Gloucester, Massachusetts
(Cape Ann), United States |
 | |
| Ground Shark[21] | Man-eating shark that lacks a prominent dorsal fin and lies in wait for its prey on the seafloor | Timor Sea | ||
| Iemisch[22] | Iemisch Listai[citation needed] | Mix of a jaguar and otter | Patagonian region of Argentina | |
| Igopogo[23] | Kempenfelt Kelly[24] | Lake monster | Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada | |
| Labynkyr Devil[25][26][27] | Labynkyrsky Chert[citation needed] | Lake monster | Oymyakonsky Ulus, Sakha Republic, Russia | |
| Loch Ness Monster[28] | Nessie[29] | Lake monster | Loch Ness, Scotland | .jpg) |
| Loveland Frog[30] | Loveland frogman, Loveland lizard[31] | Humanoid frog | Loveland, Ohio, United States |  |
| Manipogo[32] | Lake monster | Lake Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada | ||
| Mbielu-mbielu-mbielu[33] | Stegosaurid dinosaur (lake, river and/or swamp monster) | Democratic Republic of the Congo |  | |
| Megalodon (surviving populations)[34][35][36] | Otodus megalodon[a] | Giant prehistoric shark | Oceans |  |
| Mermaid[37] | Siren[38] | Top half human female and bottom half fish | Oceans, various bodies of water |  |
| Mokele-mbembe[39] | Dinosaur (lake, river and/or swamp monster) | Democratic Republic of the Congo |  | |
| Montauk Monster[40][41] | Small bald beaked mammal | Montauk, New York, United States | ||
| Morgawr[42] | Sea serpent | Falmouth Bay, Cornwall, United Kingdom | ||
| Ogopogo[16] | N'ha•a•itk, Naitaka | Lake monster | Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canada |  |
| Sea serpents[43] | Sea animals, dinosaurs | All bodies of water |  | |
| Selma[44] | Seljords-ormen, Sjøormen av Seljordsvatnet[45][46] | Lake monster | Lake Seljord, Telemark, Norway |  |
| Steller's sea ape[47] | Simia marina[48] | Sea animal | Northern Pacific Ocean | .jpg) |
| Storsjö monster[49] | Lake monster | Lake Storsjön, Jämtland, Sweden |  |
Terrestrial
| Name | Other names | Description | Purported location | Depiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British big cats[50] | Alien big cats,[51] phantom cats,[citation needed] Beast of Bodmin,[52] Beast of Exmoor[52] |
Non-native, wild big cats | Great Britain |  |
| Chupacabra[53] | Chupacabras (Spanish for goat-sucker) | Highly variable – typically falling into two categories: 1) bipedal humanoid with spiked spines (original description); 2) a quadrupedal canid[54] | Puerto Rico (originally), South and Central America, Southern North America |
|
| Dover Demon[55] | Approximately four-foot tall humanoid creature with glowing eyes | Dover, Massachusetts, United States |  | |
| Fresno nightcrawler[56] | Resembling a pair of white trousers, this creature reportedly has long, white legs immediately topped by a rounded head.[57] | Fresno, California, United States | ||
| Grafton monster | A tall, pale headless figure who produces strange whistling noises.[58] | Grafton, West Virginia | ||
| Goatman[59][60][61] | Pope Lick Monster;[62] Lake Worth monster[61] | Humanoid creature with the torso and head of a man (with horns sprouting from the head) and the legs of a goat | Prince George's County, Maryland; Louisville, Kentucky; Lake Worth, Texas | |
| Katanga Snake[63] | Greenish-Brown 50-foot long snake with a horse-like head [64] | Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||
| Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp[65] | Lizard Man of Lee County[citation needed] | Bipedal, humanoid reptilian creature | Lee County, South Carolina, United States | |
| Michigan Dogman[66] | Humanoid dog | Wexford County, Michigan, United States | ||
| Moa (surviving original populations)[67][b] | Dinornis robustus (South Island giant moa), Dinornis novaezelandiae (North Island giant moa), Anomalopteryx didiformis (Bush moa, little bush moa, or lesser moa) | Medium to large flightless birds | New Zealand |  |
| Mongolian death worm[68] | Allghoi khorkhoi[69] | Worm-like animal | Gobi Desert (Asia) |  |
| Nandi bear[70] | Chemosit,[71] Kerit,[citation needed] Koddoelo,[72] Ngoelo,[citation needed] Duba[citation needed] | Large, powerfully built carnivore | Eastern Africa | .png) |
| Phantom kangaroo[73][74] | Kangaroos which appear outside of their normal range of Australia and New Guinea. | Chicago, Illinois
Japan United Kingdom Sweden |
||
| Queensland Tiger[75] | Yarri[76] | Large feline | Queensland, Australia | |
| Thylacine (surviving original populations)[77][78][c] | Tasmanian tiger, Tasmanian wolf, Thylacinus cynocephalus | Carnivorous marsupial | Australia,
Papua New Guinea |
![](#/media/File:"Benjamin".jpg) |
Hominid
| Name | Other names | Description | Purported location | Depiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almas[16] | Abnauayu, almasty, albasty, bekk-bok, biabin-guli, golub-yavan, gul-biavan, auli-avan, kaptar, kra-dhun, ksy-giik, ksy-gyik, ochokochi, mirygdy, mulen, voita, wind-man, Zana |
Non-human ape or hominid | Asia/Caucasus | |
| Amomongo[79] | Ape or hominid | Negros Occidental, Philippines | ||
| Bigfoot[80] | Sasquatch[81] | Large and hairy ape-like creature | United States and Canada | .jpg) |
| Bukit Timah Monkey Man[82] | BTM, BTMM | Forest-dwelling hominid or other primate | Singapore | |
| Chatawa Monster[83][84] | Large ape-like creature | Pike County, Mississippi, United States | ||
| Chuchunya[85] | Large hominid | Russia | ||
| Ebu gogo[86] | Human-like creatures; some cryptozoologists have claimed the stories arise from contact with surviving populations of Homo floresiensis[86] ("Flores Man" or "Hobbit") | Flores Island, Indonesia | ||
| Fouke Monster[87][88] | Boggy Creek Monster[89] | Hominid or other primate | Arkansas, United States | |
| Honey Island Swamp monster[90] | Hominid or other primate | Louisiana, United States | ||
| Mapinguari[91] | Mapinguary[92] | Man-eating hominid with a mouth on its abdomen; sometimes thought to be a ground sloth | Brazil | .png) |
| Mogollon Monster[93] | Arizona Bigfoot | Large hominid | Arizona | |
| Nittaewo[94] | Nittevo[95] | Small hominid | Sri Lanka | |
| Orang Pendek[96] | Small hominid | Sumatra, Indonesia |  | |
| Skunk ape[97] | Stink Ape, Shaawanoki[98][99] | Primate | Florida, United States |  |
| Yeren[100][97] | Yiren, Yeh Ren, Chinese Wildman[citation needed] | Primate (possible hominin) | China | |
| Yeti[101] | Abominable Snowman[102] | Large and hairy human-like entity, various other descriptions | Himalayas (Asia) | |
| Yowie[94] | Large and hairy human-like entity, various other descriptions | Australia |  |
Flying
| Name | Other names | Description | Purported location | Depiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flatwoods monster[103] | Braxton County Monster, Phantom of Flatwoods, Flatwoods Green Monster[104] | A floating creature with a head that looks like a spade[105] | Flatwoods, West Virginia |  |
| Jersey Devil[28] | Leeds Devil[106] | Winged, bipedal horse | United States, mainly the South Jersey Pine Barrens, as well as other parts of New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania |  |
| Kongamato[107] | Living species of pterosaur | Mwinilunga, Zambia; |  | |
| Mothman[103][108] | Winged bipedal | Mason County, West Virginia, United States |  |
See also
Notes
- There is an ongoing de-extinction project to revive the bush moa through genome editing,[citation needed] this entry refers to the possibility of surviving original populations
- There is an ongoing project to revive the species through genome editing, this entry refers to the unconfirmed sightings and reports of surviving original populations
