The study of hidden animals is the literal meaning, translated from the Greek word roots, of cryptozoology. Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster are considered cryptids. The study of evidence of their existence and the search for such creatures falls under the purview of cryptozoology. Believers in such creatures are sometimes considered a little silly, and cryptozoology itself is sometimes thought of as a pseudo-science, but perhaps it should not be discounted. Though cryptozoology is the search for animals considered to exist only in legend or which have been dismissed by mainstream biologists, new species are discovered constantly, the world’s oceans being the largest unexplored territory when it comes to understanding the full scope of biological life-forms which exist there.

The coelacanth is possibly one of the most celebrated so-called impossible biological discoveries. It is a fish that was thought to be extinct since the end of the Cretaceous period, until a live specimen was found in 1938.

While some cryptids may be based on misinterpreted sighting of animals already known to exist, celebrated zoologist Bernard Heuvelman’s wrote that cryptozoology needs to be practiced with scientific rigor and an inter-disciplinary approach in his 1955 book, On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The cryptids with the biggest profiles, Bigfoot and Loch Ness, have much to do with the reason cryptozoology has been discounted. Hoaxes have been unveiled in the stories of both of these creatures, and biologists believe that the habitat does not provide enough food or cover to maintain a breeding population of the creatures.

In all fairness to the serious cryptozoologist, hoaxes are not discounted in those communities and their search for legendary animals has as much to gain from questioning every shred of evidence as the mainstream scientific community does.

There are examples of creatures which were once classified as cryptozoological specimens. One of the most recent examples of this is the Hoan Kiem Turtle. This particular species of turtle can grow over 6 feet long and can weigh well over 400 lbs. It was part of a legend about Hoan Kiem Lake, where a giant golden turtle was said to have taken an emperor’s magic sword. In 1967, a dead one washed up on shore and its remains were stuffed and mounted. No sign if this large creature was made evident, in scientific terms, until March 24, 1998 when an amateur cameraman happened to catch it on film. There are currently a few of these amazing creatures in captivity in China’s zoos.

The History Channel’s Monster Quest shows a recent resurgence of interest in the search and study of cryptids, and explicitly shows that cryptozoology, as a scientific process, follows the same procedures  and requires the same work as other field research sciences if practiced correctly, although most evidence of such creatures remains anecdotal, otherwise the animals would no longer be cryptids. Evidence must be evaluated, tested, and then re-evaluated and re-tested. One of the problems with cryptozoology is that the research is not generally funded except by private expeditions and it is not done with the consistency of an accepted science because of a lack of funding. Be that as it may, the skeptic in all of us should be asking why those scientists who do study mainstream animals have yet to find evidence? Perhaps if the coelacanth could speak, we could ask it.