• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

The Living on Earth Almanac

Air Date: Week of

Facts about... Cryptozoology.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Most scientists studying animals are concerned with those they know exist or at least once existed, but one field of study concerns itself with animals that we're not quite so sure about. It's called cryptozoology, and it means the study of hidden animals. Cryptozoologists stalk previously undescribed and, some would say, nonexistent creatures. The list includes new species of lizards, monkeys, and other ordinary critters, but also beasts of mythic proportion like the Loch Ness Monster or the Mokele Embembe, a dinosaur-like being that reportedly lives in a swamp in the Congo. While cryptozoology has a bit of a tarnished reputation in academic circles, its defenders note that much of the Western science of zoology was essentially cryptozoology until scientists in Europe's colonies started sending exotic animals back home. Cryptozoologists also like to point out that the gorilla was considered a mythical beast until the early 19th century, and that the modern coelacanth, a fish presumed to be extinct for millions of years, wasn't found until 1938. And for this week, that's the Living on Earth Almanac.

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth