Cryptozoology, Zooform & Fortean phenomena

Cryptozoology is a term which was coined in the 1940’s by Ivan T. Sanderson. When breaking the term down you get “Crypto” which means hidden, “zoo” which means living being or animal and “logy” which means the study of, so the term cryptozoology simply means the study of unknown animals. So when it comes to a cryptid “the unknown animal” there is a lot of controversy on what that actually constitutes. Many believe a cryptid includes feral animals, out of place animals, mythological creatures and ghostly apparitions, but some believe this is not true. For years people have been mixing up or combining in some opinions 3 totally different phenomena, which I will get into later. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman states that there is 3 primary subdivisions of cryptozoology.

1.) Hominology - This is the study of unknown hominoids. A hominoid is a creature that belongs to the superfamily Hominoidia, which includes apes and humans. This term also includes pongids which means pertaining to or being a great ape. We know these creatures to be Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, etc.

2.) Draconology - which is the study of lake monsters. Loren Coleman states that today this may include sea serpents and marine cryptids but by strict definition it only recognizes lake monsters.

3.) Cryptocetology - which is the study of cryptid cetaceans. A cetacean is chiefly marine mammals such as whales and dolphins.

However Loren Coleman also states that there are other categories of cryptozoology such as cryptoprimatology which is the study of unknown primates, cryptornithology which is the study of unknown birds and cryptentomology which is the study of unknown insects.

Now what a lot of people do not know is that there is another phenomena called Zooform. Zooform phenomena is a term that was coined by Jonathan Downes in the 1990’s. There is some debate if Zooform phenomena is part of cryptozoology, and I do not feel I am one that can make the call if it is or isn’t. Zooform are not even animals but entities or ghosts that resemble some sort of animal form. Creatures such as the Dover Demon, Mothman, Jersey Devil, Werewolves, etc. would be classified in this category.

Finally we come to Fortean Phenomena. This term was named after author Charles Fort, who researched and wrote about anomalous phenomena. Some of this phenomena includes fish and frogs falling from the sky, spontaneous human combustion, ball lightning, poltergeist activity, levitations, OOPArts which means out of place artifacts, etc. However there is something called Fortean Zoology. Like cryptozoology this term references unconfirmed animals. The most common sighting within Fortean Zoology are the reports of Phantom Cats aka ABC’s which means Alien Big Cats. ABC’s are large cats such as cougars which are seen in areas there are not indigenous to. Unfortunately this phenomena is still rejected by scientists because of breeding, and food source factors. They make the claim that there wouldn’t be enough ABC’s in one area to mate and reproduce, and there wouldn’t be a reliable food source for these felines to obtain. Yet despite what those magnificent scientist say the fact of the matter is on March 29th a wild cougar was spotted in Chicago Illinois. It was finally cornered close to an elementary school by police officers where is was shot and killed April 15th 2008. DNA confirmed that this ABC was from Wisconsin.

So whether or not one believes in Bigfoot, the Mothman or animals falling from the sky, I think this research deserves more respect then it gets. From 1997 to 2007 there were 1,068 new species identified and confirmed. One being a rat thought to be extinct for 11 million years, I don’t know about you but I think that’s a classic example of when a cryptid becomes recognized.