Cryptids are animals whose existence is not recognised by mainstream zoology, but which are reported in eyewitness sightings, local legend, or both. The study and pursuit of such creatures is known as cryptozoology, from the Greek for "hidden animal study." Cryptozoology is considered a pseudoscience by the mainstream scientific community, since it does not follow standard zoological method and its evidence base is generally eyewitness testimony and folklore rather than physical specimens.
The term "cryptid" itself is comparatively recent, coined in 1983 by cryptozoology researcher John E. Wall. The field of cryptozoology as an organised pursuit is usually traced to the 1950s and the work of zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans and naturalist Ivan T. Sanderson.
Types of cryptid
Cryptozoologists generally group reported cryptids into a few broad categories:
- Lake and sea monsters — large aquatic creatures reported in a specific body of water, most famously the Loch Ness Monster, first tied to local legend as early as the 6th century and reported in its modern form since the 1930s
- Humanoid or ape-like figures — large, hair-covered bipedal creatures reported in remote or wooded areas, such as Bigfoot in North America
- Out-of-place animals — known species reported well outside their expected range, most notably "Alien Big Cats" (ABCs): sightings of large cats such as pumas or black leopards in the British countryside, far from any recognised wild population
- Cryptid folklore figures — creatures whose reports are inseparable from a specific local legend, rather than a general "type," and which are documented on The Vault case by case rather than as a category of animal
Relationship to folklore
Cryptid reports and local folklore are closely intertwined — many cryptid sightings are reported specifically because they match, or are interpreted through, an existing local legend, and a persistent legend can itself generate further sightings over time. This is why this branch of The Vault is filed as Cryptids and Folklore rather than splitting the two apart.
Scientific perspective
Mainstream scientists who have examined cryptozoology's central claims point to several recurring problems: a viable, breeding population of any large animal would be very difficult to conceal entirely from scientific detection over long periods; many claimed habitats (such as the depths of Scottish lochs) are geologically inconsistent with a creature's claimed origins; and the great majority of specific photographic or physical "evidence" put forward over the decades has been identified as misidentification, natural phenomena, or outright hoax.
Related concepts
- Cryptids and Folklore, the category this page introduces
- Parapsychology, a related but distinct field concerned with psychic rather than zoological claims