Cryptid

In cryptozoology and sometimes in cryptobotany, both pseudoscience, a cryptid (from the Greek κρύπτω, krypto, meaning "hide") is an animal or plant whose existence has been suggested but has not been discovered or documented by the scientific community. Cryptids often appear in folklore and mythology, leading to stories and unfounded belief about their existence. Well-known examples include the Yeti in the Himalayas, the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland, Sasquatch in North America, the Jersey Devil in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, and the Chupacabra in Latin America.

Overview

The term was coined by John E. Wall in a 1983 letter to the International Society of Cryptozoology newsletter. The prefix "crypt-" is Greek and means "hidden" or "secret".

"Cryptid" has also been applied by cryptozoologists to animals whose existence is accepted by the scientific community, but which are considered of interest to cryptozoology, such as the coelacanth, once believed to be extinct, and the okapi, at one time thought to be entirely fictitious.Legendary creatures such as the unicorn and the dragon are sometimes described as cryptids, but many cryptozoologists avoid describing them as such. Yet a case may be made that the dragon and griffin are real cryptids. Jeannine Davis-Kimball, Ph.D., writes in Warrior Women (2002) that what appear to be fanciful concoctions rest on a logical foundation: folklorist Adrienne Mayor traces the historical development of the legends of the two creatures, and concludes that both originated in ancient discoveries of hundreds of real Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus fossils in the Flaming Hills of Turkestan and the Tien Shan foothills.