The ultimate quest for the world's most mysterious creaturesThe Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman -- these are the names of the elusive beasts that have caught the eye and captured the imaginations of people around the world for centuries. Recently, tales of these "monsters" have been corroborated by an increase in sightings, and out of these legends a new science has been born: cryptozoology -- the study of hidden animals.Cryptozoology A to Z,the first encyclopedia of its kind, contains nearly two hundred entries, including cryptids (the name given to these unusual beasts), new animal finds, and the explorers and scientists who search for them. Loren Coleman, one of the world's leading cryptozoologists, teams up with Jerome Clark, editor and author of several encyclopedias, to provide these definitive descriptions and many never-before-published drawings and photographs from eyewitnesses' detailed accounts. Full of insights into the methods of these scientists, exciting tales of discovery, and the history and evolution of this field,Cryptozoology A to Zis the most complete reference ever of the newest zoological science.

Loren Coleman, a forty-year veteran of cryptozoological field expeditions and research, has written several books on nature's mysterious creatures, including The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Mysterious America, and Tom Slick and the Search for the Yeti, and has served as both on- and off-camera consultant to NBC-TV's Unsolved Mysteries and A&E's Ancient Mysteries. Coleman is the mission cryptozoologist for the 1999 Nessa Project's search for the Loch Ness Monster, and a consultant to a forthcoming expedition in search of Mongolia's hairy wildmen, the Almas. He is a professor at the University of Southern Maine and lives in Portland.

Cryptozoology Timeline

12

(3)

Introduction

15

(8)

Entries:

A

23

(5)

Abominable Snowman

23

(1)

Agogwe

24

(2)

Ahool

26

(1)

Almas

26

(2)

B

28

(23)

Barloy, Jean-Jacques

28

(1)

Barmanu

28

(1)

Batutut

29

(1)

Bayanov, Dmitri

29

(2)

Beast of Bodmin Moor

31

(1)

Beast of 'Busco

32

(1)

Beast of Gevaudan

33

(2)

Bergman's Bear

35

(1)

Bessie

36

(2)

Big Bird

38

(1)

Bigfoot

39

(4)

Bille, Matthew A.

43

(1)

Black Panthers

44

(1)

Blue Tiger

45

(1)

Bondegezou

46

(1)

British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club

47

(1)

Brosnie

48

(1)

Bunyip

49

(1)

Buru

50

(1)

C

51

(26)

Caddy

51

(2)

Cassie

53

(1)

Chacoan Peccary

54

(1)

Chambers Affair

55

(1)

Champ

56

(4)

Chuchunaa

60

(1)

Chupacabras

61

(2)

Clark, Eugenie

63

(1)

Clark, James Alexander

64

(1)

Clark, Ramona

65

(1)

Coelacanth

66

(2)

Coleman, Loren

68

(3)

Congo Peacock

71

(1)

Con Rit

71

(1)

Corrales, Scott

72

(1)

Crook, Cliff

72

(2)

Crowe, Ray

74

(1)

Cryptid

75

(2)

D

77

(5)

Dahinden, Rene

77

(1)

Dao Van Tien

78

(1)

Dinsdale, Tim

79

(1)

Dobhar-chu

80

(2)

E

82

(2)

Ellis, Richard

82

(1)

Emela-Ntouka

83

(1)

Ernst, William "Ted"

83

(1)

F Flathead Lake Monster

84

(1)

G

85

(17)

Gaal, Arlene

85

(1)

Giant Anaconda

86

(2)

Giant Forest Hog

88

(1)

Giant Monkey

88

(2)

Giant Octopus

90

(2)

Giant Panda

92

(1)

Giant Salamander

93

(3)

Giant Sloth

96

(1)

Giant Turtles

96

(2)

Gibbons, William

98

(1)

Globsters

99

(1)

Goblin Universe

100

(1)

Green, John

100

(1)

Greenwell, J. Richard

101

(1)

Grimm, Jack

102

(1)

H

102

(11)

Hall, Dennis Jay

102

(1)

Hall, Mark A.

103

(1)

Harkness, Ruth

104

(1)

Heuvelmans, Bernard

105

(3)

Hominology

108

(1)

Honey Island Swamp Monster

109

(1)

Horned Serpents

110

(2)

Huyghe, Patrick

112

(1)

I

113

(7)

Igopogo

113

(1)

Iliamna Lake Monster

113

(3)

Indonesian Coelacanths

116

(3)

International Society of Cryptozoology

119

(1)

J Jersey Devil

120

(1)

K

121

(10)

Keating, Donald

121

(1)

King Cheetah

122

(1)

Kirk, John

123

(1)

Koffmann, Marie-Jeanne

124

(1)

Komodo Dragon

124

(1)

Kongamato

125

(3)

Kouprey

128

(1)

Kraken

128

(2)

Krantz, Grover S.

130

(1)

Krumbiegel, Ingo

131

(1)

L

131

(15)

Lake Monsters

131

(3)

Lawndale Incident

134

(1)

LeBlond, Paul H.

135

(1)

Ley, Willy

135

(1)

Lindorm

136

(1)

Living Fossils

137

(1)

Loch Ness Monsters

138

(5)

Loofs-Wissowa, Helmut

143

(2)

"Lost World" of Vietnam

145

(1)

Lusca

146

(1)

M

146

(28)

MacFarlane's Bear

146

(1)

Mackal, Roy P.

147

(1)

MacKinnon, John

148

(1)

Mangiacopra, Gary

149

(1)

Manipogo

149

(1)

Mapinguary

150

(1)

Marked Hominid

151

(2)

Marozi

153

(1)

McLeod, James

154

(1)

Megalodon

154

(2)

Megamouth

156

(1)

Meldrum, D. Jeffrey

157

(1)

Merbeing

158

(2)

Minhocao

160

(1)

Minnesota Iceman

160

(3)

Mngwa

163

(1)

Moas

164

(3)

Mokele-mbembe

167

(2)

Momo

169

(1)

Morag

170

(1)

Morgan, Robert W.

171

(1)

Mountain Gorilla

172

(1)

Mountain Nyala

173

(1)

N

174

(9)

Nahuelito

174

(1)

Nandi Bear

175

(2)

Napes

177

(1)

Neandertals

178

(1)

Nellie

179

(1)

Nguoi Rung

180

(1)

Nittaewo

181

(1)

Norman, Scott T.

182

(1)

O

183

(9)

Ogopogo

183

(1)

Okapi

184

(2)

Old Yellow Top

186

(1)

Olgoi-Khorkhoi

186

(1)

Onza

187

(2)

Orang Pendek

189

(2)

Oudemans, Antoon Cornelis

191

(1)

P

192

(14)

Paddler

192

(1)

Pangboche Hand

193

(2)

Panthera atrox

195

(2)

Patterson Film

197

(3)

Perez, Daniel

200

(1)

Piasa

201

(1)

Porshnev, Boris F.

202

(1)

Proto-Pygmy

203

(1)

Pygmy Elephant

204

(2)

Pygmy Hippopotamus

206

(1)

Q Queensland Tiger

206

(1)

R

207

(3)

Raynal, Michel

207

(1)

Rebsamen, William M.

208

(1)

Roesch, Ben S.

208

(1)

Russell, W.M. "Gerald"

209

(1)

S

210

(19)

Saber-toothed Cats

210

(1)

Sanderson, Ivan T.

211

(2)

Saola

213

(2)

Sasquatch

215

(1)

Schaffner, Ron

215

(1)

Sea Serpents

215

(4)

Short, Bobbie

219

(1)

Shuker, Karl P.N.

220

(1)

Shunka Warak'in

221

(3)

Sisemite

224

(1)

Skunk Ape

224

(2)

Slick, Thomas Baker

226

(2)

Storsjoodjuret

228

(1)

T

229

(13)

Taylor, Dan Scott

229

(2)

Tatzelwurm

231

(1)

Tchernine, Odette

232

(1)

Teh-lma

233

(1)

Telebiology

234

(1)

Tessie

235

(1)

Thomas, Lars

235

(1)

Thunderbird

236

(2)

Thylacine

238

(1)

Titmus, Robert

239

(1)

Tran Hong Viet

240

(1)

True Giant

241

(1)

U

242

(3)

Ucu

242

(1)

Ufiti

243

(2)

V Vietnam Cryptozoic and Rare Animals Research Center

245

(1)

W

246

(5)

Waitoreke

246

(1)

Walsh, Dave

246

(1)

Wasson, Barbara

247

(1)

Winnipogo

248

(1)

Wood, Forrest G.

249

(1)

Woodland Bison

249

(1)

Wright, Bruce S.

250

(1)

X Xing-xing

251

(1)

Y

251

(6)

Yameneko

251

(1)

Yeren

252

(1)

Yeti

252

(3)

Yowie

255

(2)

Z

257

(2)

Zeuglodon

257

(1)

Zuiyo-maru Monster

257

(2)

Appendix

259

(3)

Cryptozoology Museums and Exhibitions

259

(1)

Cryptozoology Periodicals

260

(1)

Cryptozoology Websites

260

(2)

On the Matter of Style

262

(1)

Texts Cited/Further Reading

263

(6)

Acknowledgments

269

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Abominable Snowman

When most people ponder on the "big three" of cryptozoology, they are thinking of theLoch Ness Monsters, Bigfoot,and the Abominable Snowman. Though many assume these beasts to be mythical, a body of intriguing evidence exists for each. Of the three, the Abominable Snowman is the cryptozoological animal longest known and discussed in the West.

The more proper name isYeti,but most Westerners have been more familiar with the moniker "Abominable Snowman." "Abominable Snowman" is a phrase coined, accidentally, by aCalcutta Statesmannewspaper columnist, Henry Newman, in 1921.

It happened when Newman wrote about the 1921 sighting by Lieutenant Colonel (later Sir) C.K. Howard-Bury and his party, who saw dark forms moving about on a twenty-thousand-foot-high snowfield above their location, the Lhapka-La pass on the Tibetan side of the Himalayan mountains, and viewed them through binoculars. This is the first credible Western sighting of what until then had been mostly a shadowy tale (at least to Westerners) of strange, hairy upright creatures in Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Mustang, and Nepal. Howard-Bury would later, on September 22, 1921, find footprints "three times those of normal humans" at the site where the dark forms were moving about.

The Sherpas insisted that the prints were those of themetoh-kangmi,as Howard-Bury rendered it.Kang-miloosely means "snow creature." Themetohpart should have been written asmet-teh,which translates as "man-sized wild creature."

Newman's mistake was caused in part by Howard-Bury's mistransliteration of the Sherpa word. Howard-Bury did not understand that the Sherpas recognized several types of creatures; on this occasion they had used a generic, not a specific, term. The error was compounded when Newman changed Howard-Bury'smetoh-kangmitometch kangmi,which he explained as a Tibetan word meaning "Abominable Snowman."

In any case, this proved to be a pivotal event in cryptozoological history. AsIvan T. Sandersonwrote, "The result was like the explosion of an atomic bomb." The melodramatic name "Abominable Snowman" spurred gigantic press interest. Newspaper coverage multiplied as more and more expeditions sought to climb Mount Everest.

The true origin of the phrase "Abominable Snowman" has been misrepresented over the years. For example, on a 1992 episode of the television seriesUnsolved Mysteries,a well-known Irish explorer wrongly claimed that the creature got its name because of its horrible odor.

The real animal behind the name is neither abominable nor a true creature of the snows. These beasts usually appear to live in quiet retreat in the steamy mountain valleys of the Himalayas, using the snowy passes as a way to move from one spot to another, leaving behind huge mysterious footprints. They are not -- contrary to another widespread misunderstanding -- white. And they are not a single creature.

A better generic term for Abominable Snowman is the Sherpayeti,loosely meaning "that there thing." Yetis are known as huge creatures -- humanoid beasts, covered with thick coats of dark fur with arms, like those of anthropoid apes, which reach down to their knees.

A description of the reportedly three types of Yeti is discussed, in depth, within that entry.

Zuiyo-maru Monster

In April 1977, thirty miles off the coast of Christchurch, New Zealand, the trawler's nets of a Japanese fishing boat, theZuiyo-maru,snared a huge animal carcass of an unknown origin. The crew hauled the monstrous body out of the ocean onto the deck, and Michihiko Yano, the ship's assistant production manager, measured the creature and took some now-famous photographs. The creature was thirty-three feet long and weighed about four thousand pounds. It had a snakelike head at the end of a long, slender neck, giving it an unwhale-like appearance. Some of the crew thought it was a rotten whale, but others were not so sure. After great difficulty, the stinking Zuiyo-maru Monster was thrown overboard.

Media attention in Japan focused on the plesiosaur-like appearance of the creature. Interest inSea Serpents rose.Toys were produced of the Zuiyo-maru Monster.

But Yano had taken samples of the "horny fiber" from one of the monster's fins. Tests determined the Zuiyo-maru Monster was a decomposed basking shark, although few today know that part of the story.

Excerpted from Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters Sasquatch Chupacabras and Other Authentic M by Loren Coleman
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.