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Cryptobiology is the study of unknown organisms or hidden organisms (commonly referred to as "cryptids") currently undescribed by the scientific community. It is often falsely portrayed as a pseudoscience despite not sharing the characteristics required to identify a pseudoscientific concept or field, and despite having emerged as a scientific endeavor and consistently operating on scientific principles it has strangely enough not yet been officially recognized as a genuine field among the biological sciences.
It is further important to note that only educated scientists with degrees in biology can conduct serious work within the field of cryptobiology and genuinely refer to themselves with the label of cryptobiologist, distinguishing them from mere amateurs, laymen, and hobbyists which cannot be actual cryptobiologists because of their lack of education and practice.
The term "cryptid" simply refers to a currently unidentifiable organism which may turn out to be either a (perhaps misidentified) known species, a new species, a previously considered extinct species, or a fictitious species.
Belgian-French scientist Bernard Heuvelmans, author of the 1958 classic On the Track of Unknown Animals, is considered the founding father of cryptobiology (even though botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus was technically first to conduct work in the field as described in the Animalia Paradoxa section of his 1735 work Systema Naturae) and he described cryptids as "still unknown animal forms about which only testimonial and circumstantial evidence is available, or material evidence considered insufficient by some".
Prominent cryptobiologist Loren Coleman further explained the term by saying "More broadly [...] we do not know whether a cryptid is an unknown species of animal, or a supposedly extinct animal, or a misidentification, or anything more than myth until evidence is gathered and accepted one way or another. Until that proof is found, the supposed animal carries the label "cryptid," regardless of the potential outcome and regardless of various debates concerning its true identity. When it is precisely identified, it is no longer a cryptid, because it is no longer hidden. [...] The fact that some [...] cryptids will turn out not to be new species does not invalidate the process by which that conclusion is reached and does not retroactively discard their prior status as cryptids. For example, the large unknown "monster" in a local lake is a cryptid until it is caught and shown to be a known species such as an alligator. It is no longer hidden and no longer carries the label "cryptid," but that doesn't mean it never was a cryptid."
Prominent zoologist and cryptobiologist Karl Shuker has also expressed a critical attitude towards investigators who set out to uncritically validate their preconceptions, stating that such activity is not serious cryptobiological work, insisting that cryptobiology is a genuine field of science that ought to be respected and approached carefully.
Recommended read; The inaugural issue of The Journal of Cryptozoology by Darren Naish at Tetrapod Zoology (writing for Scientific American).
The following are subfields of cryptobiology;
It is further important to note that only educated scientists with degrees in biology can conduct serious work within the field of cryptobiology and genuinely refer to themselves with the label of cryptobiologist, distinguishing them from mere amateurs, laymen, and hobbyists which cannot be actual cryptobiologists because of their lack of education and practice.
The term "cryptid" simply refers to a currently unidentifiable organism which may turn out to be either a (perhaps misidentified) known species, a new species, a previously considered extinct species, or a fictitious species.
Belgian-French scientist Bernard Heuvelmans, author of the 1958 classic On the Track of Unknown Animals, is considered the founding father of cryptobiology (even though botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus was technically first to conduct work in the field as described in the Animalia Paradoxa section of his 1735 work Systema Naturae) and he described cryptids as "still unknown animal forms about which only testimonial and circumstantial evidence is available, or material evidence considered insufficient by some".Prominent zoologist and cryptobiologist Karl Shuker has also expressed a critical attitude towards investigators who set out to uncritically validate their preconceptions, stating that such activity is not serious cryptobiological work, insisting that cryptobiology is a genuine field of science that ought to be respected and approached carefully.
Recommended read; The inaugural issue of The Journal of Cryptozoology by Darren Naish at Tetrapod Zoology (writing for Scientific American).
The following are subfields of cryptobiology;
- Cryptobotany - the study of unknown plants
- Cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals
- Cryptopaleontology - the study of unknown ancient life
- Allobiology - the study of possible organisms (also known as speculative biology, speculative zoology, and speculative evolution)
- Astrobiology - the study of extraterrestrial organisms
- Eclipsobiology - the study of extinct organisms
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