Bigfoot or Sasquatch is a folk monster in North America spotted in the Pacific Northwest of the United States (including Washington and Humboldt County, California) and in Vancouver’s Harrison Lake in British Columbia. It is a 3 meter tall monster covered with dark brown or reddish hair with no neck, large eyes, and pronounced eyebrows. In the scientific community, it is speculated that he is known as “Gigantopithecus blacki” and that most continents have their own version of Bigfoot.
Diplocaulus is the name of a 1 meter long salamander/lizard-like animal with a head shaped like a boomerang or like that of a hammerhead shark that is extinct but through fossilized records, is said to have existed millions of years ago in the late Paleozoic Era, just over 250 millions of years ago.
Kraken is the term for octopus in German but since the 1200’s, it has also been the term for a legendary octopus-like sea monster of a gargantuan size said to live on the costs of Norway and Iceland. This squid or sea serpent was once described by a bishop as “the size of a floating island.” Sailors off the coast of Angola reported having been attached by one of these in 1801.
What do Bigfoot, Diplocaulus and Kraken all have in common?
They are all animals (or cryptids) that are part of the study called cryptozoology. “Cryptozoology” is:
1) The search for living examples of animals taxonomically identified through fossil records but which are believed for the most part to be extinct.
2) The search for animals that fall outside of taxonomic records due to the lack of empirical evidence, but are known from anecdotal evidence in the form of myths, legends, or unconfirmed sightings.
The term “cryptozoology” was first coined by Ivan T. Sanderson but is known to have become prominent largely due to zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans. Within the scientific community, most consider cryptozoology a pseudoscience and rashly deem as those who search for “cryptids” like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.
A better and more realistic explanation of what cryptozoologists do is through Willy Ley by the title of his 1959 book: “Exotic Zoology.” They argue that there are thousands of parts of the planet still undiscovered and it is possible that what is considered myth may in reality, be fact. Examples of animals that were previously thought extinct or mythical include: the platypus, giant squid (13 metres in length!), mountain gorilla, and the Komodo dragon.
If these were disproved, then why not Bigfoot or giant evil singing octopuses named Ursula that can crush boats and little red headed mermaids into splinters and sushi?
