Anyone interested in 'Cryptozoology'?

[PseudoDave]

Hi all, I know the pic is a fake by the way, lol, just found it clever/funny. However, my interest in the (for want of a better word) paranormal creatures of the world is a strong one. If anyone is actually interested in the subject then reply here, what do you 'believe in'? Do you think that most of the sightings of various creatures are deliberate fakes, mis-identification or genuine? Any particular cases that come to your mind?

A little thing to ponder... There is mounting evidence that our modern-human species evolved around water, using it as part of everyday life. Which could explain why we are the only 'primate' species with a layer of fat in the same 'position' as marine mammals. Is it so difficult then, to comprehend the idea that the old sailor tails of 'mermaids' etc, could actually have a little scientific basis? If humans were evolving around water, who's to say that some didnt take the full evolutionary plunge? Seals, whales, dolphins, all of them came from land mammals. Just a thought...

 

[Samzo]

You pose a good point (damn I almost thought that was a real pic lol..) I beleive big foot was originally real, but so many people have made fakes it's hard to find evidence. Mermaids, not too sure.. The theory is right, but I reckon we would of found them with all our modern technology etc etc Unless the evolved again lol Into shrimp? :roll:

Also the rumours of "giant squid" are real in my opinion.

 

[PseudoDave]

Samzo, people have 'known' giant squid have existed for centuries, even before dead specimens were found... Yet it took until late last year to even get a still photo of one (a 26ft long 'baby', lol), there are many things we've yet to see or even imagine, i'm sure.

 

[Johnald Chaffinch]

the colossal squid absolutely exists , bigger than the giant squid, and probably the most eeficiant predator in the ocean.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2910849.stm

there's so much to say about it, it has light around it's eyes like headlamps, it has eyes the size of dinner plates. it squirts ink, has hooks on the end of it's tentacles that are covered in barbs. it's hooks can swivel about. it can flash light all over itself. it can change colour. it fires darts from one arm. it moves by jet propulsion. it's over 20 metres long. i could go on... :lol:

i reckon there's some amazing undiscovered things at the bottom of the ocean, in trenches and that, i really hope there's a colossal octopus! no sign of one yet though.

i believe there's another ape out there in deep forests, one was documented in new scientist recently though no real study of it has been done, i think i read it looks like a cross between either a gorilla and an orangutan, or a chimp and an orangutan.

i really really really really hope there's an undiscovered type of homonid out there, that discovery of the hobbit species was a shock and recently tribes that live in previously unexpored places have been discovered that had never been seen before, so ya never know...

 

[Ian]

wow, I might have one of those collosal squid in my pond actually...

Cheers,

Ian

 

[infinity]

just wondering when they talk about the worlds largest animal etc, does that go by mass, lenth, volume, height?! because that's quite a decent sized specimen... even though i know tapeworms can grow pretty big too but i'd hardly call them the worlds largest...

I think with things like this I'd LIKE to believe in them... bigfoot, I would say is possible, loch ness monster unlikely but maybe plesiosaurs still exist?! mermaid, doubt it but hey- if she's nice looking, I'm sure I could get used to a fin... - personally I'd like dragons to exist the most- maybe some large pterasaur or something could potentially have evolved that way... who knows

 

[garbonzo13]

I still would like to vacation in Puerto Rico so I can look for the "Chupacabra's." :shock: 8) :wink: I bet I can find 'em. For a thought to be nocturnal preditor why do the "professionals" document looking for them during the day? I would say that is problem number 1. LOL

 

[Chris Dickie]

the discovery of that new species of hominid was really interesting

more interesting is that several tribes around the area are around the same size as H.floresiensis (the species of hominid) - I'm sure thats roughly what national geographic magazine said, looking at the article but it's quite long, lol

strange to think there is possibly two species of humans on the planet!

as to "mythical animals" etc I'm on the fence

Interesting though your theory is I doubt humans evolved back into the ocean although I suppose anything is possible

I myself currently question the theory of evolution, or ratjher natural selection as in my opinion it cannot possibly be the only factor in evolution

 

[Samzo]

lol never heard of a collosal squid, imagine catching that on your hook :shock:

 

[ibanez_freak]

Lol samzo.

I think they stay in very deep water so if you tryed to swim after one you saw on surface them by the depth they go at I think you would like explode from the pressure, or something like that.

Cheers, Cameron.

 

[PseudoDave]

I think i worded that wrong, i'm not necessarily saying that the human species or even a direct ancestor could have evolved into the sea, but it's certainly possible that another homonid species could have done. A bear x wolf type creature evolved into modern day whales, the feet turned into flippers/fins, but when stripped down to the bone it's just a hand/foot like any other. It's perfectly logical that a species related to us may have once led at least a semi aquatic life, the basis of giant octopus and squid myths were well founded, it may just be that an aquatic mammal was present, maybe a long time ago that looked similar in upper body features, but as we know, word spreads down the generations, sure it changes a bit, but it's still got it roots. Sailors tales of a 'glowing' ocean over the centuries were classed as folklore and crazy, this year it was confirmed by sattellite imaging (probably bio-luminescent bacteria stirred up in a current). I've got a feeling i'm going to enjoy watching some of the discoveries of my life time. What would be nicer, would be to have a part in it :wink:

As for questioning the theory of evolution, there is a huge debate (including court cases) going on in america at the moment regarding intelligent design against evolution theory. My personal belief is that life was easy to start up with the correct chemicals present and that evolution took over from chemistry at that point. To the people who ONLY believe in intelligent design, I ask, what is so un-intelligent about evolutions design? I find it hard to believe anything else to be honest, based on the extreme evidence for one, and minimal/non-existant evidence for any other, but a happy medium for those people battling it out about it is in the question i just asked, it's fine that way for people to believe in evolution, it's also fine for people to believe that evolution was 'intelligently designed'.

Dave

 

[infinity]

I agree David... but then there's the non-scientific debate about religion- I have a Jehovah's witness friend who believes there's no such thing as evolution and that every species ever greated (even though absolutely miniscule in differences) were each out there by God as an individual and any similarity is a coincidence... I personally disagree as I myself have created genetically different bacteria etc just by transforming them with plasmid DNA - thus greating in effect a new species- so where does God fit in there... (strange thing is that he's taking the same subject and holds to his faith...)

Anyway, of the religeous debate... It's quite possible that homonids reverted back to the sea- but then the development of a lung took millennia to achieve, why revert back? - even those species like the whale mentioned, haven't. I'd say it's fair to assume we were once sea dwelling as in the womb, we have webbed toes and at some stage, a rudimentary ability to *breathe* using the amniotic fluid. But then again, we all know that life had to have originally started in the sea (as it was the only medium with which to accumulate biomass in during the time the earth was forming)

Again, I could go on forever about this but there are things i know exist that are amazing, things I don't know exist but do that I would find amazing and things that I would like to exist... c'est la vie

What would your strict definition of cryptozoology be anyway?

 

[Chris Dickie]

After re-reading the article I need to correct myself. I know remember that it was a TV program, not the national geographic magazine, which suggested either H.floresiensis or a hybrid between H.floresiensis and H.sapian(not sure of spelling, lol)

As for evolution I believe that natural selection does occur but it is part of a larger process as yet undiscovered. This is a bit off topic, perhaps start another thread or e-mail me? Don't want to steal the thread, lol

 

[PseudoDave]

Hehe, steal away Chris :wink: Like I say, i'm a very evolution based person, I can just see how absolutely everything could come about from evolution, it would explain different diets, different shapes and sizes, would also explain why many animals have organs that are no longer required etc.

I wasn't saying the lungs would revert back or anything on a 'mermaid' (i hate that damn word), as you say whales and other aquatic mammals havent, so neither necessarily did those little guys

My definition of cryptozoology personally, is the science based facts of animals and natural phenomena that are yet to be proven or dissproven by science, something that nobody 'knows' anything about. I'm not sure on the whole big foot thing, mainly because of the way that one person will have a sighting, then suddenly thousands of others across the country get spotted, seems too 'convenient' for my liking. However, it's a different story in one particular case, where I cant help but believe there is a bipedal ape species living in I believe Sumatra (may be wrong, will check later) where the evidence grows continuously, interesting stuff. Someone on a website I visit reported about the croc that is meant to be loose in some village pond in cornwall, this isnt cryptozoology to me even though he thinks so, it's a perfectly well known animal, put there by some silly little prune

 

[hortus]

when human babies are in the womb they have gills thet close up and heal over just before birth. water births starte cause someone was trying to ee if they could keep them open.

i think if a mother stayed submerged her entire pregnancy it might work

 

[PseudoDave]

I've heard stranger things... Though I think we'd be hard pressed to find a woman willing to sit in water for 9 months, maybe get an already lazy pregnant woman and throw her in, hehe.

 

[infinity]

dude, you can clean the water then

 

[Obie]

I am currently working on a degree in Zoology. I personally think there are lots and lots of undiscovered animals out there. Some are probably, amazing, large, weird, etc. So, I like some aspects of Cryptozoology a lot. For example, I am convinced that there is solid evidence that the Tazmanian Tiger still exists.

My experience of science though has been that -- while the human imagination is a remarkable and beautiful thing (art, music, etc), it doesn't even come close to the diversity that is truly out there...thanks to evolution. In other words, I think the true nature of the biological world blows science-fiction completely out of the water...

 

[Johnald Chaffinch]

the discovery of that new species of hominid was really interesting. more interesting is that several tribes around the area are around the same size as H.floresiensis (the species of hominid) - I'm sure thats roughly what national geographic magazine said, looking at the article but it's quite long, lol

there might be some small people in the area but nowhere near as small as around a metre tall! they're supposedly decended from **** erectus. it's important to realise though that there's been countless species of homonids, some living not too long ago. i reckon we wiped the surviving ones out.

get this though - i read that neanderthals brains were bigger than ours, and h.floresiensis' were similar to ours in complexity - only more compact. i wonder if another homonid species was found alive if we'd enslave them, it's possible.

sometimes microscopic lifeforms can have behaviour patterns that are more complex than animals a million times their size. like i think is it the water bear (microscopic)? so the most amazing species could be right under our noses...literally :lol: