Cryptozoology. [All Cryptids.]

A collection of mysterious creatures from North America (and abroad) – Sticker Art Series & writings by ©SamKalensky – Over 200 designs & counting!!

• What are Cryptids? •

‘Cryptids’ are defined as “Animals who’s present existence is unsubstantiated, disputed, or doubted.” – although Cryptozoology is quite often labelled as a pseudo-science by definition it is “the study of unknown, hidden, legendary, or otherwise extinct animals.” – including “Former Cryptids.” – Those which where doubted but in-fact turned out to be quite real. – To quote the Smithsonian Magazine: “The line between real animals and cryptids, is much messier than you might imagine. Carl Linnaeus’ 1735 landmark text of modern biology listed the pelican, antelope and narwhal as ‘cryptids’ and as recently as the start of the 20th century, the Komodo dragon, the giant squid, silverback gorilla, celiocanth and the okapi were thought to be cryptids, before the Western scientific establishment changed its mind in the face of indisputable evidence: the animals’ bodies. — This continues onwards to more recent discoveries today…”

[Note for Clarity: My inclusion of Fearsome Critters (& other topics) among the cryptids, is not necessarily intended to ‘prove’ (nor disprove) these odd creatures existences, but to at least bring some awareness to long-forgotten folklore and shed some light onto these ‘mythological underdogs’ which have frequently been lost to the annals of time! – Regardless of their legitimacy; such creatures do indeed fall under the “legends” category of the above definition of cryptozoology, regardless of how far-fetched or fantastical they may appear, and in a lot of cases their lore overlaps with other such creatures and actual sightings; as such they should not be completely ignored. – They’re a lot more interesting & relevant to the field than you might expect at first glance, – Check the below critters category for a longer explanation. – Further categories & definitons will certainly be added in future whenever i see fit!]
‘U.M.A’ (jp: ユーマ) or ‘Unknown Mysterious Animals‘ is an abbreviated term (similar to U.F.O) for cryptids (from what I’ve seen its most popularly used In Japan) in the context of my website: it’s specifically used to denote a cryptid which either originated in, or is particularly popular in Japan. – Generally & similarly to critters, they are not to be confused with folkloric Yokai. (However, because of how Yokai are so vaguely defined, several crossover, & many originate as them!)