Thanks
to a motion-activated camera set out in southern Arizona
near the United States-Mexico border, game officials are
now pretty certain that jaguars are visitors to the
state.In fact, they may even live there.A photo taken in December of 2001 clearly shows a young male
weighing about 175 lbs (80 kg).One of the biggest cats in the Western
Hemisphere, the jaguar once covered virtually all of
Latin America.[11]
Crocodiles
In Northwest Africa?
They’ve
never been seen outside the Sahara; until now.A 29-year-old Ph.D student at the University of
Ulster in Coleraine recently discovered shy
cave-dwelling crocodiles, a phenomenon never before
imagined.Why?The remote
region of Mauritania where they were found is a place of
arid and unpredictable weather, yet somehow these
reptiles have been able to survive by living in burrows
and caves throughout the dry season.[12]
Lowe's
servaline genet
It
was only known from a single skin found in 1932, but now
the Lowe’s servaline genet is a living reality.It wasn’t caught, nor was it even filmed.A single photograph recently taken by a team from
the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) confirmed the
survival of the creature, a mongoose-like African
predator that is probably nocturnal and tree dwelling.Amazingly, that’s pretty much all that is known
about it.[13]
Two
New Monkey Species Discovered
Making
headlines in June of this year was the discovery of two
new species of titi monkey in Brazil's Amazon rain
forest.One
of the species found, Prince Bernhard's titi monkey, has
extraordinary dark orange sideburns, chest and inner
sides of its limbs, along with a reddish-brown back and
a white-tipped black tail.Says Russell Mittermeier, president of
Conservation International, “we are once again
surprised by the discovery of even more species."[14]
The
Importance
Why
share this information?What importance does it hold?Here are four truths I have established.
New aquatic animals are still being discovered
New land animals are still being discovered
Animals thought to be extinct are being
discovered
Animals are still being discovered in the
“wrong” places
Therefore,
I have effectively established the reality that
cryptozoology, the study of hidden animals, is nothing
less than a science.
Now
that cryptozoology has been authenticated, let me ask a
few questions.
If
the megamouth shark, giant squid, and coelacanth
have been able to elude man’s detection, who’s to
say that a plesiosaur, the classic long-necked marine
reptile of “prehistoric times,” could still not be
out there eluding our detection to this very day?“Because the plesiosaur went extinct millions
of years ago,” says the evolutionary skeptic.“Of course,” I reply by means of their
reasoning.“And
so did the coelacanth.”
Perhaps,
just maybe, they didn’t live millions of years ago.
If
the okapi, komodo dragon, and Chacoan peccary have been able to elude man’s detection, who’s to
say that an apatosaur, the classic long-necked dinosaur
of “prehistoric times,” could not still be out there
eluding man’s detection to this very day?“Because the apatosaur went extinct
millions of years ago,” says the evolutionary skeptic.“Of course,” I reply by means of their
reasoning.“And
so did the Chacoan
peccary.”
Perhaps,
just maybe, they didn’t live millions of years ago.
I’ll
admit it.I
am a believer in Nessie, the long-necked water monster
of Loch Ness, Scotland.I’ll admit it. I am a believer in Mokele-mbembe,
the long-necked land (and water) monster of the Likouala
Swamp, Africa.Why?Because I believe in cryptozoology.But most of all, I believe in creation.You see, the creation model better allows for “living
fossils,” animals alive today that, according to
evolutionary thinking, appeared in the fossil record
“hundreds of millions of years ago.”Aside from the creatures I have already shared, the great
white shark, nine-banded armadillo, crocodile, tuatara,
sturgeon and horseshoe crab are just a few others.[15]These are animals that have remained virtually
unchanged from their ancestors.In other words, they are “unevolutionized.”And in order to convince someone of the reality
of living dinosaurs (or marine reptiles), and from there
use this information as a powerful tool in support of
creation, the truths I have shared must be established.
To
the evolutionist: I do not intend to use
this information as proof, only support.The more support we can establish from all facets
of life, including cryptozoology, the more the puzzle of
our past comes together, and reveals the true picture.
To
the creationist: If you endeavor to use
this information in debate, make sure you follow the
logical sequence. Don't jump to, say, "point
5," without first dealing with the first 4 points.
To
the cryptozoologist: If using this
information in a discussion or debate, you must
establish, as I have done, that cryptozoology, the study
of hidden animals, is a fact, not just
speculation. Refer to the animals recently
discovered in this article, and from there move to the
more "hard-to-swallow" cryptids, such as
Nessie and Mokele-mbembe.
References:
1.The Discovery, <http://cosmic.swau.edu/~cstorz/discovery.html>,
20 October 2002.
2.Mysterious Creatures, Time-Life Books,
Alexandria, Virginia, pp. 20-21.
3.Sandiegozoo.com, <www.sandiegozoo.org/wildideas/kids/got_questions_peccary.html>,
21 October 2002.
4.Ref. 2.
5.Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2001 Standard
(CD), article:‘ocean
and oceanography’.
6.Facts & Figures, <www.ocean98.org/fact.htm>,
20 October 2002.
7.Discovery.com, <http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/giantsquid/feature/feature.html>,
21 October 2002.
8.FS Crypto Corner, <www.100megsfree4.com/farshores/cwhale2.htm>,
(first reported 9 April 2001).
9.The Sydney Morning Herald, <www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/13/1023864317688.html>,
(reported 13 June 2002).
10.Ref. 8, <www.100megsfree4.com/farshores/cspecies.htm>,
(first reported 11 November 2001).
11.Sierraclub.org, <http://arizona.sierraclub.org/paloverde/jaguar.html>,
(reported 4 February 2002).
CRYPTOZOOLOGY
So,
You Don't Believe In Cryptozoology? 
