FT269


Charles Paxton has argued that compiling ‘monster manuals’ of cryptid types essentially adds nothing to crypto­zoology and that a more scientific approach should reject the notion of the cryptid altogether, favouring instead reports as the fundamental unit of analysis. While Paxton’s arguments have merit, ‘formulating cryptids’ – i.e. theorising on the identities and affinit­ies of ethnoknown (folkloric) organisms – if done rigorously, can be scientific­ally valuable in a way that ultimately complements Paxton’s approach.

Science is driven by data, as it is through data (observations and measure­ments) that hypotheses and theories about the way the world works can be tested against reality.