Cryptozoology Thread

[Mari]

Normally I'd go all "Awww! It's so cute! Lemme hug it!" or something similar, but the antlers are kinda scary... Definitely NOT my cute little furry bunicula.
Which reminds me of something my teacher in Japan once did/said:
Do you know of raccoons? They are very fluffy animals, very cute. *holds up a hat* This used to be a raccoon. Who wants to touch it? It's very warm!
...

Oh, and I'm sorry, I still haven't checked the huge snake story yet. I spent this weekend looking for my Bible... I searched the boxes and my room three times, before finding it in a box that I had also searched through three times... >_<

[Nautipus]

It's alright, and yes I've heard of racoons. We used to have one as a pet.

[Mari]

So did we, but the way he was first describing a raccoon as very cute etc. and then held up the hat... it was just very comical. I guess you should have been there. Sorry

[Nautipus]

It is alright.

Whenever you get around to the snakes (dont make it a special trip, or anything), let me know. I'll be lookin out for it.

[Mari]

I'm home now, I'll try to look it up tonight. If my computer is still working tomorrow I'll post it then... Or tonight if I can finish the transferring of data...

[Earniel]

Speaking of cryptids, does anyone have a local cryptid? Something specific to your home-area?

[Nautipus]

Me.

I'm not sure. The closest thing we have would have to be the stories about gigantic catfish under the dam near here. I have a friend who was down and said he saw them.

[Mari]

I'm sorry guys. I've been looking in every bookcase and book box we've got and I found many of my old mythology/fairytale books from different cultures, but the ones on Mayan and Aztec culture seems to be gone (along with a few others). I suspect my aunt borrowed them, but I'm not sure I'll ever get them back. Sorry! m(_ _)m

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

And don't forget this poor endangered beastie:


Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

I really got a kick out of the website.

Of all the possible cryptozoology animals out there, I like the giant anaconda the most. For one, I love snakes, and for another, it's quite possible according to this site that someone linked to.

A giant frog would be awesome, but probably physically impossible. I doubt the air sack type lungs frogs have would be capable to support a large animal, even though they can also breathe through their skin. Eärniel, what do you think?

Also, those giant jellyfish discussed earlier are equal parts beautiful and scary. But they must really piss off Japanese fishermen.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

A giant frog would be awesome, but probably physically impossible. I doubt the air sack type lungs frogs have would be capable to support a large animal, even though they can also breathe through their skin. Eärniel, what do you think?

Could be, I seriously need to update my knowledge of frog morphology. But if a frog species grew to giant-size, they'd likely adapted to a usuable method of breathing. A big frog would have a large surface area for breathing through their skin, so that might be a possibility as well, although such a fragile skin may end up to be a liability for a large animal. I'm still always amazed by the diversity of respiratory systems the amphibians have.

Size and weight would also compromise jumping, so depending on their size, they may be limited to walking. Would be could though, having giant frogs ambling through a forest.

[Jonathan]

No matter how advanced resporatory organs they have, the frogs still wouldn't be able to grow to giant proportions without a decent circulatory system. Amphibian hearts only have one ventricle, which means that oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix. That's not very efficient, when it comes to supplying a large body with oxygen.

[Earniel]

If they've lived in the era of the giant bugs (Carboniferious, in English? I always mix up), they might have had a chance then. Oxygen levels were way up back then, but still a good 50 million years too early for frogs if I'm not mistaken.

Speaking of giant frogs: Meet Beelzebufo! (Love that name!) Not really a cryptid, but since we were talking about giant frogs, this might have been the closest they got to... (For reference, the largest living frog today is the goliath frog, weighing up to 3 kg and measuring around 30 cm.)

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

If they've lived in the era of the giant bugs (Carboniferious, in English? I always mix up), they might have had a chance then. Oxygen levels were way up back then, but still a good 50 million years too early for frogs if I'm not mistaken.

That's a good thought. Maybe a higher level of ambient O2 could have increased the oxygen saturation in the frogs. It wouldn't work with most mammals though, because their arterial saturation is already close to 100% and more O2 in the atmosphere couldn't (of course) improve it. Don't know about frogs though.

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Speaking of giant frogs: Meet Beelzebufo! (Love that name!) Not really a cryptid, but since we were talking about giant frogs, this might have been the closest they got to... (For reference, the largest living frog today is the goliath frog, weighing up to 3 kg and measuring around 30 cm.)

"Its diet would most likely have consisted of insects and small vertebrates like lizards, but it's not impossible that Beelzebufo might even have munched on hatchling or juvenile dinosaurs."

Cool

[me9996]

I saw a documentary on Bigfoot the other night, a bunch of scientists were testing various videos and bigfeet prints to see if it might be a north american ape.
All the scientists agreed it might be possable at the end.


Also, about the local crypids I've heard something about a big black cat of some kind in Wisconsin.

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

Originally Posted by me9996

I saw a documentary on Bigfoot the other night, a bunch of scientists were testing various videos and bigfeet prints to see if it might be a north american ape.
All the scientists agreed it might be possable at the end.

Well it is possible! I'm here talking to you guy, aren't I?

[me9996]

Originally Posted by The Sasquatch of Fangorn

Well it is possible! I'm here talking to you guy, aren't I?

Of corse you're "The Sasquatch of Fangorn" and we're talking about North American Bigfeet

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

That's true.

[Nautipus]

Let me introduce you to Bloop.

Let me put forth a hypothesis.

Now allow me to elaborate. The Cranchiid squid contain an ammonia-filled sac. A fluid-filled sac. Now, while many scientists who I respect and am no-where near as familiar with the subject as they are say that it is most likely an air-filled sac, I came up with this idea just a couple of hours ago after doing some more research on Cranchiids.

Bloop is reputed to be made by a huge animal at great depth, an animal larger than a blue whale. It sounds something like a large bubble, but if it was a bubble escaping from somewhere you would have probably heard the shush and flurry of smaller bubbles as the larger one broke apart.

Also, one last thing, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, the collossal squid, is a member of this family. So we know that large animals are capable of arising from this group.

So, what do you think?

[Earniel]

Is a large body of air workable in such deep depths? Sounds interesting as theory, though. I kind of like the story of Bloop or Slow Down. Very mysterious.

It would be massively cool if colossal squid used sound like that to communicate.

[Nautipus]

Sperm whales use their melon to produce similar sounds at great depth, but this is supposed to be much bigger than any marine mammal known to science, and surely we would have stumbled across one somewhere. I beleive that it could be a large fish, because they do have swimm bladders that they use to control buoyancy, or even a type of suid with an internal shell like the ram's horn squid, that they use in the same way. Something as big as they think would probably need some kind of internal support, with the exception of jellyfish, and they have pretty much been ruled out. And they would also need some kind of buoyancy control, assuming it was an advanced invertebrate or vertebrate that wasnt sedentary. This could go in alot of different directions.

But either way: It's Cloverfield.