George M. Eberhart's Classification for Cryptozoological Creatures

1. Distribution anomalies - animals in places they shouldn't be; e.g. anomalous big cats of the UK
2. Undescribed, unusual, or outsized variations of known species - e.g. giant anaconda (Amazon); spotted lions (East Africa)
3. Survivals of recently extinct species - e.g. ivory billed woodpecker, presumed to be extinct in 1960; Stellar's sea cow, presumed to be extinct in 1770; both of which are occasionally claimed to have survived into the present
4. Survivals of species known from the fossil records into modern times - e.g. mokele-mbembe (Central Africa) is sometimes described as a living dinosaur
5. Lingerlings, or survivals or species known from the fossil record much later into historical times than currently thought - e.g. wooly mammoth, presumed to be extinct in 12,000 BCE, but is occasionally purported surviving into later eras
6. Animals not known from the fossil record but related to known species - e.g. Andean wolf; striped manta ray
7. Animals not known from the fossil record nor related to any known species - e.g. Bigfoot; sea serpents
8. mythological animals with a zoological basis - e.g. the griffin, partly inspired by dinosaur fossils of Central Asia
9. seemingly paranormal or supernatural entities with some animal-like characteristics - e.g. Lizard Man; Mothman; Black Dogs; faeries
10. Known hoaxes or probable misidentifications - e.g. jackalope, possibly inspired by rabbits infected with Shope papilloma virus, which causes antler-like tumors

Exclusions:

1. Insignificance - cryptids must be big, weird, dangerous, or significant to humans in some way.
2. Lack of controversy - someone needs to observe a mystery animal and someone else needs to discredit the sighting; cryptozoologists function as interventionists between the witnesses and skeptical scientists
3. Erratics - the out-of-place alligator...that turns up in an odd spot, undoubtably through human agency, is not a zoological mystery...[if] someone discovers a new species of alligator that lives only in sewers, that is a different matter
4. Bizarre humans - e.g. zombies
5. Angels or demons - ...the paranormal is admitted only if it has an animal shape (a werewolf sighting, which might involve a real dog, a wolf, or a mystery canid
6. Aliens - [unless such extraterrestrials] arrived a long time ago and thus classify as residents

Information

Podcasts

Patterns

Introduction

Hello and Welcome to Hooked on Legends, where I share my knit, cross-stitch, and mostly crochet creations concerning cryptids.

I've been knitting and crocheting for 19 years and have been cross-stitching for even longer, but now I mostly specialize in crochet.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a cryptid as "an animal whose existence or survival to the present day is disputed or unsubstantiated." Incredibly long story short, the study of these "monsters," or cryptozoology, is the main subject of what I'll be sharing here.

I still make the general crochet things, such as blankets and amigurumi, which can be found here.
I absorb a lot of cryptid info, mostly in the form of podcasts, which I'll be sharing here. It will also serve as a pattern database.

Thank you for stopping by, and watch out for Bigfoot!