Talk:List of cryptids

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Non-free images

Why is the Manananggal on the Cryptids page, shouldn't it be only on the List of legendary creatures (M) page?

Non-free images

Please do not use non-free images in this article. If we do not have free images, there does not need to be any image at all- we do not use non-free content to decorate list entries. J Milburn (talk) 10:18, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Are images even needed on the list. Looking through, you can barely make out any of them and most are available on the associated article page. Happy to do the work removing them if I get some consensus.Angry Mustelid (talk) 06:34, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

i think you can go ahead on that. As you say the tiny size makes them useless. Totnesmartin (talk) 22:19, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

Removals

I am considering removing the Giant Snake of Mt. Tsurugi from the list. Responding to the citation request, I went on a little hunt to find one and could only find one report from 1973 which is mentioned on several blogs (usually the same article regurgitated) and Crypto pages, nothing else. There is nothing on the supposed legend. Nothing on any of the other sightings. Just one report and one, somewhat dodgy and itself disputed, photo. Doing a search for "Giant Snake of Mt. Tsurugi" on Google produces 24 disparate pages while Yahoo! provides 46 all pointing towards the same thing. Anyone got any ideas (books it may be referred to in).Angry Mustelid (talk) 08:03, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Have removed

• Masamin - Absolutely no references to it to be found - just regurgitations of this list.
• Renton River Beast - One Youtube video is the only evidence and that's obviously a Uni project.
• Sampson - Only refs I can find are in the Bible.
• Willy, Wippy, Winnie - No confirmed articles. Bastardisation of Nessie.

Also tagged the Muwa page for speedy deletion - Moved the page's content to Orang Mawas article due to lack of content and similarity between the two.Angry Mustelid (talk) 09:31, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Type Lice

What about the illusive type lice, allegedly found in old typecases, eating holes in lead composition type? Surely these would be a worthy addition to this fabulous list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.118.174.130 (talk) 22:19, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

They're not cryptids, any more than, for example, the gremlins which make engines fail are. A cryptid is a hypothetical animal (or rarely other organism) that is not recognised as currently existing by science (or not positively identified as representing a known species), but for which there is inconclusive physical or anecdotal evidence. Lavateraguy (talk) 21:00, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Latin Attack

... bogus "scientific" names for random creatures... he continues to attack, the page should be made semi-protected for a week or so. Hopefully that would put him off and he'll go away and bug some other project. Anyone agree (.Angry Mustelid (talk) 23:03, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

• Have submitted a long term block request for IP:173.86.93.236.Angry Mustelid (talk) 00:16, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

IP:173.86.93.236 blocked for 14 days. Hopefully that'll calm things down for a while.Angry Mustelid (talk) 00:28, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

More attacks of a similar nature. I have to request {{Edit semi-protected}} herefor a period of 1 month to see if that stops it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kendroche (talk • contribs)

Not done. To request semi-protection, see WP:RFPP. Thanks. -Atmoz (talk) 18:32, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, wasn't sure how. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kendroche (talk • contribs) 20:20, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Will these be walls of paper or just bricks and mortar? 2 wks should tell.

To the guy who's doing all this. Please stop. While it's flattering to get the attention, it's bloody annoying. I get it. You've had an article rejected or (unfairly in your view) in this category. No need to turn into the Tooth Fairy. If you can find some references to back up your contributions, then they would be excellent additions to this article. Until then; as a fellow human being who is only interested in the furtherance of Human knowledge, please stop.Angry Mustelid (talk) 22:48, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

J'Ba FoFi

I've found a few web pages discussing this all of which seem to be articles written around the same date (Sept-Oct this year). Also, reading them, they seem to follow similar structure and rhythm suggesting that they were written by the same person. The Wiki entry for this was only recently written, whether by the same person or not. It just seems like a complete hoax to me and, as I can find no written reports (newspaper / magazine / book) articles, I would suggest that this is a fantasy creation and should not be entered on this list (the wiki page should also be deleted).Angry Mustelid (talk) 03:00, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

There was a good article on this written by Karl Shuker in Fortean Times a couple of years ago. It's probably not an outright hoax - Shuker makes mistakes but he doesn't invent - so it could probably go back in. Totnesmartin (talk) 23:15, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

If you can find details on the article then by all means. Reference must fill:

"J'Ba FoFi (i.e. the title of the article)". Fortean Times ((issue #)): (page # - if you can get it - not required but helpful). (issue date). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

either the issue # or date will suffice, both not required.

then repost. Or if you post just the ref here, I'll retrieve the info from the archives.Angry Mustelid (talk) 00:41, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

I'd have to dig through my stack of back issues! It's there somewhere though... Totnesmartin (talk) 09:45, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

<ref>{{Cite journal |authorlink= [[Karl Shuker]] |title= "Eight-legged freaks" |journal = [[Fortean Times]] |issue= '''''191''''' |date= '''''(November 2004)''''' |pages= ''''54-5'''''}}</ref>

The correct spelling is j'ba fofi (no internal capitals) meaning "great spider" (language not stated). There are good details on the j'ba fofi's appearance, given by a tribe of pygmies in Cameroon. Totnesmartin (talk) 23:26, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

Job done. Thanks for doing the research.Angry Mustelid (talk) 10:14, 26 December 2010 (UTC)

Slender Man and Memes

The inclusion of the Internet Hoax (meme) - Slender Man - has raised some questions on whether it should be included. For my part, I think it should as some people were taken in by it. The question really becomes not so much as to whether to include Slender Man but whether to include memes. Again, I think that they should be included (possibly in a new section with creation dates) as the computer is the tool of the modern hoaxer. Where 30 years ago, models and shoddy photography would've been used ([[Hodag}} is a good example), today it is digital mastering and websites.

However, any memes included should have a reasonable following with a number of accounts available and as such should be referenced by more than one reliable (as far as THAT goes) source, and have been around for at least a year.Angry Mustelid (talk) 20:48, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

When were memes ever a part of cryptozoology? it doesn't matter if someone believed a joke creature was real. What matters, and what defines a cryptid, is its serious proposition as apotentially existing and scientifically describable animal - at least according to this. I really don't see that a cartoon character made up on somethingawful and riffed by 4chan fits that. If some people believed it, that's their affair. Some people believe Sherlock Holmes was real, that doesn't mean we can file him under biography. Totnesmartin (talk) 23:12, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

My point was that it entered into the public conciousness to a higher than usual degree. Things like the Renton River Beast which got local coverage only, a few YouTube videos and a whole bunch of wikia refs citing each other shouldn't be included as it was a local phenomenon and lasted a matter of weeks. Slender Man has been around for over a year now and seems to have a following and fits perfectly into the Hoax category for the modern age. I'll be happy to remove it if we can get some sort of consensus going (in other words others need to chime in on this one). If it's unresolved by the new year, I'll remove it from the main list and put it in a new section at the bottom - by your criteria, there'll be a few more joining it from the list (Jackalope comes to mind).

Homo Slenderis - A forest dwelling, nocturnal creature, with human-like characteristics characterised by it's tall, thin stature and lack of pigmentation.Angry Mustelid (talk) 00:58, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

It's still only a meme - who outside of 4chan are proposing it as worthy of scientific study? I'm removing it from the list, you can put it back in when there's some evidence that the world of cryptozoology is taking it seriously. Totnesmartin (talk) 21:10, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

Are the pictures needed?

I would propose that, over the next few weeks, that the Pictures column is removed. So long as there are valid links and refs to each of the items, added to the fact that the pictures available are little more than icons, then the info in the rest of the list should suffice. Any ideas?Angry Mustelid (talk) 02:50, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Support: Having tried to improve them, I've found them to be nothing more than massive source of clutter. Many of the image I found were not even related to the cryptid so I took them down or replaced them, the sizes vary wildly and there seems to be no precident for what that should be, some even being too small to distinguish what is going on. Others link to an image offsite or say to see the main article, and why I don't know. It is certainly detracting from the professionalism and fluidity of the article. If you want to tear it down, I support you. - NickGrayLOL (talk) 06:01, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

Regarding "Extinct" Cryptids

Some of the cryptids on this list as classified as being "extinct", even though there is no evidence that they ever existed in the first place. Examples include the Andean wolf, Buru, Ennedi tiger, and the kumi lizard. If there is no hard evidence for their existence, it is absurd to classify them as extinct. Could someone do some research and find out what the real status should be? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shumats86 (talk • contribs) 23:24, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Anything that is both open to question and uncited can (and should be) be removed without prejudice. See WP:CITE. Indeed this may apply to almost all of the list. I have just noticed Haggis - apparently "once though to be real" according to the definition of "hoax". Now that is a joke - perhaps the list should be added to Category:Wikipedia humor. Ben MacDui 11:56, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Xanthopan morgani

Is Xanthopan morgani considered a Cryptid? From that page, it meets the definition - it was predicted based on the presense of the comet orchid, and it turned out to exist when discovered in 1903. The only catch is that it might appear to be same as the mainland species, but I can't tell if the mainland version was already discovered. --Sigma 7 (talk) 21:31, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

Improving the "description" section.

What I'm considering doing is going through and improving the "description section". These descriptions are rather vague in many cases. What I would do is increase each one to 2-3 short, clear sentences, giving a very brief description of what the creature is and the major details about it's appearance. However, I'd like to make sure that this is OK first, because if it's not, that's a lot of work to do on something that shouldn't be done. - NickGrayLOL (talk) 03:06, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Oh, and PS, obviously I would reference those descriptions. - NickGrayLOL (talk) 03:10, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 125.239.2.231, 10 July 2011 Sangalingali Vanuatu Bigeared Hominoid Described in Break of day Islands by Basil Nottage 1930

Sangalingali Vanuatu legendary creature. Break of Day Islands by Basil Nottage, Presbytarian Missionary ,Tongoa 1930 pages 68, 225

125.239.2.231 (talk) 23:20, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

 Not done: please specify what needs to be changed and the reference. FREYWA 08:41, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Dragons

Why Are Dragons not on this list? Unicorns are so why aren't Dragons? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.93.167.109 (talk) 03:21, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

More to the point, why are unicorns, which, like dragons, are mythical creatures rather than cryptids, on the list. I've removed the unicorns, which keep being added by someone from Ontario. Acroterion (talk) 03:28, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

A cryptid is an animal or plant that's existence has been suggested, but is unconfirmed. Dragons and unicorns are purely mythological, and it is almost certain that they do not exist in our world. Therefore, they cannot be classified as cryptids, they are simply mythological monsters that never did and never will exist.--24.36.130.109 (talk) 00:38, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

File:Mothman statue 2005.JPG Nominated for Deletion

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Will-o'-the-wisp

The will-o'-the-wisp article doesn't discredit it. As far as I can tell, it's unconfirmed. 68.159.225.63 (talk) 01:55, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Edit Request

The Kraken is real, as the Giant and Colossal squids, so could you do that please? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.128.204.201 (talk) 19:35, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

The Kraken is most likely to have been either a giant or colossal squid. Angry Mustelid (talk) 11:52, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Not characterized quite that way in the two Clash of the Titans movies. In any case, the giant squid connection is already discussed in the article. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:03, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Ivory-billed woodpecker

Hi folks, would the ivory-billed woodpecker belong on this list? There is a lot of skepticism about it's existence. As a birder, it's something that interests me a lot :) There is also a section in the ivory-billed woodpecker page (linked above) about cryptozoology! SarahStierch (talk) 16:22, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

It sure is an interesting case, but I'm not sure it belongs here as its former existence has been confirmed by mainstream science in the past. The online source that implicates it into Cryptozoology doesn't seem to me strong enough (i.e. self published and non-scholarly) to warrant inclusion in this list, but then there probably are other entries in this article with weaker sources. The mayor of Yurp (talk) 01:16, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

Possibly as an extinct or possibly relict species. More discussion is needed.Angry Mustelid (talk) 11:31, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

Yes, it's a pretty controversial subject. Many of us birders hope and pray there is a possibility of it existing. There was an article about six months back in Living Birds that examined the most recent treks to Mexico to find the bird. I wish I hadn't tossed it in the recycle bin before moving... however, Cornell has a nice space devoted to the bird on it's website here. Hell, so much hope is out there that in 2010 the United State Fish and Wildlife Services developed an action plan for the bird, here. If that's not "questionable" status in some regards I don't know what is :) It's like the bigfoot of birds! SarahStierch (talk) 15:38, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

Well...except this bird exist/ed unlike (in theory) big foot ;) SarahStierch (talk) 16:54, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

Discredited cryptids

I don't think it's a good idea to "discredit" any of the entries. It's just not a good thing to say. It's too "final", and is quite unscientific. It's also inaccurate in many cases. It implies that the case is closed and that's final. Perhaps something a bit less unbending, these are, afterall, cryptids. Perhaps "possibly discredited" or "presumably discredited" or somesuch. There are exceptions to almost every "discredited" cryptid that could make a valid argument. Additionally, there are some cryptids marked with a status which is not even one of the choices, such as "mythical". The "status" boxes need to be overhauled. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.230.105.60 (talk) 06:18, 2 August 2012 (UTC)