[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-504190-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-504190-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","abominable-science-origins-of-the-yeti-nessie-and-other-famous-cryptids","Abominable Science! - Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids","","Abominable Science! examines the origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other famous cryptids through a skeptical, research-oriented lens. The foreword frames major hoaxes and their cultural appeal, then defines cryptozoology as the study of animals not yet proven to exist. It explains how claims begin with footprints, blurry photos, grainy videos, and folklore, and argues that some attention is warranted because real discoveries can emerge from local anecdotes. The text contrasts plausibility with evidence and historical scientific finds.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/","Literature",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/abominable-science-origins-of-the-yeti-nessie-and-other-famous-cryptids/504190/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/abominable-science-origins-of-the-yeti-nessie-and-other-famous-cryptids/504190.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Riley West","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-14","2026-10-03",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is cryptozoology, according to the foreword?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Cryptozoology is the study of animals whose existence has yet to be proved, introduced as a term coined in the late 1950s by Bernard Heuvelmans.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What kinds of evidence do cryptids usually begin with?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Cryptids begin with muddy footprints, blurry photographs, grainy videos, and anecdotes about strange events.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why does the book suggest cryptids still merit attention?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The book argues that some claims cannot be dismissed a priori because scientists have previously discovered previously unknown animals using local anecdotes and folklore, leading to real findings in biology.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},504190,1791496914,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,91,95,99,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":26,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},1099523885074,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","ABOMINABLE SCIENCE!  \nPAPERBA CK EDITION AIDED BY A GRANT  \nFIGURE FOUNDATION  \nthat footprints be creatured  \nCOLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK  \nCOLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS  \nPublishers Since 1893  \nNew York Chichester, West Sussex  \n[cup.columbia.edu](cup.columbia.edu)  \nCopyright © 2013 Daniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero Paperback edition, 2015  \nAll rights reserved  \nLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data  \nLoxton, Daniel, 1975–  \nAbominable science! : origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other famous cryptids /  \nDaniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero.  \npages cm  \nIncludes bibliographical references and index.  \nISBN 978-0-231-15320-1 (cloth : alk. paper)  \nISBN 978-0-231-15321-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)  \nISBN 978-0-231-52681-4 (e-book)  \n1. Cryptozoology. 2. Animals, Mythical. 3. Pseudoscience. I. Prothero, Donald R. II. Title.  \nQL88.3.L69 2013  \n001.944—dc23  \n2013008424  \nColumbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America  \nC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 P 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1  \nCOVER DESIGN : PHILIP PA SC UZ ZO (PEP CO STUDIO. COM)  \nCOVER IMAGE : DANIEL LOXTON  \nBOOK DESIGN AND TYPESETTING : VIN DANG  \nThe foreword appeared in a modified form in Scientific American, and other  \nmaterial appeared in a modified form in Skeptic magazine and on [Skepticblog.org](Skepticblog.org).  \nReferences to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the authors nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.  \nTHIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO  \nRonald Binns, David Daegling, Benjamin Radford, Joe Nickell, Blake Smith, Karen Stollznow, Darren Naish, Sharon Hill, Matt Crowley, and all the brave skeptics who have blazed the trail of scientific inquiry in cryptozoology despite the tremendous cultural pressures to follow the crowd and give in to easy answers  \nCONTENTS  \nForeword by Michael Shermer ix Preface xiii  \nAcknowledgments xv  \nCryptozoology  \nREAL SCIENCE OR PSEUDOSCIENCE? 1  \nBigfoot  \nTHE SASQUATCH 29  \nThe Yeti  \nTHE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN 73  \nNessie  \nTHE LOCH NESS MONSTER 119  \nviii C O N T E N T S  \nThe Evolution of the Sea Serpent  \nFROM HIPPOCAMP TO CAD BO ROSAURUS 177  \nMokele Mbembe  \nTHE CONGO DINOSAUR 261  \nWhy Do People Believe in Monsters?  \nTHE COMPLEXITY OF CRYPTOZOOLOGY 297  \nNotes 337  \nIndex 395  \nFOREWORD  \nSHOW ME THE BODY  \nIN 2002 AND 2003, the world lost the creators of two of its most celebrated bio-hoaxes in modern times: Douglas Herrick, father ofthe risibly ridiculous jackalope (half jack rabbit, half antelope), and Raymond L. Wallace, godfather of the less absurd and more widely believed Bigfoot. The jackalope enjoins laughter in response to such peripheral hokum as hunting licenses sold only to those whose IQs range between 50 and 72, bottles ofthe rare but rich jackalope milk, and additional evolutionary hybrids like the jackapanda. Bigfoot, though, while occasionally eliciting an acerbic snicker, enjoys greater plausibility for a simple evolutionary reason: large, hirsute apes presently roam the forests of Africa, and at least one species of a giant ape—Gigantopithecus—flourished several hundred thousand years ago alongside our early human ancestors. Footprints in the mud really did mean that another bipedal primate was lurking about.  \nIs it possible that a real Bigfoot lives despite the confession by Wallace’s family, after his death, that the tracks found by one of his employees were just a practical joke by a fun-loving prankster—a guy in an ape suit? Certainly. After all, although proponents of Bigfoot do not dispute the evidence that Wallace tromped around in strap-on Shaq-o-size wooden feet, they correctly note that tales of the giant Yeti living in the Himalayas and Native American  \nx F O R E W O R D  \nlore about Sasquatch wandering around the Pacific Northwest emerged long before Wallace pulled his prank in 1958.  \nThroughout m","cbCaiq2FXujw9m8S","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiq2FXujw9m8S","pdf",10602467,429,"English","# Foreword\n## Show Me the Body\n# Cryptozoology\n## Real Science or Pseudoscience?\n## Bigfoot\n## The Sasquatch\n## The Yeti\n## The Abominable Snowman\n## Nessie\n## The Loch Ness Monster\n## The Evolution of the Sea Serpent\n## From Hippocamp to Cadborosaurus\n## Mokele Mbembe\n## The Congo Dinosaour\n## Why Do People Believe in Monsters?\n## The Complexity of Cryptozoology\n# Notes\n# Index","[{\"question\":\"What is cryptozoology, according to the foreword?\",\"answer\":\"Cryptozoology is the study of animals whose existence has yet to be proved, introduced as a term coined in the late 1950s by Bernard Heuvelmans.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of evidence do cryptids usually begin with?\",\"answer\":\"Cryptids begin with muddy footprints, blurry photographs, grainy videos, and anecdotes about strange events.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the book suggest cryptids still merit attention?\",\"answer\":\"The book argues that some claims cannot be dismissed a priori because scientists have previously discovered previously unknown animals using local anecdotes and folklore, leading to real findings in biology.\"}]","Abominable Science! - Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids | PDF",1791064802,661]