Cryptozoology and Mythical Creatures

Many may confidently imagine, that with our advanced technologies and ever growing body of scientific knowledge, we must certainly know everything there is to know about our planet and its many inhabitant species. But are you aware of the fact that even in this technologically enlightened age, new species are being discovered at an increasing rate right here on Earth? Scientists have discovered more than 1.5 million species, however, current estimates suggest that only one-twentieth of the world's species have been identified and cataloged. Yes, that means a staggering 80% are still unknown!
The Giant Squid Right up until the 21st century, the giant squid was believed to be a mythical creature (except by those who had witnessed one). For centuries, mariners have shared tale after tale of deadly encounters with tentacled sea monsters that could pluck a man from the deck of a ship and in a fit of rage, send the ship itself to the bottom of the sea. Of course to all those who had not witnessed one with their own eyes, the giant squid was obviously sheer fantasy. The tales were so frequent over the centuries that the mythical giant squid was even popularized in the 1870 Jules Verne, classic science fiction novel, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." In 2004 on September 30, the existence of the giant squid was proven through photographic evidence by researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan. The team took 556 photographs of the giant creature in its natural habitat, at 900 meters under the ocean surface. On December 4, 2006 the same scientific team filmed the giant squid, creating the first video or film to ever exist of a living giant squid. There are now eight known species of the genus. These deep ocean dwelling creatures can reach tremendous size (estimates of up to 60 feet) making them the largest living (known) organisms on our planet.
Six New African Species In 2007, in the six month period between January to June six new species of animals were discovered in Central Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a remote rain forest just west of Lake Tanganyika, scientists discovered an entirely unknown species of rodent and also a new bat species. Two new species of shrews and two new species of frogs were also discovered. Andrew Plumptre a Wildlife Conservation Society scientist said, “If we can find six new species in such a short period, it makes you wonder what else is out there.” Scientists also believe that there will be a number of new plant species will be discovered in this forested area. So far local botanists are unable to identify roughly 10 percent of the plants collected from the area. The forest where the plants were collected and the six new animal species were discovered, is a relatively small section of the Congo rainforest, which is the second largest rainforest in the world.
Giant Peccary (Pecari maximus) A new species of peccary, a member of the pig family, was discovered in November of 2007 by Dutch biologist Marc van Roosmalen. The discovery was made in the basin of the Rio Aripuană in the south-eastern Amazon region. The measurements of the body and the skull confirmed that the new species is larger than the other peccary species. The giant peccary has comparatively longer legs and its fur markings are also completely different. The skull sizes of the giant peccary also appear to differ from the other species. In June of 2002 researchers with Conservation International announced that they had discovered two new species of titi monkey in Brazil's Amazon rain forest. Primates, our closest evolutionary relative, have been studied and thoroughly researched for more than forty years and even though there is a huge body of knowledge existing on these creatures, scientists are increasingly surprised by the discoveries of new species.
Arunachal Macaque In 2004 the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced the discovery of a species of monkey previously unknown to science. The discovery took place in the remote northeastern region of India. The species has been named after the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh where it was found, the Arunachal macaque. The primate is a relatively large, predominately brown in color with a comparatively short tail. The last species of macaque to be discovered in the wild was the Indonesian Pagai macaque in 1903.
24 New Monkey Species Since 1990, scientists have identified 24 monkeys that were unknown and completely new to science.