Living Fossils and Cryptozoology

“Living fossils” are presently-living organisms that standard biology textbooks refer to as “ancient.” Whether or not cockroaches and crocodiles are ancient, living many millions of years ago—this is hotly contested between evolutionists and creationists. But the creatures themselves are interesting and deserve attention.

Cryptozoology deals with possibly real creatures that are not yet classified by zoologists, at least not yet by non-cryptozoologists. Some of these cryptids may turn out to be “living fossils,” however, and wouldn’t that be interesting if dinosaurs and pterosaurs were still living? According to some reports, some of them still live.

Consider the following web sites about the Mokele-Mbembe, ropen, indava, and ogopogo. The world may have strange creatures—real, living creatures—absent from biology textbooks. 

But some "living fossils," like the Coelacanth, are classified.

The Living Coelacanth
“To be enlightened by the Coelacanth, look not at the anatomy of fishes but at the mentality of humans. What is to be learned from a fish that is labeled a 'living fossil?' It’s a lesson from the mistakes of biology textbooks written before the 1938 discovery of the Coelacanth, and those mistakes may be more numerous and significant than is now commonly known.”
Cryptid dinosaurs
and pterosaurs
 
 
Mokele-mbembe,
The Living Dinosaur!
"In the jungles of central Africa countries of Congo, Cameroon, and Gabon are reports of an animal with a long neck, a long tail, and rounded shape tracks with three claws. The closest known animal [explanation]
. . . is a sauropod dinosaur.”
 
 
Living Pterosaur Expedition
"Late in 2006, I interviewed Paul Nation in his home in Granbury, Texas, just days after he had returned from Papua New Guinea.”
 
 
The Ogopogo Lake Monster
“It’s common practice for many major documentary producers to either ignore the possibility of [real] living pterosaurs or dinosaurs, or to treat unorthodox sightings as if [they're] unreliable simply because what is described seems to be a dinosaur or a pterosaur.”
Was a Mokele-mbembe killed at Lake Tele?
By the explorer William Gibbons
 
“I can confirm that at least two of the pygmies who were directly involved in the killing of a Mokele-mbembe at Lake Tele about three decades ago were acquainted on a personal level with missionary pastor Eugene P. Thomas. I have discussed this incident with Pastor Thomas, and he was able to confirm . . . details of the story . . .”

 
The Cryptid Ogopogo

“In South-Central British Columbia, in Lake Okanagan, lives something local people call ‘Ogopogo.’ Local natives who recite legends use another name for the lake monster: Naitaka. . . . the creatures (yes, there must be more than one to have a breeding population) can be between 20 and 50 feet long, with a horse-like head and a snake-like body. . . .”
 
 
Dinosaurs Alongside Humans
 
Strange as it may seem to modern people of developed nations, Grendel, in the epic poem of Beowulf, bears resemblance to a creature like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, though the story seems to make it clear that the monster was not nearly as large as the largest fossils we have of a T. R."
 
 
Pterosaur Seen in South Carolina
 
"Late in 2007, I interviewed Susan Wooten by email concerning her sighting of an apparent pterosaur that flew over a highway near a swamp in South Carolina. She told me that ‘It looked as big as any car, and had NO feathers, not like a huge crane or egret.’ With a wingspan that she estimated at 12-20 feet . . ."
 
Pterosaurs Alive: Resources on Eyewitness Sightings
 
Cryptozoology & Pterosaurs
"How could living pterosaurs escape the notice of scientists for centuries? Two words: 'nocturnal,' 'rare.' But something else has prevented the discovery of these amazing animals: dogmatism of standard biology."
 
Three native eyewitnesses
of the ropen (pterosaur)
(includes a video of three young native men of Umboi Island)
 
Gideon Koro of Umboi
 
Are Dragons Pterosaurs?
“ . . . three native young men saw a giant ropen flying over a crater lake around 1994. When asked about the tail, they said that it had a “diamond.” The tail was ‘long’.”
 
Book Reviews
by Jonathan Whitcomb
Books reviewed included the subjects of living dinosaurs, living pterosaurs, the Min Min light of Australia (apparently barn owls), and a near-death experience (NDE).

The Indava (a pterosaur?)
of Papua New Guinea
“On the mainland of Papua New Guinea, lives a colony of creatures unclassified by science but known to the villagers as ‘indava.’ . . . According to the nonfiction book "Searching for Ropens," rare Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs
still fly in the Southwest Pacific . . .”