Foreword. Chapter 1

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A little science takes you away from God... but a lot of science brings you back to him." Louis Pasteur.

Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, from the Greek κρυπτος cryptos 'hidden', ζωος zoos 'animal' and λογος logos 'study'; literally: 'study of hidden animals'. Proposed by a group of zoologists, as a compilation of legends about unknown animals in order to study them. The origins of cryptozoology are almost as old as those of paleontology, with a difference of 62 years (Paleontology 1830, Cryptozoology 1892).

The term cryptozoology is usually attributed to the zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans, who defined cryptozoology as "the study of animals for whose existence we only have circumstantial and testimonial evidence, or else material evidence considered insufficient by the majority." His 1955 book "On the Trail of Unknown Animals" is often seen as the genesis of this discipline, but Bernard Heuvelmans himself traced its origins to Anthonid Cornelis Oudemans and his 1892 study "The Great Sea Serpent."

Heuvelmans argued that cryptozoology should be practiced with scientific rigor, but also with an open and interdisciplinary attitude, giving these terms a meaning other than "scientific rigor". In addition, according to Heuvelmans, special attention must also be paid to the traditions and popular beliefs about these creatures. Although often shrouded in elements of the fantastic and implausible, folk legends may contain some sliver of truth that could help guide investigation of "unusual animal" reports.

Only 1.3 million species have been identified, which means that approximately 86% of terrestrial species and 91% of marine species have yet to be discovered, explained the study's lead author, Colombian biologist Camilo Mora, Professor at the University of Hawaii, in the United States.

The census "is a great advance. We have spent 250 years trying to answer the question of how many species exist and our ignorance was such that we thought that the number could be between 3 and 100 million," Mora told BBC Mundo. The study represents for the expert a "very big wake-up call for the human race".

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