In the study of cryptozoology there are creatures who have become familiar to people to world over; Sasquatch, the Jersey Devil, chupacabra, and the Loch Ness Monster have become staples of pop culture whether they exist or not. But there are many cryptids who are just as fascinating who have not reached that level of fame. In honor of them here is my list of some of cryptozoology's overlooked members.
Altamaha-ha: Nessie and Champ may be the most well-known sea serpents, but there are plenty of other possibly prehistoric creatures in our waters. The Muscogee Indians who once lived around the Altamaha River were the first to claim seeing this serpentine animal. But it was not long before the settlers arriving to Georgia would see the creature known as Altamaha-ha as well. Given the region it is sighted in is filled with streams, marshes, and abandoned rice fields, there are plenty of places for this cryptid to hide from humans. Many times over the years the citizens of Darien, St. Simons, and Butler Island, have tried to hype up their own water monster to the level of fame Nessie enjoys but to no avail.
Honey Island Swamp Monster: The swamps of Louisiana are full of mysteries awaiting to be solved. One such mystery is that of the Honey Island Swamp Monster, a humanoid creature covered in fur, but with reptilian qualities as well like webbed feet. According to local lore, a circus train crashed in the early 1900's allowing the monkeys to escape and mate with the local alligator population. Their offspring, featuring both primate and reptile physical traits, in the Honey Island Swamp Monster. In 1963 Harlan Ford became the first known person to see the creature and made it his life's work to capture it. There are many who frequent the swamps of Honey Island and claim the creature to be a hoax, but with so much unexplored territory in the region who knows what may be hiding.
Yowie: All over the globe, people have reported seeing large bipedal apes in places largely isolated from humans. In the Pacififc Northwest there is the Sasquatch; in the Himalayas is the Yeti; but many forget that in the Australian Outback lives the Yowie. According to the researchers at Australian Yowie Research, there are two different types of Yowie; the larger ones which are 8-10ft. tall and the smaller ones which are 4-5ft. tall. Settlers first learned about the animal in the 1790's when aboriginal people would speak of a bipedal ape man they would often see. During the 1800's reported sightings of the "ape-man" began to flood the media from all over Australia. The topic became a social taboo in the 1900's as crews building roads across the nation would see the yowie in areas humans had never been before. Much like their North American cousin, the yowie have been know to leave their large footprints to be captured in plaster by those looking for the truth.
Emela-ntouka: In the deepest reaches of the most remote jungles of Africa a few brave explorers have found people who speak of animals we believe to be extinct. Key among them in Mokele-mbembe which by all descriptions seems to be a sauropod dinosaur. While the prospect of Mokele-mbembe has inspired explorers all over the world to search for it, often overlooked in that same region is he Emela-ntouka. In the Lingala language its name means "elephant killer" this animal was revealed to the Western world by the writings of J. E. Hughes who reported that one was killed after a fierce battle by a local tribe. Emela-ntouka is reported to be larger than an elephant with a massive horn on its nose. As the name implies this living dinosaur often hunts down and battle elephants but is said to be herbivorous.
