Abstract
"Hidden" animals, with which cryptozoology is concerned, are by definition very incompletely known. To gain more credence, they have to be documented as carefully and exhaustively as possible by a search throughout the most diverse fields of knowledge. Cryptozoological research thus requires not only a thorough grasp of most of the zoological sciences, including, of course, physical anthropology, but also a certain training in such extraneous branches of knowledge as mythology, linguistics, archaeology, and history. It will consequently be conducted more extensively in libraries, newspaper morgues, regional archives, museums, art galleries, laboratories, and zoological parks, rather than in the field. If proper cryptozoological work entails an exceptionally wide scope of multidisciplinary competence, the actual multifariousness of the tasks it involves implies that, according to his or her personal educational background, specialization, skill, or inclination, anybody interested in cryptozoology may contribute to its progress. The purpose of the present paper is to assist all those concerned, not only by briefly outlining the right procedures to follow and suggesting the best sources of information, but also by delineating some promising areas to prospect, as well as matters deserving special consideration. To emphasize the extreme versatility of cryptozoology, this paper is deliberately expressed in a forensic perspective, rather than in a strictly zoological one.