Why we need Bigfoot hunters

From Amy, blogger-by-proxy, this Salon article explains why the crypto can't be completely cut off from zoology.

The hunt for cryptids isn't just quixotic. It's motivated by the same 
ambitions that have led to key zoological discoveries. You might even 
say cryptid hunters keep warm that place in science where
 anything is possible. And it's from that place where some of the 
most astounding advances in the sciences are derived.



At the turn of the 20th century, for instance, the Mountain Gorilla and the
 platypus were thought to be legend or hoax. Pearl fishermen of 
Indonesia told tales of enormous prehistoric-like creatures on a remote 
island; the stories turned out to be real and the animals were named 
Komodo dragons. (An animal, even today, has not been "discovered" 
until a bona fide scientist says so, no matter how many locals claim 
its existence.)



Similarly, I'm open to the possibility that there are moderate Republicans, but I'll only believe when I see one.