Cryptozoology (Nerd Rant)

So I have finally started to work on the Murray/Malavia playing cards...and have been collecting alot of weird references. Ever since I started work on the pieces for 'UnNatural' I have been finding some insane articles/ images. One thing I kept coming across while searching for reference was articles on Cryptozoology. This is a field that studies cyptids; legendary animals or species that are not proven to presently exist (things like Yeti, Loch Ness Monster, etc). I find these so interesting because for someone growing up with the world accesible through the internet, the world feels alot smaller than it actually is. It is possible that some of the creatures actually still exist, but are so remote that we have never come across them or properly recorded it. It is unlikely that they do, but it will be interesting to see what we find when we start combing the ocean in the next few years with manned subs. This was from an article in 'Popular Science' - "Now engineers want to unlock the rest of the sea with a new fleet of manned submersibles. And they don't have to go to the very bottom to do it. In fact, only about 2% of the seafloor lies below 20,000 feet, in deep, muddy trenches. If we extend our current reach just 5,000 feet -another mile- it will open about 98% of the world's oceans to scientific eyes."
These are just a couple of the things I've found that are blowing my nerdy mind!

First is a (theoretical) extinct snake called a Titanoboa - it was thought to be a 50-60 foot long mega snake that lived in south America. There are some (unproven) accounts of snakes this size still alive today.


There was also the Dunkleoteus...33ft long. It ate prehistoric sharks...


And also, the Giant ground sloth. Some people think it could still exist in remote parts of the rain forest.


Finally...an awesome picture of a sloth fighting a giant squid.