In our hotseat today is Charles Paxton. Charles is a fisheries ecologist/statistician at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and who also investigates aquatic monsters. Some of the cryptozoology-related subjects he has studied and published papers on include the identity of the seamonk and predicting the existence of large undiscovered aquatic animals using statistical models. A list of Charles’s published works can be found on his webpage (http://freespace.virgin.net/charles.paxton/main.html) along with links to several of his papers online. It’s well worth checking out.
Charles Paxton, here are your 5 questions on… Cryptozoology:
1) How did you first become interested in cryptozoology?
I don't know about cryptozoology but I have been interested in giant squid and sea monsters for as long as I can remember. My grown-up interest in cryptozoology restarted c. 1994 when I was wondering about whether we could predict future discoveries of marine species.
2) Have you ever personally seen a cryptid or secondary evidence of a cryptid, if so can you please describe your encounter?
I don't think I have ever seen a cryptid but I have seen lots and lots of animals I could not identify to species/genus/family. I don't think they were undescribed species, though.
3) Which cryptids do you think are the most likely to be scientifically discovered and described some day, and why?
I don't know about cryptids but I know there are some putative new cetacean species being currently debated in marine mammalogical circles.
4) Which cryptids do you think are the least likely to exist?
It is difficult to make predictions about events associated with very low probabilities but I am pretty confident mermaids and lizardmen do not exist! But I don't really like the use of particular names for cryptids as it presupposes a single cause/identity of what is being reported, which strikes me, in the absence of absolute knowledge, as a trifle circular. Having said that it is convenient to use such terms as a method of labelling reports from particular localities like the 'Loch Ness Monster.'
5) If you had to pick your favourite cryptozoological book (not including books you may have written yourself) what would you choose?
In the Wake of the Sea Serpents, as a famous cryptozoology book, but Chad Arment's Cryptozoology: Science and Speculation is probably my favourite non-famous cryptozoology book. It is the best book on cryptozoology ever written.
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