I saw Bigfoot!

A 2006 Baylor University study found that 16 percent of the U.S. population believes Bigfoot is alive and well. How likely is it that a gigantic primate is running free in the Pacific Northwest? Not very. It would mean there must be not just one individual, but a viable population – hundreds or thousands – of Bigfoot creatures (Bigfeet?) capable of producing enough offspring to dodge extinction while also somehow avoiding scientific confirmation all these years. If Bigfoot, dragons and the Loch Ness Monster excite you, I have great news. Weird and scary-looking species are discovered all the time. A 2011 study published in PLoS Biology reported scientists have catalogued less than 20 percent of land species and 10 percent of marine species to date. There is much work to be done. “Why believe in the unlikely beasts of myth and legend?” asks Harrison, “when so many amazing -- and real -- creatures are all around us, awaiting scientific discovery?”

^{Image by Kevin Hand/Prometheus Books}