The Lost Ark: New & Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Century

by Karl Shuker, Gerald Durrell (Foreword)

Genres: Cryptozoology, Natural History, Nonfiction, Wildlife, Nature, Animals, Science

287 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 1993

About the author

Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker BSc PhD FRES FZS is a zoologist who is internationally recognised as a world expert in cryptozoology (the scientific investigation of mystery animals whose existence or identity has yet to be formally ascertained), as well as in animal mythology and allied subjects relating to wildlife anomalies and inexplicabilia. He obtained a BSc (Honours) degree in pure zoology at the University of Leeds (U.K.), and a PhD in zoology and comparative physiology at the University of Birmingham (U.K.). He is now a freelance zoological consultant and writer, living in the West Midlands, England.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and exceedingly well researched (although thankfully written in a narrative style that while not simplistic is also both readable and understandable to and for non experts, to and for readers with just a casual and personal interest in biology, or more to the point zoology), Karl Shuker's The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Century (with a foreword by Gerald Durrell) presents an expansive account of new and rediscovered animal species of the 20th century (of course, now already much out of date, as new animal species keep being discovered or rediscovered). Not to be confused with those cryptozoology tomes that are primarily wildly imaginative and suppositional (and thus deal mostly with monsters and legendary creatures such as the Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster) the diverse sections of The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Centruy do, in fact, mostly contain legitimate and scientifically proven 20th century animal discoveries (from mammals to invertebrates, the latter being much appreciated, as invertebrates and new discoveries of invertebrate species are often and sadly unfortunately rather ignored in and by these types of books).

And while the last chapter (the sixth chapter) of The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Centruy is indeed a trifle more speculative and to my minor annoyance also does feature somewhat more problematic conjectures, such as the consideration that there perhaps are holdout dinosaur-like species in certain areas of the world, like Scotland's Loch Ness and in the African jungles, chapters one to five are all completely realistic in set-up and feature only legitimate and scientifically proven animal discoveries (and even the sixth chapter is not really all that wildly speculative, it simply points out some of the more controversial creatures of legend and lore and offers possible ideas and explanations as to what they might represent). The appendix (featuring a detailed explanation of the scientific classification of animals) and the extensive bibliography are an added and much appreciated bonus (and in my opinion cement this book, cement Karl Shuker's The Lost Ark: New and Recently Discovered Animals of the Twentieth Century as a shining example of an scientifically interesting and academically sound addition to the canon of books on cryptozoology and rediscovered, newly discovered animal species). Highly recommended and a lot of fun!