What would happen if biologists discovered a North American ape? Obviously the Bigfoot community would go, well, ape. They would very likely declare that the Sasquatch had finally been found and didn't we skeptics feel foolish now? But would that be the correct response?

The problem with Cryptozoology, and the reason it isn't science is that they are searching for specific animals, and not just something new. If what they wanted was to discover a new species they could become actual zoologists, and they would be successful. Instead they search for the elusive animal x. Lets go back to my opening question. What would happen if we found a large footed ape? It would be announced, of course, and studied. If it truly was something new, and not a deformed known animal, it would be given a Latin name, catalogued, and entered into the biological record. But would this be Bigfoot? The real Bigfoot? I'm sure many would say yes, but others would still hold the belief that this is just an ape and not the pandimensional creature they have been hunting. Were its feet really that big?

And this is the problem. When one sets out to discover an animal that they are sure exists, but no one has ever seen, they will fail every time. I chose Bigfoot for this example because there is such a rich mythology surrounding it, but it could be applied to any mythical animal. Is that a unicorn or just a horse with a horn? Something matching some, or most, of the features for animal x could be found, but one could never identify it as being animal x. There is simply nothing to compare it to.

Cryptozoology is, and will always remain, non-science. New species are discovered every day, none of them are, or ever were mythical. Any "science" that operates from a conclusion first will always fail. We may find a large footed ape, but you still won't have found Bigfoot.