Animalia Paradoxa

The basis of biological nomenclature was begun by the famous botanist Carl Linnaeus in the eighteenth century. Linnaeus is considered to be the father of modern Taxonomy, naming and classifying living creatures and fossils.

He is also in many ways that father of modern crypto zoology as well. In his paper Systema Natura Linnaeus defined the three original Kingdoms (Animal, Plant, and Mineral).

Beneath the Animal Kingdom he classified animals as belonging to seven categories; under the first six he placed the regular animals. The seventh category he reserved for those creatures which defied normal convention, Animalia Paradoxa or “contradictory animals”.

While not having the modern wealth of knowledge he placed several obvious fakes into the category Pardoxa, but thanks to his endeavors we are capable of properly identifying and sorting the abominations of this world. This sorting method allows our archivists to better serve hunters by ensuring that creatures are filed appropriately.

The majority of Monsters fall under the following:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Paradoxa

Originally Paradoxa served as the equivalent to a phylum under Linnaeus, however with the modern structuring of taxonomic nomenclature it has been downgraded to a Class within the Phylum Chordata. A few monstrous creatures such as the Kraken do not fit within the Paradoxa class and fall within other relations.

Kraken:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Subclass: Coleoidea

Order: Teuthida

Suborder: Oegopsina

Family: Architeuthidae

Genus: Architeuthis

Species: Architeuthis Megacrinia (Giant Tentacle)

Paradoxa works extremely well as what are commonly considered monsters could fall under multiple other classes. An example of this would be a Manticore, this chimera like creature can fall under multiple classes, Reptilia, Aves, and Mamalia. Certain species even share characteristics of the Phylum Athropoda.

Manticore:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Paradoxa

Order: Mutanid

Family: Chimidae

Genus: Manticora

Species: Manticora Avescorpio

A Manticora Avescorpio is a species of Manticore found primarily in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Reports of this creature first began appearing when men intruded on its home during the first century AD. It is characterized differently from others of its Genus by the tail which resembles a massive scorpion stinger and its wings.

Other Species of the Manticore exist, some only have wings (Manticora Aves) others merely the scorpion tail (Manticora Scorpio), many other varieties exist as well.

With the basic structure in place Dark Archivists, Crypto-Zoologists, and Meta-Scientists serve the light by codifying the strengths and weaknesses of monsters. This allows our hunters to bring fire and death to where they prey on mankind.

This blog post is the first in a series exploring part of the Animalia Paradoxa and the creatures that comprise it.