Karl Shuker

Dr. Karl P. N. Shuker (born 1959) is a British zoologist living in the West Midlands, England. He is currently working as a full-time freelance zoological consultant, media consultant, and author, specializing in cryptozoology, for which he is internationally renowned. During the course of his continuing researches and writings, he regularly travels worldwide, and also appears frequently on television and radio.

Academic

Shuker has a BSc/Honours in pure zoology from the University of Leeds and a PhD in zoology and comparative physiology from the University of Birmingham. He is a Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, a Member of the International Society of Cryptozoology and a member of the Society of Authors.

Career

Shuker has authored many hundreds of articles, and thirteen books, including the cryptozoological works "Mystery Cats of the World" (1989), "The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century" (1993; expanded in 2002 as "The New Zoo"), and "In Search of Prehistoric Survivors" (1995), as well as two worldwide bestsellers - "Dragons: A Natural History" (1995; resissued in 2006), and "The Unexplained" (1996; reissued in 2002). During his writings and researches, Shuker has been the first cryptozoologist to bring to widespread public attention a considerable number of cryptids that were previously little-known. These include the Sri Lankan horned jackal and devil bird, Gambo the Gambian sea serpent, Goodenough Island mystery bird, New Guinea ropen and devil pig or gazeka, Scottish earth hound, Indonesian veo and horned cat, New Caledonian du, Irish dobhar-chú, Shatt al Arab venomous mystery fish, Zanzibar makalala, Ethiopian death bird, Zululand kondlo, Arctic North American waheela, Kellas cat, Mongolian Death Worm, Hungarian reedwolf, Fujian blue or Maltese tiger, Welsh cenaprugwirion, bigfin squid, St Helena sirenian, Timor Sea ground shark, and crowing crested cobra.

Aside from his own publications, Dr. Shuker pens two regular cryptozoological columns ('Alien Zoo' and 'The Lost Ark') in "Fortean Times", is a contributing editor and cryptozoological columnist for "Strange Magazine", is a regular contributor to "Fate" and related publications. In addition, he is the zoological consultant for the Guinness World Records.

He has acted as a consultant for several television specials and series too, including Discovery TV's "Into the Unknown". He has also served as a question setter for the BBC's quiz show "Mastermind".

Trivia

In November 2001, Shuker became a £250,000 prize winner on the British version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".

In 2005, Shuker was honoured by the naming of a new species of Loricifera after him, "Pliciloricus shukeri", a highly distinctive species characterised by possessing a unique secondary double organ.

Books

*"Mystery Cats of the World" (1989), Robert Hale, ISBN 0-7090-3706-6
*"Extraordinary Animals Worldwide" (1991), Robert Hale, ISBN 0-7090-4421-6
*"The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century" (1993), HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-219943-2
*"Dragons - A Natural History" (1995), Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-81443-9; republished (2006), Taschen
*"In Search of Prehistoric Survivors" (1995), Blandford, ISBN 0-7137-2469-2
*"The Unexplained" (1996), Carlton Books, ISBN 1-85868-186-3
*"From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings" (1997), Llewellyn, ISBN 1-56718-673-4
*"Mysteries of Planet Earth" (1999), Carlton Books, ISBN 1-85868-679-2
*"The Hidden Powers of Animals", (2001), Reader's Digest, ISBN 0-7621-0328-0
*"The New Zoo: New and Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Century" (2002), House of Stratus, ISBN 1-84232-561-2
*"The Beasts That Hide From Man" (2003), Paraview, ISBN 1-931044-64-3
*"Extraordinary Animals Revisited" (2007) CFZ Press, ISBN 1-905723-17-1
*"Dr Shuker's Casebook" (2008) CFZ Press, ISBN 1-905723-33-1

Consultant/Contributor

*"Man and Beast" (1993)
*"Secrets of the Natural World" (1993)
*"Almanac of the Uncanny" (1995)
*"The Guinness Book of Records/Guinness World Records" (1997-Present Day)
*"Mysteries of the Deep" (1998)
*"Guinness Amazing Future" (1999)
*"The Earth" (2000)
*"Monsters" (2001)
*"Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained" (2007)
*"Chambers Myths and Mysteries" (2008)

External links

* [http://members.aol.com/karlshuker Shuker's website]

References

[1] Newton, Michael, 2005, "Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology: A Global Guide" (McFarland & Co, Inc: Jefferson), p. 425: "Today, he [Shuker] is globally recognized as an author and researcher on all aspects of animal life and unexplained phenomena, the heir apparent to Heuvelmans himself."

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