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Successes of Cryptozoology
Various animals have been discovered, but to be discovered by the cryptozoological method the existence of the animal must have been predicted. A cryptid may be an invertebrate rather than a vertebrate, and the existence of a sphyngid (Xanthopan morgani praedicta) discovered in Madagascar in 1903 was predicted by Charles Darwin in 1861. This moth has a 25 cm long proboscis and the existence of this animal was predicted to explain the shape of an orchid flower.
Inaccessible Island, in the Atlantic, is inhabited by a flightless rail of the genus Atlantisia that inhabits dense tussock grass and was only described in 1923. In 1935, Skinnear predicted the existence of a flightless rail on Accension Island that was confirmed by the discovery of the subfossil remains of a second species of Atlantisia there in 1970. In 1981, Michel Raynal predicted the existence of a flightless rail similar to the takahe on Hiva-Oa. In 1986, the discovery of subfossil remains there from a rail congeneric with the takahe confirmed this suspicion.
The existence of a population of bears in the Atlas mountains has been controversial since classical times, with some arguing that there were no indigenous bears in North Africa whilst others argued against this. The radiocarbon dating of bear bones from Algeria in 1998 has confirmed that bears, Ursus (arctos?) crowtheri, once inhabited North Africa around 420AD to 600AD. Another large animal, the Vu Quang ox, was predicted to exist because this animal was described by the Chinese.