J. Richard Greenwell (1942 – November 1, 2005) was a

cryptozoologist Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...

and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

. He participated in expeditions to look for mysterious creatures or

cryptids Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected by ...

. He was the secretary for the International Society for Cryptozoology from its inception to his death.

Biography

Born in

Surrey, England Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area ...

, Greenwell travelled to South America and stayed there for six years. He later travelled to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, where he was appointed research coordinator for the Office of Arid Land Studies at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. During the 1970s, he was Assistant Director of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in Tucson.

Cryptozoology and expeditions

In 1982, after a discussion with

Roy Mackal Roy P. Mackal (August 1, 1925 – September 13, 2013) was a University of Chicago biologist best known to the general public for his interest in cryptozoology. Academic background Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1925, Mackal served in the Unite ...

, Greenwell helped to found the International Society for Cryptozoology. With funding from the society, he was able to travel the planet searching for Bigfoot, the

Onza In Mexican folklore, the onza is a legendary cat species. Name The Spanish name ''onza'' derives from the Latin ''lynx'', ''lyncis'', and is equivalent to the English word "ounce", originally applied to the lynx but now more commonly to the sno ...

, and

Mokele-mbembe In cryptozoology, the Mokele-mbembe (also written as "Mokèlé-mbèmbé"), Lingala for "one who stops the flow of rivers", is a water-dwelling entity that supposedly lives in the Congo River Basin, sometimes described as a living creature, some ...

. He also journeyed to China along with the anthropologist Frank Poirier to try to discover the

Yeren The yeren (, "wild man") is a cryptid apeman reported to inhabit remote, mountainous regions of China, most famously in the Shennongjia Forestry District in the Hubei Province. Sightings of "hairy men" have remained constant since the Warring S ...

, a Chinese version of Bigfoot. All the expeditions were unsuccessful.

Later life

Greenwell wrote a column for BBC Wildlife Magazine for several years. He also appeared as a paid consultant on various documentaries about cryptozoology and lectured at universities and museums. For the last several years of his life Greenwell was a research associate at the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson, where he also ran the International Society for Cryptozoology. He participated in his last expedition in August 2005, searching for evidence of Bigfoot in the Northern Californian wilderness, while he was in the last stages of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. He died on November 1, 2005, in Tucson, Arizona.

Legacy

Greenwell is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Nigerian snake in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Leptotyphlopidae The Leptotyphlopidae (commonly called slender blind snakes or thread snakes) are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfamilies ...

, '' Tricheilostoma greenwelli''."''Tricheilostoma greenwelli'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwell, Richard 1942 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English people 21st-century English people 20th-century explorers 21st-century explorers Cryptozoologists People from Surrey Deaths from cancer in Arizona English explorers English columnists University of Arizona staff English expatriates in the United States