From the legendary "Abominable Snowman," or Yeti, of the Himalayas to real creatures such as the Tasmanian tiger thought to have vanished in 1936, improbable beasts called "cryptids" now have a new shrine.

Last month the father of cryptozoology, 83-year-old Bernard Heuvelmans, donated more than 50,000 documents, photos, and specimens to the Museum of Zoology in Lausanne, Switzerland. Co-founder of the International Society of Cryptozoology (www.izoo.org/isc), Heuvelmans "applied a zoologist's approach to this elusive topic," says museum director Michel Sartori, who says he's heard no complaints that the museum is dipping into pseudoscience.

Cryptozoology has claimed some successes over the years: A few creatures have emerged from lore into reality, such as the mountain gorilla (found in Rwanda in 1902) and the coelacanth (an ancient fish discovered off South Africa in 1938). Still, some view the field with bemusement: "If you consider it as a pleasant hobby," says Jacques Hausser of the Institute of Ecology in Lausanne, "it can give you very nice insights into the functioning of human imagination and dreams."