Philip Henry Gosse

Philip Henry Gosse Biographical information Born 6 April 1810 Worcester, United Kingdom Died 23 August 1888 (aged 78) Torquay, United Kingdom Professional information Occupation Naturalist, writer, science communicator Notable works • The Romance of Natural History (1860) Notable investigations • Sea serpent • Schelch • African unicorn • Salvaje

Philip Henry Gosse FRS (6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888) was an English naturalist and writer whose interest in romantic zoology, the 19^th Century precursor to cryptozoology, has seen him labelled a "grandfather of cryptozoology". His work The Romance of Natural History (1860), considered by Bernard Heuvelmans to be the high point of the "British Period" of sea serpent research, covered a number of cryptids including the sea serpent, African unicorn, salvaje, crowing crested cobra, and schelch. Gosse was a supporter of the then-popular plesiosaur theory of sea serpent classification, though he also suggested a serpentine cetacean identity, apparently unaware of the former existence of zeuglodons.