Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman

Hobbits Walk Was Distinctive

Tolkien’s hobbits walked an awful long way, but the real “hobbit”, Homo floresiensis, would not have got far. Its flat, clown-like feet probably limited its speed to what we would consider a stroll, and kept its travels short, says Bill Jungers, an anthropologist at the State University of New York in Stony Brook. “It’s never going to win the 100-yard dash, and it’s never going to win the marathon,” he says. He presented his conclusion at last week’s meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Columbus, Ohio. By analysing the nearly complete left foot of an 18,000-year-old hobbit [...]

Devilish Melanistic Panthers

Relatively old-fashioned wildlife and outdoors reporters are few and far between today, and especially in big city papers. But San Francisco is lucky enough to have one: Tom Stienstra. Stienstra has a history of being open-minded enough to pen and tackle thoughtful pieces on Sasquatch, which seems reasonable concerning his location. He also appears to be very aware of the jet-black felids that are often seen in Marin County and around the East Bay area. One difference I do have with this reporter, however, is his unfortunate and incorrect use of the word “mythic.” “Myths” are wrongly used with cryptids. [...]

Elephantopotamus Discovered

At least one species of proboscidean, a prehistoric relative of the elephant, lived in an aquatic environment, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The extinct water-lover, which belonged to the genus Moeritherium and lived around 37 million years ago, appears to have munched on freshwater plants and spent most of its days in swamps or river systems, according to Alexander Liu, an earth sciences expert at the University of Oxford and the lead author of the study. The research team based its findings on a group of fossilized teeth found in [...]

Chicago Cougar Video

The story of the cougar killed in Chicago, detailed here yesterday, was documented by the visual news organizations. Here’s the video. The crowd of onlookers included representatives of the media.

Cougar Killed in Chicago

“Cougars don’t exist in Illinois,” we have all been told for years, especially before two 21st century incidents began to alert people to the notion eyewitnesses seeing the cats weren’t crazy. “They are extinct in the state,” officialdom still claimed. Now, beyond belief, a cougar or puma or mountain lion, whatever you wish to call it, has been killed on the North Side of Chicago on April 14, 2008. Obtaining an actual body is the ultimate proof, of course. The Chicago Tribune’s photographer Candice C. Cusic snapped the images on Monday, which sum up the story (below), from the felid [...]