Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman

Maine’s Mystery Beast Banner

The Maine Mystery Beast banner remains safely in the Pine Tree State! Rogier van Bakel, his wife Debbie, and their two delightful daughters (one shown above) came by over this Christmas weekend to drop off the unique Paul Szauter sideshow art, entitled the Maine’s Mystery Beast banner. Van Bakel is a well-traveled, well-spoken journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wired, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. We had a good talk about all matters of cryptozoology and Forteana, and I showed them some of the items around my in-house museum. Of [...]

Discovering the Dhole

Remember the episode called "Alpha" in season six of The X-Files? It involved a cryptid dhole from China that was blamed for going on a killing rampage. The dhole (Cuon alpinus) is in the news because Vietnam feels these allegedly recently extinct "red dogs" are back from the edge in their country. "In Search for the Endangered Dhole" (Vietnam News Service, December 24, 2006) tells of the new quest for more about these elusive candids and their probable recovery. Reporter Lam Quang Huy, after giving background information, shared this compelling account of searching for the dhole with villagers: The first [...]

More New Species and Subspecies Announced

As 2006 rolls to a close, scientists are releasing more announcements of new species and subspecies. Here are details of a new lizard, new birds, a new fish and a new subspecies of tiger. Thailand: New Lizard (Not Salamander) The Bangkok, Thailand newspaper, The Nation is reporting on December 25, 2006, that a new species of reptile, apparently incorrectly translated as a “salamander,” but as noted by Chad Arment, a lizard has been discovered that features a “short tail with thornlike scales.” The Huai Hang Nam [lizard] was found living in a seasonal rain forest near Tevada Mountain in Chaiyaphum’s [...]

Cryptozoology For The Troops

Camel spiders found during the Iraq war are real. I support the troops, whether they are the people out there dodging the bullets and the camel spiders or the soldiers supporting them. I won’t get into politics here, but allow me this minor holiday effort to give a cryptozoology break to some gals and guys in the war zones around the world. I will be mailing out some of my books this holiday season to these folks. If you have a son or daughter in Iraq or Afghanistan, or in a military hospital, and think he or she would enjoy [...]

Bdeogale jacksoni Discovered in Tanzania

Jackson’s mongoose (Bdeogale jacksoni), sometimes called the black-footed mongoose, is considered Africa’s least-known carnivore and now has been discovered in Tanzania. I’ve already included a note of this breaking news late last night in my posting of The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories of 2006, but here are the full details: The Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced December 23, 2006, that a camera-trap study in the mountains of Southern Tanzania has now recorded Africa’s least-known and probably rarest carnivore: Jackson’s mongoose, known only from a few observations and museum specimens. The findings, reported in the latest issue of the [...]