Cryptozoology

Newly Discovered Kipunji Extinct Soon?

Found only three years ago in its tiny forest home in Tanzania, a monkey species may soon be extinct. The kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji and also known as the Highland Mangabey) was discovered in 2005 in the Southern Highlands and Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania. In 2006, genetic analyses revealed the species represented an entire new genus of primate — the first since 1923. “The kipunji is hanging on by the thinnest of threads,” said Tim Davenport, Tanzania country director for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). “We must do all we can to safeguard this extremely rare and little understood species while [...]

Cryptid Washes Ashore At Montauk

Something strange has washed ashore at Montauk Island, New York. “This is an actual monster, some sort of rodent-like creature with a dinosaur beak. A tipster says that there is ‘a government animal testing facility very close by in Long Island,’” says Gawker in a posting for Tuesday, July 29, 2008. Comments like “That’s a turtle, without its shell,” make no sense because of the teeth. Some fossil turtles had teeth, but no modern turtles possess real teeth. What is this animal? Why can’t people put some sort of size reference object in these mystery photos? How big is this [...]

New Yeti Hairs and Hillary

The Yeti hair sample shows split ends. The first update to the testing of the Yeti hair sample is in, and the results are “inconclusive,” not too surprisingly. Initial results showed it had human and ape-like characteristics. Ian Redmond, a biologist and expert in ape conservation, said the hairs found in the Indian jungle resembled samples collected by the conqueror of Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, in the 1950s. “Under the microscope, they look slightly human, slightly like an orang utang and slightly like the hairs brought back by Edmund Hillary,” Redmond told AFP. “These hairs remain an enigma. They could [...]

Journey To The Bottom Of Lake Baikal

Today, July 29, 2008, Russian scientists will attempt to reach the bottom of the world’s deepest freshwater abyss in a bid to find unknown life forms as well as claim a new record. In the realm of cryptozoology, the so-called “Lake Baikal Monster” is described by some as being a sturgeon-like cryptid, while others have likened it to a giant pinniped or large marine mammal. “We want to study, observe Lake Baikal” in order to “preserve it,” said expedition leader Artur Chilingarov, a pro-Kremlin member of parliament who led a team of scientists that planted a Russian flag at the [...]

Saigas, Mammoths, and Pleistocene Parks

Travel with me today, from the concept of prehistoric trunked animals to the future establishment of Pleistocene Parks in Siberia and America. Regarding artist William Munns’ reconstruction theories about trunked dinosaurs, he observes, “In the matter of comparative anatomy with existent species, no existent skulls are identical, but two types do have nares at the top of the skull. One group are the cetaceans (porpoise and whales). The other are the Proboscidians (elephants).” As Munns points out, interestingly, “in mammals, the presumption of a trunk is freely given to any skull with high nares.” The macraucheniid litoptern is assumed to [...]

Cadborosaurus willsi Revisited

Due to the new sighting of Ogopogo, it was only a matter of time before someone would begin wondering what happened to Caddy, Cadborosaurus willsi, the Sea Serpent of Cadboro Bay, off British Columbia. Victoria’s Times Colonist ran an update today. According to Paul Leblond, a retired University of British Columbia oceanography professor and author a 1995 book on the Cadborosaurus, Caddy was last spotted several years ago off the shores of Galiano Island. “The search is still ongoing,” Leblond (pictured below) told a reporter. Leblond said Jason Walton, vice-president of the B.C. Scientific Cryptozoology Club, keeps a video camera [...]