Cryptozoology

South China Tiger Photos Fake

Late on Sunday, June 29, 2008, the Chinese news service Xinhua is confirming that the controversial photographs of a rare South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) in the wild are fake. Cryptomundo first discussed this news on October 14, 2007, and our readers knew what was what, right away. At Cryptomundo, the photos were declared a fakes on November 22, 2008. The photos were fabricated by farmer Zhou Zhenglong, Shaanxi Provincial government officials said on Sunday. Zhou, 54, from Zhenping county, claimed to have photographed the tiger with a digital camera on the afternoon of Oct. 3 last year, but [...]

Mystery Deer Captured In Indiana

Brian Walters, a South Bend Animal Control officer, checks on a deer that was captured downtown after a lengthy chase. Tribune Photos by Gene Kaiser. Police and animal control officers were on an animal chase in downtown South Bend, Indiana, on June 26, 2008. A wild mystery deer, later identified only as a “male” when captured, was seen running through the streets. Reporter David Stephens of the South Bend Tribune recorded the course of the chase: Where the deer came from, how he got downtown and where he was going Thursday afternoon were not known…. Already he had been spotted [...]

Volkswagen-Sized Catfish

Famed natural history artist Alexis Rockman painted the cover of the 2001 edition of Mysterious America depicting a real encounter he and his cryptozoology expedition associates had with a giant catfish in the Amazon. The new edition of Mysterious America contains a chapter on “Giant Catfish” sightings, which continue throughout North America and elsewhere in the world. These tales overlap with swamp monster encounters, lake monster ponderings, and weird animal happenings. Giant catfish do exist, which is a fact not in dispute. The question is how “giant” does “giant” get and where are they living today. In an article today [...]

Giant Squid Found Off California

Only the fourth specimen of a giant squid, genus Architeuthis, to be found off the coast of California, near Santa Cruz, was discovered on Thursday, June 26, 2008.

DNA: Falcons Closer To Parrots Than Hawks

The secret kinship of falcons and parrots is one of many surprises in a landmark genetic study of 169 bird species being published by Chicago Field Museum researchers. A consequence of the study in the June 27, 2008 edition of the journal Science is a re-ordering of the field guides that many of America’s 80 million bird-watchers use. Most bird guides are based on scientific classifications, which experts said the new work could change in numerous ways. “This is the most important single paper to date on the higher-level relationships of birds,” said Joel Cracraft, curator of birds at the [...]

New Big-Headed Fanged Frog Discovered

Above: The newly described Limnonectes megastomais McLeod, 2008. Photographed at SERS in central east Thailand. John C. Murphy. On the right the fang-like odontoid processes are clearly visible in the lower jaw. A new species of dicroglossid frog in the genus Limnonectes has been described from three forested locations in eastern Thailand by D. S. McLeod of the University of Kansas. The species appears to be a sit and wait predator that feeds on insects, other frogs, and birds. The author writes, “The most striking characteristics of the males of this species are their exceptionally large mouths and powerful jaws. [...]

Oldest 4-Legged Creature Found

Ventastega curonica would have looked similar to a small alligator. Scientists unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in history, said a study in the June 26, 2008 issue of the journal Nature. The well-preserved remains, discovered from 370-million-year-old rocks in the country of Latvia, has features of both water (fish) and land (reptilian) animals. The fierce-looking creature probably swam through shallow brackish waters, measured about one meter long and ate other fish, scientists said in the study. “If you saw it from a distance, it would look like a small alligator, but if you look closer you [...]