Cryptozoology

Mississippi ‘Roos On the Run

Mississippi is in the midst of a rash of kangaroo sightings. Here is a summary of what the wire services are reporting about the specifics. Bay St. Louis, Miss. (AP) – A kangaroo may be on the loose in Mississippi. Animal-control officers in Bay Saint Louis say there have been several reports in the past few days of a kangaroo hopping along U.S. 90. The mayor says he’s heard reports of people seeing a kangaroo four or five different times, and at first he wondered if someone was just joking around. Some officials suspect the animal was someone’s pet that [...]

New Congolese Species

———————————————————————— Field teams discovered four mammal species new to science, including a new species of bat of the Rhinolophus genus. Other mammal species included a species of rodent and two shrews. ———————————————————————— An expedition led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to a remote corner of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has uncovered unique forests which, so far, have been found to contain six animal species new to science: a bat, a rodent, two shrews, and two frogs. The forested region—including the Misotshi-Kabogo Forest (formerly Mt. Kabobo)—and nearby Marunga Massif is located just west of Lake Tanganyika and has [...]

New Suriname Species

Conservation International led expeditions to the South American country of Suriname in 2005 and 2006, finding two dozen potential new species in the process. Among the biological curiosities documented during the expeditions was this ant species, Daceton armigerum, which is a highly visual predator of the rainforest canopy. Piotr Naskrecki / Conservation International The Amazonian snail-eater snake, Dipsas indica, was documented by researchers on the Lely Plateau in Suriname. This snake feeds on snails, which extracts from the shell. After the snake seizes the exposed body of a snail, the slender lower jaws of the snake are drawn into the [...]

Cryptotaxidermia Wurzeltodensis

One of the prize pieces of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists. Suzanne Gerber (above). Suzanne Gerber has collected an incredible gallery of pieces in her “long-awaited Taxidermy, Cryptozoology & Animal Curiosa Überpost – dedicated to a very precious and talented friend” of hers: “The lovely Jessica Joslin.” Open the magnificent door to her Taxidermia Wurzeltodensis and visit her large online collection of cryptotaxidermy and more. By the way, I was watching Showtime’s early Dexter episodes two weeks ago, and was surprised to hear and see that one of the serial killer suspects was a practicing “cryptotaxidermist.” (I wonder the [...]

Van Roosmalen Temporarily Released

Chad Arment has passed along the news that the mammalogist and cryptozoologist Marc Van Roosmalen is out of prison on appeal. A Brazilian judge on Tuesday [August 7, 2007] ordered that a prominent Dutch scientist be freed from prison while he appeals his conviction for environmental crimes and embezzlement, a court official said. Marc Van Roosmalen was convicted on June 15 of trying to illegally auction off the names of monkey species, keeping rare monkeys at his house without authorization and selling a scaffolding donated to the National Institute for Amazon Research where he worked. He was sentenced to 15 [...]

See Monster

The sea is the best field for data. – Charles Fort. Okay, in celebration of today – August 7th – being the official “Sea Serpent Day” – here above is a humorous take on the events of the next 24 hours from cartoonist Charles Berlin, creator of the world explorer character Professor Wexler. M.T. Anderson’s “Serpent Came to Gloucester” (Candlewick, 2005) recounts in rhyming verse the early-19th-century sighting of a mysterious sea serpent off the coast of Gloucester. Inspired by real-life reports, Anderson writes from the perspective of a boy who witnesses the creature’s visitations and is secretly pleased when [...]

Champ’s Birthday Too

Happy Birthday Champ!!! – August 6, 2007 – The Lake Monsters will celebrate Champ’s Birthday tonight at historic Centennial Field when Vermont hosts the Tri-City ValleyCats beginning at 7:05 p.m. Be sure to get to the ballpark early as many of Champ’s mascot friends will honor him with a country-style birthday party before the game.Official Vermont Lake Monsters website

Beyond Mothman: I-35W Blues

Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours.Magnolia, 1999. The collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota is a tragedy, some say of epic proportions. Certainly, it is the most significant bridge collapse, not caused by an easily visible external reason like an earthquake or an impact from a barge, since 1967. An Anomaly National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said it is too early for officials to know if the accident could have been avoided. “They are built not to fall down. This is an anomaly and we’re going to try to find out [...]

An Electrogenic Mammal?

There are three known kinds of electric – more correctly called electrogenic – animals: (1) the one species, Electrophorus electricus, of South American electric eel (really a knifefish), (2) the 19 species of African electric catfish in the genera Malapterurus and Paradoxoglanis, and (3) the 69 species of electric rays (order Torpediniformes) found around the world. The first two fish both demonstrate the ability to shock prey with electricity as an effective strategy for a piscivore (an animal that eats fish). They produce high levels of voltage, e.g. electric eel (600 volts) and the electric catfish (350 volts). Electric rays [...]

Bridge Name Game: Reeves/McDaniel

August 1, 2007: The I-35W Bridge collapses. Taking a couple Fortean and Mothman sidetreks, here is more pondering in the wake of the I-35W Bridge collapse. While reading the accounts about the fall of the Minnesota bridge, I noticed two names popped up, Reeves and McDaniel. Hang in here with me as I let that Fortean part of my brain wander and wonder. Jay Reeves, 39, was one of the first people on the scene after the collapse. He tried calling 911, but all the lines were jammed. Then, he heard the sounds of children’s screams from the school bus. [...]