Cryptozoology

Reconsidering Mermaids

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Often it’s merely a good line drawing. Cryptozoologist Mark A. Hall passes along a delightful “editorial cartoon” for our consideration in rethinking some issues and comments involved in Merbeing theorizing and debunking. Enjoy! Please click on the image for the full-size cartoon. Thanks to Mia B. Smith, Permissions Coordinator at American Scientist, who informs me the copyright for this cartoon is Bill Long, 2005.

Emela-Ntouka: Africa’s Killer of Elephants

Cryptomundo Exclusive The Emela-ntouka has been an unknown animal of some confusion in Africa. A few chroniclers have felt it was merely another named cryptid representing the sightings of the Mokele-mbembe. But as revealed by an image seen here for the first time, it appears to be a beast unlike the saurapod-like Mokele-mbembe. Click on image for larger size Copyright: Michel Ballot – Mokélé – Mbembé CAMEROUN 2004 On page 219 of one of my recent field guides, written with Patrick Huyghe, we noted, among several different kinds of alleged “dinosaurs” in Africa, “one animal is called by locals the [...]

New Waspfish Discovered Off South Africa

Sometimes you find new animals in museums. Look up the story of the Congo peacock on page 71 of Cryptozoology A to Z, someday. It’s a good one. For today, we turn our attention to a museum in South Africa. Yes, it has happened again. A specimen collected in 1994 has been revealed to be a new species. It was "re-discovered" at the South Africa Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity collection in Grahamstown. According to the South Africa Herald on January 18th: "The discovery of the creature, a species of the venomous, little-known waspfish, means great kudos for the institute." One [...]