The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories for 2007 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist and Author, Mysterious America, Cryptozoology A to Z, and other books. From Bigfoot to Yeren, and from dwarf killer whales to dwarf manatees, it was quite a year. Welcome to this year’s top stories in cryptozoology. It wasn’t heaven during 2007 for the cryptids, but instead seemed to have been a year of reflection, mistakes, fakes, and a few new finds. In the 1940s, the Scottish-born American zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson (photo with lemur) began using a word he coined, “cryptozoology,” to describe a new discipline of science that [...]
New Amphibians Discovered in Goa
A relative of the recently found Gegeneophis mhadeiensis (shown above), is the newly discovered Gegeneophis goaensis. In the February 1999 issue of National Geographic Magazine, Goa was compared with the Amazon and Congo basins for its rich tropical biodiversity. It still is giving up some of its secrets. This new animal discovery is from Goa (see map below). An intriguing other recent find there was of an ethnoknown cryptid said to be have been a “two-headed snake,” the Kadu. Zoologists claimed to have discovered a new species of legless amphibian in northern Karnataka which vacates its marshy habitat at the [...]
First Thai Tomistoma Since 1970
Some unique crocs have been seen in Thailand. But as opposed to merely “out-of-place” or escaped reptiles, it might signal a recovery of a locally “extinct” species. Loosely using the term “gavial,” some form of a gavial or gharial is the source of this attention. Either it is the true gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, identified as such by the local Thai media, or the false gharial Tomistoma schlegelii, the preferred choice, I read after I first saw this news item, of cryptozoologist Chad Arment. Since I respect Arment’s opinion on this, as he knows his herps rather well, his insights over [...]
South China Tiger Update: It’s A Fake
The controversy over the authenticity photographs of the believed-to-be-extinct wild South China Tiger seemed to have come to an end on Friday when a netizen posted online what he claimed was a “convincing proof” that the pictures are fakes – a New Year picture of a tiger that hangs on the wall of his home. The man, named “Panzhihua-Xydz,” said: “It’s the same picture. Even the stripes are identical.” He left an online message that he bought the picture last year, but did not specify the date. The discovery has encouraged skeptics who have always believed the pictures were a [...]
Watch the Skies! Here Comes Birdzilla!
Get ready. They are coming. Not by land or sea, but by the airwaves. The invasion has begun. They are here! Have you noticed that when the thoughtful pieces on cryptozoology turn up, the segments are populated by “friends of the family,” commenting on the subjects under discussion? Have you also noticed the manufactured tension in these appearances? Often the media naturally sets up the “good cop, bad cop” scenario for their stories, and you should expect to see it again this week (if not on the History Channel, certainly in the stories done in the wake of “Birdzilla”). How [...]
More on Jacobs Bear
Here is a new short video analysis of the photographs of the Jacobs mangy bear. Of course, despite my opinion that might seem to agree with the conclusions of this video, the point must be made that most of the “Bigfoot” used on the following video for comparative reasons are fakes, hoaxes, people in suits, and such. I suppose this entire episode (but not this video) will be remembered as a moment in history, someday, and a clever way for the BRFO (sic) to obtain some visits to their site. Moving on.
Cryptozoology A to Z Fire Sale
Heads up, for those interested. How can online sellers afford to stash so much off the price? If you’ve been looking for this, get it cheap now. For some reason, Amazon.com is having a super discount sale ~ with one-third off the list price ~ on Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature (1999). Right now, Cryptozoology A to Z is selling for $10.20 US, and ranked as: #2 in Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Science #10 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > [...]
“Bigfooters” Know-It-Alls During Ape Investigations
The unfolding story of the sightings and examination of “orangutan sightings” in Florida has taken a new twist. Apparently, at least one self-proclaimed “Bigfoot investigator” from an unidentified “Bigfoot research group” is messing with the local authorities in Florida. I’ve never found it an effective forensic interviewing technique to use terms like “Bigfoot” with local wildlife or law enforcement officers, let along eyewitnesses, in terms of gathering primary information. Let’s be frank. That’s just not good form, and totally unscientific to boot. Take what people say as their experience of the animal being seen. Record it, ask more questions and [...]
Sasquatch Anatomy
A new article about Professor Jeff Meldrum’s investigations can be found in the December 2007 issue of Scientific American Magazine. The article involves the late Paul Freeman, and for more on Freeman, click here. Here’s a preview summary of the Scientific American Magazine article, from their website: One overcast Sunday morning in 1996, Jeffrey Meldrum and his brother drove to Walla Walla, Wash., to see if they could find Paul Freeman, a man renowned in Bigfoot circles as a source of footprint casts. Meldrum–who has followed Bigfoot lore since he was a boy–had heard that Freeman was a hoaxer, “so [...]
Shunka Warak’in Taxidermy Specimen Found!
Above is the photograph which has become familiar from my book, Cryptozoology A to Z (1999), and then lifted from there to be shared throughout the internet. The story of the 19th century shooting and mounting of this unknown cryptid canine has been repeated often. It is scheduled to be one of the stories discussed in a forthcoming History Channel “Monster Quest” program. The “Monster Quest” film crew visited the International Cryptozoology Museum specifically to talk to me about this cryptid and other related canine enigmas. The mystery of the Shunka Warak’in has been an enduring one in cryptozoology. It [...]
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