Expedition Reports

Foja Mountains’ “Lost World” Mammals

Martua Sinaga holds this 1.4 kg giant rat that is probably a species new to science. Photo by Bruce M Beehler On Sunday night, December 16, 2007, the CBS program “60 Minutes” ran a segment on the research discoveries of Bruce M. Beehler in Indonesia’s remote Foja Mountains of western New Guinea. The discovery of this so-called “lost world” was a media event earlier on February 7, 2007 (see here). A probable new species of pygmy possum in the genus Cercartetus (Pygmy Possum). Photo by Bruce M Beehler The earlier media treatments of the findings had gotten somewhat overblown (see [...]

First Film of Long-Eared Jerboa

Long-eared Jerboa (Euchoreutes naso). An “extraordinary” desert creature has been caught on camera for what scientists believe is the first time. The long-eared jerboa, a tiny nocturnal mammal that is dwarfed by its enormous ears, can be found in deserts in Mongolia and China. Zoological Society of London (ZSL) scientist Jonathan Baillie said the footage was helping researchers to learn more about the mysterious animal. The species is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red list. The unusual animals were filmed in the Gobi desert during an expedition led by Dr Baillie. Until now, the creatures had proven extremely difficult [...]

Women in Cryptozoology: Jan McGirk in Johor

Flashback: Let us trek back to Johor with newswoman Jan McGirk and revisit the Malaysian situation before it got lost in the morass of the photo hoaxing, to the events surrounding the initial finding of the now famed track cast. Jan McGirk, on the right, assists with the casting compound, to mold the footprint she first found in Johor, the one often shown being held by Joshua Gates. ++++ The unknown world: How I tracked Bigfoot through the Malaysian jungle (by Jan McGirk). Jan McGirk joined a team of paranormal investigators to check out reports of 10 ft giant apes [...]

New Species Discovered in Ghana

A new species of tickspider (Ricinoides sp. n.). Photo by Piotr Naskrecki (CI) Conservation International has announced findings from their 2006 expedition to Ghana’s Atewa Range Forest Reserve (Atewa) led by CI’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), which include news of nine new species discoveries. The report was released to the public on December 6, 2007. Chameleon Chamaeleo gracilis. Photo by Piotr Naskrecki (CI) The RAP discoveries include a Critically Endangered frog species (Conraua derooi) whose presence in Atewa may represent the last viable population in the world; an unusually high 22 species of large mammals and six species of primates [...]

Bad Yeti Science from Ben Radford

Benjamin Radford, who is called LiveScience’s “Bad Science Columnist,” lives up to his title in a new posting about Yeti in which he spreads more bad science. I understand that newspaper writers are often not to blame for their headlines, but in this case I wonder if Radford dreamed up the headline for his own column? Entitled “The Truth About the Abominable Snowman,” it sounds dangerously close to stating an absolute and true believer stance, if you ask me. That Radford would think he has the “truth” about anything seems a bit much. He has stumbled in this attempt. The [...]

Yeti on Fox + New Gates Video

Fox News, December 4, 2007: The Yeti exchange unfolded routinely, as per what has come to be expected for such two-minute-moments on news programs. When Patrick Huyghe (correctly pronounced “Weeg” with a soft “g”) is off-interview, the “Fox news hosts” then tried delivering their debunking humor points, as usual. I congratulate Fox News for running a full credit to artist Harry Trumbore for his drawings of various types of Yeti taken from our cryptozoological field guide. Parts of the Joshua Gates news conference footage has turned up on two YouTube videos:

Exclusive from Josh Gates on Yeti Tracks

Joshua Gates (R) displaying alleged footprint of Yeti. Updated with new video. See at bottom. On this way back from Nepal, Josh has deplaned in Zanzibar and written a quick report for us here. Meanwhile, my coauthor Patrick appeared on Fox National News to talk about our field guide’s sense of these new Yeti reports in the broader sense of the Abominable Snowmen accounts from the area. (I had to decline the appearance due to emergency dental surgery that had been prescheduled. Time for a nap for me, but I wanted to post these important breaking developments.) Here’s word from [...]

Snowman Movie, Meditation and Mental Telepathy

I’m returning to New York to talk about Abominable Snowmen, Tom Slick, and telepathy between humans and Yetis. That’s right. I am barely back from the Big Apple, and I’m going back to introduce a favorite movie of mine during another museum’s new opening. I hope meet some of the people that missed my talk at the American Museum of Natural History on December 1st. If you wish, ask me about Yeti mind-reading or the real stories behind the movie that will be screening. Want your copy of Tom Slick autographed or interested in picking up a new one from [...]

Updated Yeti Footcast News

Joshua Gates (R) displaying alleged footprint of Yeti. Despite the fact that the new Yeti cast found by Joshua Gates closely mirrors the one he found in Johor, perhaps I was wrong about the first image floating out of Asia of it being a stock picture. I have confirmed that it sounds like it, indeed, is a different cast. Neil Mandt of Mandt Brothers Productions who produced year one of “Destination Truth” but is no longer associated with the program just told me: “That’s definitely a new photo of a new cast. It is not a copy of the Johor [...]