Everytime a news items appears about a "new species," of course, it seems it might be another exciting moment for cryptozoology. The new species could be one that is ethnoknown, a part of the traditions and encounters of the local peoples who may have assisted in finding it. But some media reports might not be talking about the discovery of a brand "new species." Sometimes reporters are only disseminating the fact that a "new" animal, perhaps never seen locally, is making a new appearance. Often, if the location has a bit of exotic mystic about it, people naturally think this [...]
Mastodons Alive!
Mastodons Still Living This mastodon (Mammut americanum) is the life-sized bronze representation at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, the home of the “Mastodons.” Alaska Indians Claim They Have Seen Them Running About. The Stickeen Indians positively assert that within the last five years they have frequently seen animals which, from the descriptions given, must have been mastodons. Last spring, while out hunting, one of the Indians came across a series of large tracks, each the size of the bottom of a salt barrel, sunk deep in the moss. He followed the curious trail for some miles, finally coming out [...]
Real Monsters of Madagascar
Kevin Fitzgerald, 55, a science writer for the Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Connecticut, and past contributor to Grzimek Encyclopedia of Animal Life and the New England Skeptical Society’s online “Encyclopedia of Skepticism,” is the guest blogger today. Fitzgerald wrote me commenting that he would like to expand on some thoughts regarding Madagascar’s animals, as his travels there had given him some firsthand insights that might be of interest to Cryptomundo readers. This is in reaction to the U. S. Navy SEALs account about seeing an animal in the Congo that looks like a supposed “ape” on Madagascar. Fitzgerald does not [...]
New Giant Peccary
I’ve always liked the idea that a man named Ralph Wetzel discovered one of the newest large mammal species, the Chacoan peccary, quite recently. In Cryptozoology A to Z, I wrote: This “rangy big pig,” as University of Connecticut biology professor Ralph M. Wetzel characterized his 1974 discovery, was a big surprise – a Pleistocene Epoch survivor of a species thought to have died out 10,000 years ago. The Chacoan peccary, a relative of pigs, boars, and warthogs, weighed in at more than 100 pounds, the largest and most unusual of the three known peccaries. Wetzel found it in the [...]
Ropen: Flying Reptiles Alive Today
One of the routine ways of looking at reports of giant flying creatures from exotic lands is as shown in the new comic, Cryptid, as giant bats (below). But there is another school of thought too. In Africa, they are called Kongomato (see below – William M. Rebsamen art from Cryptozoology A to Z and a mysterious photograph of one that has surfaced on the internet). In New Guinea, they are named Ropen. Some would have us consider if there are pterosaurs among us still today. A new book, Searching for Ropens, proposes they do exist. American cryptozoologist Matt Bille, [...]
Roundup of Amazing Finds
Some remarkable (yes, I do use that word) discoveries have flooded ye ole email in-boxes at Cryptomundo lately. The incoming announcements have been arriving so fast and furiously, I thought I would do a holiday weekend overview of several, to play catch up. First, let’s begin with the smallest. Bernard Heuvelmans once defined cryptozoology as dealing with any animal that was big enough to be have an impact on humans. Most people have correctly viewed this as meaning the cryptid must be "ethnoknown," and has to be, generally, in the range of the size of a domestic cat or larger. [...]
Johor Bigfoot: Reverse Evolved Homo erectus?
Here’s the latest news from Malaysia: Reverse evolution theory about the Johor Bigfoot 30 Jun 2006 JOHOR BARU: The Johor Bigfoot could be a Homo erectus that had undergone “reverse evolution”. Homo erectus (“upright man”) is a hominid species that is believed to be an ancestor of modern humans. It is a large-brained species which lived from approximately two million to around 400,000 years ago. Sean Ang, a scientist from Kuala Lumpur who had analysed the prehistoric Perak Man excavated by Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1994, said based on evidence compiled about the creature by biodiversity researcher Vincent Chow, he [...]
New Coelacanth Video
A capture of an image from the Japanese research team videotape of a one-meter long coelacanth taken off Indonesia on May 30, 2006. As first announced in May here, some startlingly clear images of living Indonesian coelacanths have been taken. Now, a portion of the Indonesian coelacanth video shot several weeks ago has been made public. You can see a segment of the video in this short news clip on YouTube. While the news report states that 4 Indonesian coelacanth were videotaped, Aquamarine Fukushima’s coelacanth web page claims that a total of 7 were videotaped during the period from May [...]
Crikey! Thylacine Update
Australian cryptozoologist Debbie Hynes has sent along the following update to be shared with you: There have been a lot of sightings down there. There are two thylacine "hot-spots" in Victoria. One is the Portland area – as far inland as Ozenkadnook and west as far as the Koorong, a coastal national park in South Australia, next door to Victoria. The other is he so-called Foster-Wilson’s Promontory-Wonthaggi "Triangle". The animal (thylacine?) is part of local legend, being known as the "Wonthaggi Monster", and the small country town of Foster even has a billboard on its outskirts boasting of "Coming Attractions". [...]
Okapis Rediscovered!
Thought extinct for 47 years in the Congo’s Virunga National Park, the okapis have been rediscovered! Okapis are important in the history of romantic natural history. The animal was used to symbolize the International Society of Cryptozoology (1982-1995), and was the centerpiece of the organization’s logo. The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is a beautiful animal, a true “living fossil”. I have observed them in St. Louis, Chicago, San Diego, and every zoo I can find that has any. Last weekend, I was able to observe for several minutes over the space of three hours, the 21-year-old male, born in the San [...]
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