Forensic Science

Expedition: New Orang Pendek Discovery

Adam Davies is shown with a 2004 cast of an Orang Pendek track. Courtesy BBC News. Davies has good news from his latest expedition efforts in search of this hidden primate. Adam Davies has returned from his pursuit of the Sumatran Orang Pendek, having been gone from September 2 through his return today. In conjunction with a History Channel documentary, Davies was there with British photographer Jeremy Holden, who has worked with Debbie Martyr in the past. Davies just back from the rainforest, forwards his quick update to me: The expedition was a huge success. I picked up an Orang-Pendek [...]

Kouprey: A Separate Species

One of the first photographs taken in the wild of the elusive kouprey. Kouprey (Bos sauveli), a wild forest-dwelling ox, was discovered in 1937. (Indeed, the kouprey is discussed as an animal of discovery in cryptozoology, on page 128, here.) Cryptomundo has discussed the ongoing debate about the reality of the kouprey here before. This photograph (above) was taken in 1937 of a kouprey at the Vincenes Zoo, Paris; the animal died in 1940. Nature, 449, 124 (13 September 2007) has published in their “Advance Online Publication” of September 12, 2007, the breaking news that the Kouprey (Bos sauveli) has [...]

New: Hawaiian Fish, Panama Salamanders, and Madagascar Millipedes

Marine biologist Marc Hughes was recently successful in catching a new species of the genus Grammonus, an unusual six inch long brown fish. Hughes had been searching for these fish since he first encountered one of them in 1998, off Hawaii. The new Hawaiian fish (above) discovered and photographed by Marc Hughes. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Thompson writes: Hughes was studying micro-mollusks that look like sand in the South Kona cave near Kona Paradise subdivision in 1998 when he spotted the unusual fish and took a picture. Another photographer took a picture at about the same time. The fish [...]

New Orang Pendek Expedition

Adam Davies, who left on September 2, 2007, is in the midst of another expedition in pursuit of Orang Pendek in Sumatra, in conjunction with a History Channel documentary. While on site, obviously with a camera crew, Davies is meeting up with a British photographer Jeremy Holden, who worked with Debbie Martyr. Davies is hoping to build on his successful track finds of his previous trips to Sumatra. Exploration of areas with current activity and previous footprint finds will hopefully produce more positive results. Any links between Orang Pendek and Homo floresiensis will also be investigated. The following photographs are [...]

Cryptid Caracas Lion’s Roars Confirmed

There is news out of Caracas, Venezuela, of a mystery felid, being heard and evidence of its presence being found. Roars from the unidentified feline have scared residents of a mountainous Caracas suburb and triggered a hunt for the capture of what neighbours are convinced is a lion. But Venezuelan authorities, who have scoured on horseback the woods where the bellowing comes from, could only confirm the presence of some type of feline after finding the carcasses of small animals including a half-eaten armadillo. “One of the people that saw this animal talks about a lion,” said Juan Fernandez, mayor [...]

Pondering Cuero’s Chupacabras

Phylis Canion and her dead head are all over the internet and the media today. Is it a Chupacabras? The answer may rest soon in a lab in Maine. Perhaps Ms. Canion will read this or someone in authority in Texas shall – and they will contact me. I was telephoned tonight by Dr. Irv Kornfield, Professor of Biology and Molecular Forensics, at the University of Maine, who was helpful in running the DNA samples on last summer’s “Maine Mutant” carcass. Dr. Kornfield has volunteered to run DNA tests on this new Cuero specimen, and I shall be attempting to [...]

Steve Irwin’s Thylacine Hunt

Sadly, the world lost the Crocodile Hunter almost a year ago. The anniversary is approaching quickly. Feelings are still stirred by how Steve Irwin (February 22, 1962 – September 4, 2006) died and that he left the Earth too quickly. Intriguingly, here we are again talking about Steve and one of his quests that overlapped with cryptozoology. On Thursday, August 30, 2007, at 6:00 pm ET/PT, at least in the USA, on the Animal Planet, the long-lost episode with a segment on Steve Irwin’s mini-hunt for the Thylacine will be broadcast. This occurs during his 60 minutes program, “The Crocodile [...]