Forensic Science

Laotian Rock Rat: Definitely A Living Fossil

The Laotian rock rat (Laonastes aenigmamus) is a living fossil. New DNA results confirm it is the last surviving member of a once-large group of rodents that was known only by fossils, which supposedly vanished from the fossil record 11 million years ago. Surprise, this is the mammalian version of the coelacanth. Nobel Intent, at Ars Technica’s science-centric journal, summarizes the findings: DNA sequence analysis has now joined the argument and comes down strongly in favor of the living fossil contention. Not only is the rock rat like nothing we’ve ever seen before, it’s not much like anything we’ve ever [...]

Japanese ChampQuest ‘07

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE from Wireless News Flash… Japanese Filmakers on “ChampQuest” in Vermont APRIL 19, 2007 PORTLAND, ME. (Wireless Flash) — The jig may soon be up for a sneaky lake monster who’s been hiding in a Vermont lake for nearly 200 years. That’s because a group of Japanese filmmakers are converging on Lake Champlain, Vermont, this weekend [April 22-25, 2007] in hopes of snapping footage of “Champ,” a cousin to the Loch Ness Monster that supposedly resides in the lake. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, who is helping the filmmakers on what is being called “ChampQuest,” says there have been Champ [...]