Forensic Science

KNM-ER 1470: An African Fossil Ape?

KNM-ER 1470 = Homo rudolfensis = ancient ape? The skull above was discovered by Bernard Ngeneo in 1972, at Koobi Fora in Kenya. It has an estimated age of 1.9 million years. Originally, KNM-ER 1470 was claimed to be a Homo habilis skull. The braincase was found to be surprisingly modern in many respects, much less robust than any australopithecine skull. It also did not have the usual robustness and large brow ridges of Homo erectus. The face, in contrast, is extremely large and robust. In the last few years, an increasing number of anthropologists have classified this skull as [...]

Cryptozoological Nomenclature

The Minnesota Iceman. Copyright Loren Coleman 1969. French cryptozoologist Michel Raynal has passed along an interesting, but perhaps challenging to cryptozoologists, paper that has been published in Zootaxa 1409: 1–22 (2007), entitled: “Does nomenclatural availability of nomina of new species or subspecies require the deposition of vouchers in collections?” The following is the paper’s “Abstract”: Several species of birds and primates recently described opened a debate in the zoological community on the possibility of naming new species or subspecies without material onomatophores (“name-bearing types”) deposited in collections. The current writing of the Code is ambiguous in this respect. We support [...]

Giant Rabbit Attack? Update on Mohawk Incident

Click on image for full size version Mr. Charles Kader of the St Regis Mohawk Tribe has forwarded this official press release, “Animal Attack on Vehicle – Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.” Media Statement St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Environment Division Subject: Reported Damage to Automobile by Unknown Animal: Sample Results On Ennisko:wa/March 21, 2007 Mr. Adrian McDonald reported that his mother’s automobile had been severely damaged and that the Tribal Police and New York State Police had made an investigation. The damage occurred at the residence of Mrs. Edith McDonald, Cook Road, Akwesasne. Police initially speculated that an animal had caused the [...]

Shunka Warak’in’s Cultural Landscape

Remember the Shunka Warak’in? In 1995, Lance Foster, an Ioway (Hotcâgara) told me: We had a strange animal called shunka warak’in that snuck into camps at night and stole dogs. It was said to look something like a hyena and cried like a person when they killed it. Its skin is said to be kept by someone still.Lance Foster Foster, who had heard of the mounted ringdocus, thought it was an example of the shunka warak’in, which he knew of from his own experiences and those of relatives in Montana and Idaho. The present location of the mounted Shunka Warak’in [...]