The Homo floresiensis debate has been reenergized again with the publication of a new paper in the journal Proc. R. Soc. B doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1488. The following is a clickable link to the full paper, the abstract of which is below the link. Are the small human-like fossils found on Flores human endemic cretins? by Peter J. Obendorf, Charles E. Oxnard and Ben J. Kefford. Fossils from Liang Bua ( LB) on Flores, Indonesia, including a nearly complete skeleton ( LB1) dated to 18 kyr BP, were assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis. We hypothesize that these individuals are myxoedematous endemic [...]
New Giant Fossil Bat
Reconstruction of Witwatia schlosseri, a new species of very large bat from the Fayum district of Egypt. (Credit: Drawing by Bonnie Miljour) In a recent issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, scientists report on the discovery of six new bat species dating to around 35 million years ago, which sheds new light on the early evolution of bats. It took over 25 years of fieldwork to collect the 33 specimens that form the basis of the new study. “That translates to a little over one specimen per year – a lot of effort for a single fossil,” said Erik [...]
Hobbits At Harvard
The discovery that Homo floresiensis survived until so very recently, in geological terms, makes it more likely that stories of other mythical, human-like creatures such as Yetis are founded on grains of truth….Now, cryptozoology, the study of such fabulous creatures, can come in from the cold.Henry Gee, editor of Nature, “Flores, God and Cryptozoology,” 2004 editorial. This Thursday, March 6, 2008, at 5:30 pm, an intriguing lecture will occur regarding Homo floresiensis. I was first alerted to this forthcoming talk by my son, Malcolm, who is enrolled in Dr. Javier Urcid’s “Human Origins” course at Brandeis University. I have written [...]
Devil Frog Discovered
The illustration depicts the ancient frog species Beelzebufo, or “devil frog,” staring down what the National Geographic says is the largest frog species living in Madagascar today. Actually, it looks more like a common toad to me. Today, the largest living Madagascar frog is just 4 in (10 cm) long. The world’s largest frog is the African Goliath frog (Conraua goliath) from central Africa: 13 in (33 cm) in body length (legs excluded), and weighs up to 7 lb (3 kg). A pencil is included for scale as apparently pencils did not exist 70 million years ago. Evidence of a [...]
New Sahara Dinos
Eocarcharia dinops Fossil hunters have discovered two new meat-eating dinosaurs thanks to the fossils unearthed from the sands of the Sahara, according to media reports during the last week. The fossils represent previously unknown ferocious dinosaur predators that roamed the Earth about 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno and co-author Stephen Brusatte reported in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. Kryptops palaios They named one Kryptops palaios, or “old hidden face,” because of a horny covering over its face. The other was named Eocarcharia dinops, or “fierce-eyed dawn shark,” for its razor-sharp teeth [...]
Mini-Fossils: Flying Reptile & Island Dino
Perhaps they all owned iPods Nanos? Small cute fossil finds pointing to pygmy versions of extinct forms appear to be in the news lately. Being tiny goes back a long way. A new fossil species of flying reptile with a wingspan of less than a foot across (30cm) has been discovered in China. The nearly complete skeleton was unearthed in fossil beds from northeastern China. One of the smallest pterosaurs ever discovered, the new species has been named Nemicolopterus crypticus, which means “hidden flying forest dweller.” Read more here. Meanwhile, the discovery of a small dinosaur off the coast of [...]
Aetosaurs Wars
Wow, if you thought there were fights in Nessie studies and feuds among Bigfooters, you should pull the curtain aside in the serious world of paleontology sometime. Actually, you don’t have to, as Nature did it for you. Paleontology research assistant and fossil preprator ReBecca Hunt, pictured above, notes in her blog that “name-calling” is happening, quite openly, within the field of Aetosaurs studies, as evidenced by an article published today in Nature. “Doctoral students in the United States and Poland are accusing scientists at the Albuquerque-based New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMMNHS) of publishing articles that [...]
10,000 B.C.: Cryptofiction?
You have got to love the mammoths! And sabertoothed tigers! What elements of narrative cryptofiction, in which these animals, as well as the hominids, are shown as surviving late into protohistorical times in 10,000 B.C. overlap with our interests? Frankly, I always find it intriguing and instructive to see how artists, filmmakers, and scientists recreate Pleistocene animals, so as to give us a clue of what might be behind some cryptids. I look forward to this movie, therefore, for just such images. I guess there are other things to watch in this film too, with regard to our ancestors. However, [...]
Giant Fossil Rodent Discovered
Along with other media outlets, The Times of London, through environment reporter Lewis Smith, is noting for January 16, 2008, the details of what is being characterized as a “giant rat” fossil find in South America. The skull of the rodent is 53cm long. The creature had huge incisors that may have been used for felling trees or fighting. Reconstruction of the largest fossil rodent, Josephoartigasia monesi. The fossilised skull of a rat the size of a car has been unearthed. The creature lived about four million years ago, weighed about a tonne and ate mostly soft vegetation. It was [...]
More Moa News
As a followup to the recent story about Rex Gilroy’s proposed expedition to look for living Moas in the Urewera forest, Tony Lucas shares the latest. Hawke’s Bay cryptozoology researcher Tony Lucas is keeping an open mind on the possibility of moa still being alive in the Ureweras but thinks the evidence could point to emus. Mr Lucas, unable to join the hunt for New Zealand’s hidden species because of ill health, and who is confining his role mainly to researching other reports, says modern claims of moa sightings in New Zealand have mainly been in the South Island. The [...]
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