Living Dinosaurs

First Zanzibar Coelacanth Caught

Small coelacanth from Tanzania caught in February 2007; it is not the one discussed below. Photo courtesy dinofish. The known range of the coelacanth is expanded with this new discovery, and hope remains high that the “living fossil” fish may exist in some surprising locations around the world. Zanzibar, Tanzania – Fishermen have caught a rare and endangered fish, the coelacanth, off the coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, a researcher said on Monday [July 16, 2007]. The find makes Zanzibar the third place in Tanzania where fishermen have caught the coelacanth, a heavy-bodied, many-finned fish with a [...]

A Pterodactyl in the Pool Cabana

There’s a Pterodactyl in the Pool Cabana So Brian passed it along, With a pat on the nose and a song. From Freaky Links in the South, Yikes, look at that mouth. Thanks Patrick for taking the family heat With the head in your passenger seat. To some, it’s a bizarre abomination, Seeking love, far from its final destination. The thing is in search of its new home. The creature has more miles to roam. Does it appear as an unwelcome louse? Nay, now it’s in the pool house. No need for further trepidation, Or even swimmers’ consternation. No reason [...]

Dragon Kills Boy

Dragons on display at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Dragons do roam the Earth. Less than 100 years ago, a population of dragons was discovered hidden away off the coast of mainland Asia. In 1910, it is said, a Dutch pilot crashed-landed on Komodo, a rugged, volcanic Indonesian island. After his rescue he claimed to have seen an incredibly large lizard, about thirteen feet long [4 meters]. Another story, equally murky in origin, has it that in 1912, a pilot who had safely landed on Komodo returned with stories of monstrous dragons which ate goats and [...]

Missouri River Monster Captured

A report from May for your consideration… A Terrible Fish Story A strange monster was captured recently [during May] in the [Missouri] river opposite Canton, by some fishermen, in their seine, while dragging for fish. We know not what to call it, or what it looks like, or how to describe it, for it is unlike any creature of earth, air or water, that we have ever seen. It is not a fish, nor is it an alligator, or crocodile, or a turtle, but resembles the pictures we have often seen in books of the mythical dragon. It is a [...]

Mokele Mbembe Mission

Need an overall enjoyable, high production value, six-minute cryptofiction break? Try this movie, Mokele Mbembe. Keep repeating to yourself, it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie, often. However, ruby red slippers are not needed to view it. Now to your mission, if you accept it: Please pick out the major points of factual cryptozoological mistakes in this short film. There are more there than meets the eye.

The Heart of Darkness: Vanishings, Pygmy Elephants, and Mokele-Mbembe

Mokele-mbembe being killed by Pygmies; drawn by Bill Rebsamen and used with permission. As I write these words, there is news that an airliner from Kenya has crashed in the jungles of Cameroon. They can’t find the plane. They can’t find any survivors because they can’t find the plane. It has disappeared, perhaps near some small village some distance from Douala, which is a coastal hopping off spot into the jungle. Mokele-mbembe courtesy of Bill Rebsamen. Click on image for a larger view. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which was carrying 114 people from more than 20 countries, went missing on [...]