Living Dinosaurs

The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories of 2006

The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories of 2006 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoology A to Z 1. Darlings of Cryptozoology Videotaped: Coelacanth and Giant Squid 2. Lost Worlds Revealed 3. New European Mammal and Others Discovered 4. Discoveries Debated: Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Kouprey 5. Africa Explored: Mokele-mbembe Quest, Gambia Expedition, and SEALs’ Secret Mission 6. Lake Monsters Photographed: Champ and Nahuelito 7. Canid Capered: Maine Mutant, Montana Creature, and Nebraska Cryptid 8. Cryptids Televised: Mothman, Monsters, and More 9. Thylacine Remembered: Steve Irwin’s Search, New Photo, and National Thylacine Day 10. Cryptozoology and Art Exhibited: A First ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. Darlings of Cryptozoology [...]

Nessie Not Found in Antarctic

The Associated Press is reporting that the fossil bones of a baby plesiosaur have been found on an Antarctic island. That is a good find, but the papers won’t be stopping there. Be prepared. Of course, although there is no known relationship at all, except in the culture of the media, the following reference point is being thrown into the stories: In life, 70 million years ago, the five-foot-long animal would have resembled Nessie, the long-necked creature reported to inhabit Scotland’s Loch Ness. Hate to mention it but (1) we don’t know if any Nessies exist at all, so how [...]

Emela-Ntouka: Killer of Elephants

Click on above image, by Corey H., to see full-size version Flashback and Update… The Emela-ntouka has been an unknown animal of some confusion in Africa. A few chroniclers have felt it was merely another named cryptid representing the sightings of the Mokele-mbembe. But as revealed by a carving (below) seen here for the first time earlier this year, it appears to be a beast unlike the saurapod-like Mokele-mbembe. On page 219 of one of my recent field guides, written with Patrick Huyghe, we noted, among several different kinds of alleged “dinosaurs” in Africa, “one animal is called by locals [...]

Creature From the Black Lagoon Again

Boing Boing has a good new posting on the just-released Creature From the Black Lagoon novel. Cory Doctorow writes: "If you’re looking for a fun little paperback to take you away from your life for a couple hours, you need look no further." Perhaps we all will need this after the election is over today… As I’ve mentioned at Cryptomundo before, the original concept for the movie developed from the excitement in the early 1950s that surrounded the Comoros Islands (near Madagascar) discovery of a "living fossil," the coelacanth. After its initial find in 1938, and the eventual acceptance that [...]

Dr. Dino Goes To Jail

Drawings of Mokele-mbembe by Bill Rebsamen, used with permission. David Pescovitz over at Boing Boing has posted the final news from the trial of “Creationist Dr. Dino,” who is now on his way to jail: Kent “Dr. Dino” Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism and the Dinosaur Adventure Land creationist theme park in Florida (“where Dinosaurs and the Bible meet!”), and his wife face more than 200 years in jail for tax fraud. Pescovitz gives links to a past discussion of the case [Please note the "LC" who left a comment there is not me] where it was pointed out [...]

Nessie: Pachyderm, Plesiosaur or Pinniped?

First the old 1970s theory that all the Nessies are swimming elephants was retold in new clothing in March 2006, and now we are hearing that the Scottish Lake Monsters cannot be plesiosaurs. Okay, tell me something I don’t know, please! What is it? See below. The news out of Scotland, as for example in the Scotsman article, “Scientist pours cold water on Loch Ness dinosaur theory”, is propelling the finding that Nessie is not a plesiosaur, which really is not a dinosaur anyway (but that’s another story). Here’s part of what the “breaking news” services you will read today [...]