Megafauna

Saigas, Mammoths, and Pleistocene Parks

Travel with me today, from the concept of prehistoric trunked animals to the future establishment of Pleistocene Parks in Siberia and America. Regarding artist William Munns’ reconstruction theories about trunked dinosaurs, he observes, “In the matter of comparative anatomy with existent species, no existent skulls are identical, but two types do have nares at the top of the skull. One group are the cetaceans (porpoise and whales). The other are the Proboscidians (elephants).” As Munns points out, interestingly, “in mammals, the presumption of a trunk is freely given to any skull with high nares.” The macraucheniid litoptern is assumed to [...]

Atlas Bear Claims

The extinct Atlas bear (Ursus crowtheri), above, continues to live on in dispute, even here on the pages of Cryptomundo. Today, round two in the battle between a German commentator and a French respondent. Michel Raynal is one of the foremost cryptozoologists in Europe, the webmaster of Virtual Institute of Cryptozoology, the first French site devoted to cryptozoological research. Raynal, pictured above, passes along some comments, below, in response to German comment maker Sordes’s claims on the Atlas bear published at Cryptomundo, which can be found more completely here: Sordes’s comments: “Around 1900 (or a bit later) bones of this [...]

No Trunks, Says Palaeontologist

In my never-ending quest to give both sides of various intellectually stimulating issues, here is part two of Monday’s discussion on whether or not Mokele-Mbembe, if discovered, might be found to have a trunk. University of Portsmouth vertebrate palaeontologist and science writer Darren Naish (above) has a contrary opinion to that of the one highlighted here by reconstruction artist Bill Munns yesterday, on whether or not trunks existed on sauropods and a variety of other fossil animals. For the sauropods, Naish emails me this comment about Munns’ images (one, shown above) and the pro-trunk theory: “Very cool. But the palaeontological [...]

Does Mokele-Mbembe Have A Trunk?

William Munns and his reconstruction of Gigantopithecus. The famed recreator of Gigantopithecus, artist Bill Munns has opened a new window into his world and what we find inside is filled with wonders to behold. Bigfoot. Mokele-Mbembe. Saber-toothed Cats. A cryptozoo, indeed. Munns has shared with me his news that he has uploaded and opened his Bill Munns Creature Gallery. His continuingly upgraded site, Bill Munns Creature Gallery, represents 35 years of his work in varied fields of movie makeup effects, museum exhibit models, theme park robotics, and paleontology studies that have also included visualizations of prehistoric wildlife. As he points [...]

Mystery Fish Photograph Revisited

People seemed to have so much fun yesterday with the alleged Bigfoot image from near Mt. Hood, it feels like your magnifying glasses may be polished off for another look at the “Mystery Fish Photo.” If you are new here, then you have to see this one too, and have your say. As oldtimers may recall, despite speculations, theories, thoughts, rumors, ideas, hypotheses, and claims, this longest standing mystery at Cryptomundo has never been fully solved. The postcard photo, originally sent to me by Phyllis Mancz of Ohio, has become such an enigmatic icon that it became part of the [...]

Wild Bears vs Humans

As some kind of joke, an internet wag called Evil Melon has posted that, “Some cryptozoologist is making bizarre claims that the mythical creature known as a ‘bear’ has attacked a girl riding in a 24 hour bike race….Bears are loveable trained creatures who do not live in the wild, do not steal pickernick baskets and do not maul human beings. This is a claim that must be debunked. The wild bear does not exist.” Not funny. Not happening. More ridicule for cryptozoologists, even for those of us who happen to have an incredible sense of humor. In a minute, [...]

Volkswagen-Sized Catfish

Famed natural history artist Alexis Rockman painted the cover of the 2001 edition of Mysterious America depicting a real encounter he and his cryptozoology expedition associates had with a giant catfish in the Amazon. The new edition of Mysterious America contains a chapter on “Giant Catfish” sightings, which continue throughout North America and elsewhere in the world. These tales overlap with swamp monster encounters, lake monster ponderings, and weird animal happenings. Giant catfish do exist, which is a fact not in dispute. The question is how “giant” does “giant” get and where are they living today. In an article today [...]