Is there a new species of oystercatchers being seen in Wales? Certainly startled birdwatchers have been giving very detailed reports of a brightly-colored new visitor. A new species in the UK? How exciting. The new birds, scores of them, appeared to be a yellow-breasted oystercatcher. The oystercatchers are a group of shore waders of the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. The known Haematopus from Wales is decidedly white-breasted, as shown below: However, it turns out that the yellow-breasts were only dye painted on over a hundred normally-colored oystercatchers for a tracking project off the Gower coast. The [...]
First Photo of Cyprus Spiny Mouse
This is a small version of the first photograph of Acomys nesiotes (TUR: Kıbrıs dikenlifaresi, ENG: Cyprus spiny mouse), by Mustafa Sozen. For information on obtaining the full-sized image, please refer to the Trek Nature link noted below. The Cyprus Spiny Mouse is endemic to Cyprus. It lives in rocky areas. We captured 4 individual on 22.10.2007 around Lefkoşa (Nicosia) area at an altitude of about 600 meters asl in Turkish Republic of Northern Cypruc. No considerable effort has been made since the 1980s to verify its presence and it may persist in small numbers. For this reason, the IUCN [...]
Cryptozoology Futurology
Yes, I have turned up in this new book, What’s Next: The Experts’ Guide: Predictions from 50 of America’s Most Compelling People by Jane Buckingham. I am one of the fifty “most compelling people” in the country. I’m still trying to explain what that means to my sons. I do like the company I get to keep in the pages of this tome, which has just hit the bookstores. What’s Next takes cryptozoology seriously. It contains my next decade’s predictions about where I see the field going and what animals I feel will be discovered. I won’t spoil this author’s [...]
New Uakari Photo
If you’ve been reading of the finding of a new primate in the last few days, you aren’t going crazy if you thought it sounded awfully familiar. On January 16, 2008, you learned here of the discovery of a new monkey in the Amazon, with the Latin name Cacajao ayresii. This week various media releases, stimulated by the National Geographic News, have caused a new round of articles. But when I wrote about this new uakari monkey from the Amazon rainforest, there were no photographs available last month. Now I have located photographs of the discoverer (top and below) and [...]
New Subspecies Discovery in Nepal
Nepali scientists have recorded a new subspecies of bird – Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia – at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) recently. Photo Courtesy: BCN According to Bird Conservation Nepal, the bird first recorded by chairperson of Nepal Rare Birds Committee (NRBC) Suchit Basnet and ornithologist Badri Chaudhary on April 1, 2005 at Koshi Tappu. The birds have now been identified as Rufous-vented Prinia, bringing Nepal’s total bird list to 862 species. Belonging to Prinia burnesii species, the new bird has been named Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia or Prinia burnesii nipalensis scientifically. Basnet said, “This must have been the most exciting bird [...]
Fiji Lordomyrma Discovered
Lordomyrma vanua Lucky & Sarnat 2008: Fiji image by A. Lucky & E. Sarnat The discovery of new insects are a dime a dozen, so to speak. I tend to agree with Bernard Heuvelmans that an animal has to be large enough to have an impact on humans, visibly, to be a cryptid. The cryptids we deal with daily are usually domestic cat-sized and bigger. However, I was struck by the attractive nature of the above new ant discovery and felt it was worth sharing its photograph here. As the Myrmecos blog (link below) mentions, Zootaxa contained a short paper [...]
New Giant: First Elephant-Shrew In 126 Years
Grey-faced sengi, Rhynchocyon udzungwensis. Photo credit: Francesco Rovero. “This is one of the most exciting discoveries of my career,” said Galen Rathbun of the California Academy of Sciences. Rathbun’s and Museum of Natural Sciences in Trento, Italy, Francesco Rovero’s discovery is published in the February issue of the British-based Journal of Zoology. Although there is unquestionably much left to be discovered about life on Earth, charismatic animals like mammals are usually well documented, and it is rare to find a new species today—especially from a group as intriguing as the elephant-shrews, monogamous mammals found only in Africa with a colorful [...]
Oz Discovery: 13 New Skinks!
Cryptoblepharus daedalos, one of 13 new skink species discovered by Northern Territory scientists. (Dr. Paul Horner) New research by the Territory and South Australian Museums has uncovered a number of new species of snake-eyed skinks. Of the 17 new species discovered in Australia and Papua New Guinea, nine were found in the Northern Territory of Australia (also called “Oz” by local media). Many of the creatures, whose scientific name is Cryptoblepharus, are unique to the Territory — and some are very rare. Dr. Horner, a curator at the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, said it was very exciting [...]
Thompson’s Sea Serpent Hunt
One thing leads to another. Looking into the new mystery photo postcard has taken me to more of the backstory that involves a Sea Serpent hunt exactly 100 years ago. In 1908, a Little River couple on an outing on Biscayne Bay reported seeing a sea serpent with a 30-foot-long body and a long, slender neck. An intrepid and well-known fisherman, Capt. Charles Thompson, set off after the sea monster. Thompson was certainly the man for the job: He had fished with four U.S. presidents and powerful industrialists such as John Jacob Astor and William Vanderbilt. Even the Miami Metropolis [...]
Rats! Or Not?
Remember the recent story of the discovery of a rat-eating pitcher plant? Do they or don’t they? Rats! Or not? It sure kicked up a few pro and con feelings about the whole issue. Some people wondered if pitcher plants can actually “eat” (i.e. dissolve and digest) rats? Despite scientific literature saying it happens, skeptics exist. Are the rats really mice? Interesting distracting question, sort of like, how many times a week do you beat your husband? How many rodents are eaten by your local neighborhood pitcher plants? Are rat-eating pitcher plants only found in Australia? Do rodents actually fall [...]
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