Richard Ellis is one of the curators of the current 2007 “Mythic Creatures” exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History. He once was part of a “new species” hoax back in the early 1980s. The long delay between initial discovery (1976) and the scientific description (1983) [of the Megamouth shark] became the focus of an elaborate practical joke by two friends of Leighton Taylor, Richard Ellis of the American Museum of Natural History and John McCosker, director of San Francisco’s Steinhart Aquarium. Ellis and McCosker photocopied random articles from Japanese scientific journals and inserted photographs of the megamouth shark [...]
New Limbless Lizard Discovered
The discovery of a new species of limbless lizard (pictured above), belonging to the genus Sepsophis, was announced on May 28, 2007. The seven-inch-long lizard was found 10 days before during a field study in the forested region of Khandadhar near Raurkela in Orissa state, India, about 625 miles southeast of New Delhi. It prefers to live in a cool retreat, soft soil and below stones. The lizard is new to science and is an important discovery. It is not found anywhere else in the world. The new species will be scientifically described at a later stage after accumulation of [...]
“Mythic” Opens
The exhibition, “Mythic Creatures” opens at The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City on Saturday, May 26, 2007. Two good articles on the exhibition and the opening are (click on the title of each article for the link): “The Surprising Realities of Mythical Creatures,” LiveScience; “Exploring the Nature of the Unnatural,” New York Times. On some level, I was surprised to see Richard Ellis is a co-curator of the exhibition, while on another, I wasn’t. Richard has painted and illustrated various museums and books with some outstanding images of marine life, has a deep interest in [...]
Elephants’ Graveyards, Whale Falls, and A New Species
The discovery of a new species reveals some interesting side facts. I’m sure you’ve heard of the alleged “elephants’ graveyard,” a cryptic place where supposedly older elephants go to die. Well, have you ever been told of the “whale fall”? According to MSNBC’s senior science editor Robin Lloyd, “Whale falls, the resting place of a dead whale, provide temporary but important nutrition boosts and habitats for deep-sea life. The flesh of the dead whale decomposes within weeks, but the bones can last anywhere from 60 to 100 years as bacteria break down the bones, releasing sulfur that aquatic creatures use [...]
New Thai Mountain Frog
A new species of mountain frog that changes color in response to its surroundings has been discovered in northeast Thailand. The Odorrana aureola, known locally as the Phu Luang Cliff frog after the national park where it was found, can grow to 3.5 inches (80 millimeters) and has a green body which occasionally turns brown, researchers said. “It reflects its surrounds,” said Tanya Chan-ard, curator of Bangkok’s National Science Museum, who studied the frog with a team of government biologists and researchers. Tanya Chan-ard said it was the world’s newest species of mountain frog, and was found only in Phu [...]
New Indonesia Coelacanth Caught
Fisherman in Indonesia nets rare, ancient coelacanth fish The China Post 2007/5/22 Manado, Indonesia, Reuters An Indonesian fisherman has caught a coelacanth, an ancient fish once thought to have become extinct at the time of the dinosaurs, a fishery expert said on Monday. Yustinus Lahama and his son caught the fish on Saturday in the sea off North Sulawesi province and kept it at their house for an hour, said Grevo Gerung, a professor at the fisheries faculty at the Sam Ratulangi University. After being told by neighbors it was a rare fish he took it back to the sea [...]
Conservative Media Attacks New Species Discoveries
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a rather conservative newspaper in the United States, for Saturday, May 19, 2007, parrots the UK’s The Economist, reinforcing the challenge to the concept that we are in the midst of a wave of new species being discovered. In the WSJ‘s section “Informed Reader” obviously editorialized thumbnail sketches are given of other newspapers’ recommended articles. Under “Nature,” a new article in The Economist is mentioned. Entitled “Species Inflation May Infect Over-Eager Conservationists,” (I was unable to upload The Economist article itself), the WSJ notes that various scientists are overzealously boosting the conversation of seemingly rare [...]
Mystery Giant Turtle Photos!
Details are sketchy on these photographs of what is being labeld a Mystery Giant Marine Turtle (or is it a decomposing whale), thusfar, other than they are a record of a body from a recent Pacific Ocean beaching. Look for updates, but, for now, I wanted to rush these photos here, for your attention.
New Discovery: Gorgeted Puffleg
Breaking News From Reuters: A new blue-and-green-throated hummingbird species has been discovered in a cloud forest in Colombia, and already needs protection from human encroachment, the experts who found the bird said on Sunday. Called the gorgeted puffleg, the new species is easily twice as big as the thumb-sized hummingbirds found in the eastern United States, measuring between 3.5 inches and 4 inches (90 and 100 mm) in length, its discoverers said in answer to e-mailed questions. The name comes from the iridescent emerald green and electric blue patch on the throat — the gorge — on males, and from [...]
The Dark Final Days of SITU
Did you know that the vast files and library of a great cryptozoological and Fortean organization were raped clean in their final days? If you read closely through the long list of cryptozoology books being offered for sale by Robert Girard, you will note that some are marked with “S. I. T. U.” in them. A few have “ex S.I.T.U. library, their stamp on title page,” reports Girard. Of course, these books he lists, no doubt, came legally into the hands of some collectors who have emptied their stock with Girard, but it merely reminded me of the sad ending [...]
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