Today, I received directly from Japan, for the museum, the above shown replica of the Iriomote wildcat (Prionailurus iriomotensis), a classic animal of discovery for cryptozoology. It may be only a minor figurine at 2.5 inches long to some, but I find it significant that such care has been bestowed onto this important replica. A mere three decades ago, this cat found itself moving from the world of being a cryptid to a felid zoological reality. The Iriomote wildcat remains a mysterious species, even now, years after its discovery, as evidenced in this recent essay below. Unlike this stuffed Iriomote [...]
Gobi Kulan Soon At Edinburgh Zoo
I have mentioned Przewalski’s horse before, regarding their presence in zoos (as above) and concerning their replica appearance (as below). The Przewalski’s horse, a Pleistocene megafauna survivor, extinct in the wild, can be called a “living fossil,” in the popularized employment of that phrase. Certainly, this horse is of interest to cryptozoologists, as mentioned earlier. The species (Equus ferus przewalskii, Equus caballus przewalskii, or Equus przewalski poliakov – classification is debated) is the last truly wild horse, first recognized by zoology in Mongolia in 1881. But if you live in or visit Scotland, you can see another unique wild horse [...]
Dragon Hunt Continues
Komodo dragons on display at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. During the last week, a released, escaped, or very out-of-place giant Komodo dragon has terrorized Papua New Guinea’s second largest city and caused a massive search by law enforcement officers and local officials around Lae city on the north-west coast. The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is one of cryptozoology’s “classic animals of discovery,” having only been verified less than a hundred years ago, after a specific search for this new species. Now, it is the source of some excitement far from its known home. “Some people [...]
Gigantopithecus Captured!
On December 1, 2007, before my “Introduction to Cryptozoology” talk, I toured the American Museum of Natural History’s exhibition on Mythic Creatures. In their moderately-sized exhibition hall, I felt one of the highlights was the corner they set aside for unknown hairy hominoids. The Gigantopithecus model was a wonder. It appeared as above, large and Yeti-like for all the world to ponder. The photographs below might give an insight into a different kind of feeling. Cryptomundo correspondent Trey Howell had just finished reading Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America and found himself at the American Museum of Natural [...]
Nyet Strange Wilderness, Si Lara Croft and The Mummy
Talk about a movie drowning in its own swampy mess! I jokingly call for and strongly petition Bigfoot to be removed from this movie, for heaven’s sake, because Bigfoot does not deserve this film. That wasn’t funny, was it? Well, neither is this movie! This may be the worst film to have a Sasquatch in it since the biker flicks made for the drive-in outdoor theaters during the 1970s. The reviews are in and they are not pretty. MSNBC captured it straightforwardly in their review’s headline, “Strange Wilderness scrapes bottom,” and then their subheadline, “Screenwriters seem to have no time [...]
10,000 B.C.: Cryptofiction?
You have got to love the mammoths! And sabertoothed tigers! What elements of narrative cryptofiction, in which these animals, as well as the hominids, are shown as surviving late into protohistorical times in 10,000 B.C. overlap with our interests? Frankly, I always find it intriguing and instructive to see how artists, filmmakers, and scientists recreate Pleistocene animals, so as to give us a clue of what might be behind some cryptids. I look forward to this movie, therefore, for just such images. I guess there are other things to watch in this film too, with regard to our ancestors. However, [...]
Classic Yeti Images
With the death of Sir Edmund Hillary and Yeti images of the photographs from that era (1950s and 1960s), insights into the evolution of how the Abominable Snowmen were viewed can be considered through the lenses of time and distance. The first image shared here (click on Perkins Yeti) is the 1960 lifesize drawing shown by then-Lincoln Park Zoo director Marlin Perkins before the World Book expedition to the Himalayas with Sir Edmund Hillary. (This may be different than the large cutout Perkins showed on “Wild Kingdom” in 1963, or it may be the same one.) Below is the slightly [...]
Pterodactyl Causes Car Crash
The Pteranodon replica produced by the Papo company of France. Giant flying reptiles, believe it or not, have routinely been sighted in the Olympic National Park’s rainforest in Washington State. I’ve been hearing about reports from there for decades. Now comes an intriguing, if unbelievable, account from the same area. First, here are some quick footnotes about pterodactyls vs pterosaurs vs pteranodons, which the media creatively confuse. No telling what this person really saw. Pterodactyls are any of various small, extinct flying reptiles (pterosaurs) of the genus Pterodactylus of the late Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Pterodactyls had long, narrow jaws [...]
Pick “Bigfoot” For Seven Fortean Wonders, Round 3
Congratulations! Voters from Cryptomundo appear to have had an impact on the Round 2 polling for “The Seven Fortean Wonders of the World.” The final results for Round 2 are in, and of 151 votes, fully 35% (53 votes) were for “Bigfoot / Yeti.” After the choice of the location of Loch Ness was lost in Round 1, due to neglect on the part of our community, I felt it important for our voices to be heard by voting for the only cryptozoology choice left: “Bigfoot / Yeti.” I put out the call and you responded. Thank you! You did [...]
New Discovery: Giraffes May Be 11 Species
The rare Nigerian giraffe, known currently as Giraffa camelopardalis peralta. Photo: Michel Carossio Last night, for whatever reason, after watching a bit of film showing the megafauna of Africa, I found myself trying to sort out the many subspecies of one animal – the giraffe. No, I wasn’t even looking at the zebras. I ignored the gnus, antelopes, rhinos, and elephants. But, I had to concentrate on the giraffes. I pulled out two field guides, Jean Dorst’s and Pierre Dandelot’s A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa (1969) and Jonathan Kingdon’s The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals [...]
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