Since the second season kicks off today, I thought I’d stop by this morning to add some notes about names associated with the series.

First off, the “History Channel” is no more. According to Doug Yuan, the producer who was here in Maine yesterday from A&E Television Networks headquarters to film my International Cryptozoology Museum, the official name of the “History Channel” has been changed to “History.”

The corporate decision was made to go to a broader moniker, via History.com, to reflect the greater diversity of their products, which do now go beyond a mere cable channel. Henceforth, I’ll talk of “History” versus the “History Channel.”

Second point is that “MonsterQuest,” in spite of their logo that may be left over from season one, definitely now spells their name on their website and elsewhere as one word. This appears both as “Monsterquest” and “MonsterQuest.” I’ll try to remember to use it that way, until I hear differently.

Finally, in Henry May’s report from Ohio about what Jeff Meldrum told of his MonsterQuest trip to China, the indication was that Adam Davies and Meldrum collaborated with a “Xio Xu Xiang.”

I was concerned the spelling of this individual was perhaps incorrect, so I asked Meldrum to clarify the name of the person who was with them in China.

Meldrum quickly replied via email: “The Chinese professor was none other than Zhou Gouxing.”

Zhou Gouxing is China’s foremost authority on the Yeren. He can be heard here talking about the two different types of Yeren and the two varieties of footprints (one more manlike and the smaller other track like an ape’s or monkey’s).

Later, I found that Idaho State University has issued a press release about the trip:

Jeff Meldrum, Ph.D., traveled to China April 28-May 9 [2008] to help produce a documentary for the History Channel about China’s Wildman, the Yeren. He collaborated with anthropologist Zhou Gouxing, Bejing Museum of Natural History, and provincial scientists in Hubei, where they spent a week filming in the Shennogjia Nature Reserve.

Chinese researcher Yuan Zhenxin with the cast of an alleged Yeren from Shennogjia Nature Reserve.

I look forward to the forthcoming “MonsterQuest II: Yeren” program on History involving Meldrum, Davies and Zhou Gouxing. Anticipation is that it will be a good one.