Brazilian Hominoids Discovered

Before you jump to any conclusions, remember “hominoids” includes humans, hominids, anthropoids, and pongids. What has been discovered, actually? What would happen if an undiscovered group of so-called “Brazilian Indians” was found, and among them were seen “near-humans”? Would anyone take the possibilities seriously? In a time when Google Earth is spotting hidden huts in the jungles, will satellite photos reveal more than living areas and humans? Will sky-based photography point out more of a diversity of hominoids or merely confuse the picture? See today’s breaking images from Brazil: Fox News is reporting on Friday, May 30, 2008, those photos [...]

New Scorpion Discovered in Columbia

Rhopalurus laticauda The Scorpion Files today has alerted me that there is a recently discovered species from the genus Rhopalurus, newly described on 28 May 2008, from northeastern Colombia, from a holotype collected by C. A. Roncallo on 18 December 2006: Rhopalurus caribensis Teruel & Roncallo, 2008. It is closely related to Rhopalurus laticauda (pictured twice above, here at Cryptomundo). The Scorpion Files notes that the new species has probably been confused with Rhopalurus laticauda in the past. For further reading and the new images of Rhopalurus caribensis, see the full (free) text of the scientific paper: Teruel R, Roncallo [...]

Zoorama’s Host Dies

Bob Dale, San Diego TV legend and host of the famed animal program, “Zoorama,” died at 83, on Monday, May 26, 2008. He had been in declining health for some time, but his daughter, Linda, said he kept his wonderful spirit and wit right up to the end. People who grew up in southern California in the 1950s and 1960s, may remember Dale’s stylist bowtie and good humor. “Few people connect with an audience the way Bob did,” NBC 7/39 Vice President of News Greg Dawson said Wednesday. “As a television personality, he did it all. For those of us [...]

More on MonsterQuest and Yeren

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 [...]

Mega Hog or Mega Hoax?

The new season of “MonsterQuest” airs on Wednesday night, May 28, 2008, with their lead-off program, “Mega Hog.” (Check your local listings.) Here is the program overview: “Do wild hogs in the United States grow to monstrous sizes? Many think so. In Georgia an 1100 pound hog was shot and killed, and in Texas beasts almost as large have been reported. But are these creatures raised and fattened up in a pen, or are they wild hogs, naturally more aggressive, that have somehow reached gigantic proportions? A MonsterQuest examination meets victims of vicious wild boar attacks, looks at the existing [...]