Cryptomundo
for Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents and More

Artist’s conception of the moa-nalo examples, Thambetochen chauliodous, and Ptaiochen pau. Image by Stanton F. Fink. Since the dodo was visited here yesterday, our island-hopping journey might as well continue with a view of the Hawaiian flightless birds, the moa-nalo. Moa-nalo are a group of extinct aberrant, goose-like ducks that formerly lived on the Hawaiian […]

Read: Moa-Nalo Superducks »

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, and went extinct several centuries ago, we are told. But there remains some controversy surrounding the extinction date of the dodo. In Nature 426, 245 (20 November 2003), David L. Roberts and Andrew R. Solow write in their paper, […]

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The news is sad. Until 1995, there was no concerted effort to establish the status of the population of the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis). While there had been only sporadic sightings, many were unconfirmed. Now, it appears, these pinnipeds exist no more. The above image is the only known photograph of a Caribbean monk […]

Read: Extinct: Caribbean Monk Seal »

The above is a new species with the common name of the “shocking pink dragon millipede” and the scientific Latin name of Desmoxytes purpurosea. It was first found on 28 August 2006, and first described in Zootaxa 1563: 31–36, 2007. It’s May. The end of May 2008. But apparently there is one more “top ten […]

Read: Top 10 New Species of Old and Recent Discoveries »

Porcula salvania (“Pigmy Hog of the Saul Forests”), as shown in a hand-drawn lithograph by Joseph Smit for the Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Good-looking, sexy animals get all the media attention, and the unique may be ignored due to human favoritism generally going to the attractive animals. Who cries for the plight of the […]

Read: Save The Porcula »

Photo by Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal Allan Mueller of The Nature Conservancy trolls through Bayou DeView in east Arkansas, where there were several ivory-billed woodpeckers sighted in 2004. The continuing search has been fruitless — and expensive — with development projects delayed. “We’ve got to get a picture,” he says. The Commercial Appeal of Memphis […]

Read: As Elusive As Bigfoot »

A new, simplified family tree of humanity, published on Sunday, has dealt a blow to those who contend that the enigmatic hominids known as Neandertals intermingled with our forebears. Neanderthals were a separate species to Homo sapiens, as anatomically modern humans are known, rather than offshoots of the same species, the new organigram published by […]

Read: Neandertals Were Separate Species »

Borneo’s pygmy elephants may be descendants of an extinct Javan elephant race, saved by chance by an 18th century ruler, according to a new study just released. The study suggests that a small number of opposite-sex elephants can produce a thriving progeny of thousands if left undisturbed on an island, giving fresh hope to conservationists […]

Read: Are Borneo Pygmy Elephants Javan? »

It is always good to update a year old story. The Kokako ~ the New Zealand version of the ivory-billed woodpecker intrigue ~ is back in the news. The Kokako has recently been in the newspapers again, with a new sighting of this contemporary cryptid. Alec Milne, an amateur ornithologist from Golden Bay, in the […]

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Brent Swancer, from Japan, is my guest contributor for today. He introduces us to a known animal with a foggy cryptic presence today and its links to an extremely well-known Japanese cryptid: The Japanese River Otter (Lutra nippon) is a nocturnal predator, endemic to Japan, which reaches 26 to 30 inches long at maturity. Inhabiting […]

Read: Otter Unknown Kappa »

A wolverine has been captured on camera by an Oregon State student. A wolverine has been spotted in the Sierra Nevada mountains for the first time since 1922. According to CBS5: A research project aimed at martens has turned up a bigger prize: a picture of a wolverine, an elusive animal scientists feared may have […]

Read: First California Wolverine Since 1922 »

As a followup to the recent story about Rex Gilroy’s proposed expedition to look for living Moas in the Urewera forest, Tony Lucas shares the latest. Hawke’s Bay cryptozoology researcher Tony Lucas is keeping an open mind on the possibility of moa still being alive in the Ureweras but thinks the evidence could point to […]

Read: More Moa News »

The little blue moa. The Thylacine of the Avian world is in the news again. Australian cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy recently discussed the latest new findings for Moas with the Hawke’s Bay Today. One of the good points about Gilroy is that he does serve as a lightning rod for unusual animal accounts in the region […]

Read: Living Moa News »

This file photo shows a grizzly bear moving through the brush in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. (Courtesy: Yellowstone National Park) In September 2007, a black bear hunter “mistakenly” shot and killed a grizzly bear in the “rugged Idaho terrain near Kelly Creek about three miles from the Montana border,” according to the Associated Press. […]

Read: Ivory-Billeds & Idaho Grizzlies: Coming Quests »

Some unique crocs have been seen in Thailand. But as opposed to merely “out-of-place” or escaped reptiles, it might signal a recovery of a locally “extinct” species. Loosely using the term “gavial,” some form of a gavial or gharial is the source of this attention. Either it is the true gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, identified as […]

Read: First Thai Tomistoma Since 1970 »