Coelacanth: the extinct species discovered alive in 1938 (wikipedia.org)
Cryptozoology is the scientific study of new species such as "Bigfoot," a new bipedal ape for which a great deal of evidence already exists (including hair, prints, recordings, sightings, testimony, video, etc.) Inscrutable clues have already been discovered of the Asian Bigfoot, the
Yeti, in Mande Barung, India. Whereas skeptics
dismiss the possible existence of such mythological creatures out of hand, some scientists reserve judgment and go in search of the stranger-than-fiction truth.
For example, following reports and doing a DNA analysis of obtained samples, one
cryptozoologist discovered the
World's Smallest Deer. The most famous
cryptozoological specimen is, of course, the living fossil
coelacanth captured by fisherman in East Africa. Thought extinct since the Cretaceous period, a living one was found, and many others have also been identified since in various parts of the world. Here are a few other recent species' discovery articles:
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Undescribed species of frog, New Guinea
Malaysian scientists are scouring the rain forests of Johor State in search of the legendary ape-man Bigfoot, supposedly sighted late last year. But they are more likely to encounter some less fantastic but unique creatures that dwell in these still unexplored ecosystems.
A team of scientists working in Southeast Asia have discovered a long-whiskered rodent with stubby legs and a tail covered in dense hair. But don't call it a squirrel. Or a rat. Because it's actually more like a guinea pig or chinchilla. But not quite. In fact the new species, found in Laos by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other groups, is so unique it represents an entire new family of wildlife.
WWF researchers may have discovered a new, mysterious carnivore species in the dense, central forests of Borneo. The animal, a mammal slightly larger than a domestic cat with dark red fur and a long, bushy tail, was photographed twice by a camera trap at night. This could be the first time in more than a century that a new carnivore has been discovered on the island.
German and Malagasy primatologists have discovered two new species of lemurs, naming one of them after Steve Goodman, a Field Museum scientist who has devoted nearly two decades to studying the animals of Madagascar.
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature expects that more than 20,000 species will be described by zoologists in 2005.
While Planet Earth is becoming an increasingly smaller and more familiar world as every corner is explored and colonized, there remain millions of species undiscovered and undocumented. A number of significant species have been discovered in recent months, revealing humans' huge gaps in knowledge of the world around them. As the natural world struggles to adjust to ever-encroaching development, Mother Nature continues to surprise with her miraculous secrets. Some of these newly exposed creatures include the Golden Palace Titi monkey in Bolivia, a reported fox in Indonesia, a "vampire fish" in the Amazon and a re-discovery of a thought-extinct ivory-billed woodpecker in the United States.
Africa's first new species of monkey for over 20 years has been discovered in the remote mountains of southern Tanzania.
