CFZ's Journal of Cryptozoology gets a Naish wrap

A great piece by Darren Naish about the new Journal of Cryptozoology (CFZ Press), the history of similar publications, and why cryptozoology should be taken more seriously.

"...cryptozoology cannot and should not be considered a pseudoscience. Why? Mostly because there is no contradiction whatsoever between the scepticism, hypothesis-testing, self-correction and need for autoptic evidence typical of ‘proper’ science with analyses of cryptozoological data, nor does investigation of cryptozoological data hinge on the assumption that there are always real, flesh-and-blood animals at the bottom of eyewitness reports.

Read the full post over at his Scientific American blog here.

Cryptozoology Journal comes to Australia

The Australian orders for Volume One of The Journal of Cryptozoology will be sent out shortly.

Thank you everyone for your support, this will be an unbeatable read!

Read more about the journal here.

The Journal of Cryptozoology debuts!

Volume One (November 2012) of The Journal of Cryptozoology is now available, and contains two excellent Australian reports (see below). Buy it here!

Following the demise of Cryptozoology (published by the now-defunct International Society of Cryptozoology), there has been no peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to cryptozoology for quite some time. 

The Journal of Cryptozoology has been launched to remedy this situation and fill a notable gap in the literature of cryptids and their investigation. 

For although some mainstream zoological journals are beginning to show slightly less reluctance than before to publish papers with a cryptozoological theme, it is still by no means an easy task for such papers to gain acceptance, and, as a result, potentially significant, serious contributions to the subject are not receiving the scientific attention that they deserve. 

Now, however, they have a journal of their own once again, and one that adheres to the same high standards for publication as mainstream zoological periodicals.

This volume contains:

• Editorial - Karl P.N. Shuker

• A Digital Search Assistant for Cryptozoological Field Expeditions - Andrew May

• The Queensland Tiger: Further Evidence on the 1871 Footprint - Malcolm Smith

• The Second 'Scapasaurus' (Re)Discovered - Markus Hemmler

• Identifying 'Jaws', the Margaret River Mammal Carcase - Darren Naish

Australian Big Cats still fascinate readers

Photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jaguar.jpg 

We're pleased to see Dr Darren Naish's review of our books Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers AND Savage Shadow: The Search for the Australian Cougar continues to be one of the most popular posts on his Scientific American blog, which has just chalked up its 100th post! 

"It is, to date, the ultimate book on the subject and one that should definitely be consulted by anyone seriously interested in Australian cryptozoology, or indeed in cat lore or biology in general. Given that Australian ‘big cats’ – whatever they are – have received all too little ‘official’ attention, will this huge book be the catalyst that helps break down the stigma that still surrounds this fascinating subject?"

Well, we live in hope Darren! :-)

New Journal of Cryptozoology announced

A new peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to mystery animals is being published by the CFZ Press.

The journal fills a void left by the closure of the International Society of Cryptozoology in 1998 and the cessation of its journal Cryptozoology, which folded in 1996.

According to the journal Cryptozoology, the ISC served "as a focal point for the investigation, analysis, publication, and discussion of all matters related to animals of unexpected form or size, or unexpected occurrence in time or space."

It's an exciting development for the world of cryptozoology, and a boon for Australia - two of the peer review panel members are Australians: Colin Groves (ANU) and David Waldron (Ballarat University). The panel will also include Tom Gilbert, Christine Janis, Paul LeBlond, Adrienne Mayor, Darren Naish, Charles Paxton, Brian Regal, and Lars Thomas.

Announcing the new journal, editor Dr Karl Shuker said it would "fill a notable gap in the literature of cryptids and their investigation. For although some mainstream zoological journals are beginning to show slightly less reluctance than before to publish papers with a cryptozoological theme, it is still by no means an easy task for such papers to gain acceptance, and, as a result, potentially significant, serious contributions to the subject are not receiving the scientific attention that they deserve. Now, however, they have a journal of their own once again, and one that adheres to the same high standards for publication as mainstream zoological periodicals."

Dr Shuker also outlined the accepted definition of a cryptid for the purposes of the journal: "For the purposes of relevance to this journal, a cryptid is a creature that is known to the local people sharing its domain (ethnoknown) but unrecognised by scientists. Such a creature may be any of the following:

1) A species or subspecies apparently unknown to science, including alleged prehistoric survivors (e.g. mokele-mbembe).

2) A species or subspecies presently unknown to science in the living state, but which is known to have existed in historical times and allegedly still persists today (e.g. thylacine).

3) A species or subspecies known to science but allegedly existing as a natural occurrence in a location outside its scientifically-recognised current geographical distribution (e.g. puma in the eastern USA).

4) A species or subspecies known to science but allegedly existing as an artificial occurrence (i.e. due to human intervention) in a location outside its scientifically-recognised geographical distribution (e.g. alien big cats in Britain).

5) An unrecognised non-taxonomic variant of a known species or subspecies (e.g. Fujian blue tiger; prior to its scientific recognition, the journal's logo creature, the king cheetah, was another example from this category).

In addition, papers dealing with fabulous, mythological beasts will be considered for publication in the journal if their subjects have direct relevance to cryptids (e.g. reviewing the similarity between a given lake monster from folklore and cryptids reported in that same lake in modern times)."

Read more about the journal's submission guidelines here.

Big cats stalking the bush?

Dr Darren Naish gave Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers a very respectable thumbs-up recently on his very popular Scientific American blog.

He writes in part, in Williams and Lang’s Australian Big Cats: do pumas, giant feral cats and mystery marsupials stalk the Australian outback?:

"A long term interest and involvement in Australian and world mysteries led Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang to research and produce what is now the definitive volume on Australian mystery big cats; it’s titled Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers (Williams & Lang 2010).

"At 434 pages, it’s substantial. It’s also highly readable, nicely formatted and very well illustrated. The authors have collated a vast amount of information gleaned not only from published sources but also from interviews with both eyewitnesses and people who have examined evidence firsthand.

"Williams and Lang clearly travelled widely across the country, photographing locations, people, documents, taxiderm specimens and so on at what must have been great personal expense. They obtained freedom of information acts and other previously undisclosed documents. A lengthy appendix (c. 120 pages) includes copies of numerous letters and documents produced by government officials, veterinarians, ecologists, geneticists and others. The volume is fully referenced (though with the citations given at the bottom of the respective pages, rather than at the end of the text) and with an index.

"So, to anyone seriously interested in mystery animals, mystery big cats or Australian mammals in general, this book is a must-have..."

Read more at http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2012/02/13/williams-and-langs-australian-big-cats/?print=true

Thylacoleo gets an airing at Tet Zoo

On one of our favourite blogs, Dr Darren Naish talks marsupials at Tet Zoo - and one of our favourites in particular:

"Thylacoleonids, marsupial lions or ‘thylacolions’ are among the most incredible of marsupials. Superficially possum-like features meant that they were regarded as members of Phalangeroidea for a few decades and I’ll admit that Thylacoleo does look – as many before have said – like a “giant murderous possum” in some artistic reconstructions."

Read more here.

Max Blake & Darren Naish at the Weird Weekend 2011

Big Cats in Britain - specifically lynxes - are the topic of this fantastic talk by Dr Darren Naish and CFZ assistant zoological director Max Blake, which focuses specifically on the discovery of a 100-year-old Eurasian lynx specimen in the Bristol Museum archives, shot in Devon!

You can read about the background of the discovery here - but bear in mind the journalists, bless 'em, buggered up his name it's Blake, not Lake.

Darren and Max give a great overview of the big cat phenomenon in the UK - one not to be missed for fans of big cats. "They are out there!"

Dr Darren Naish at the Weird Weekend 2011

Dr Darren Naish presented a fascinating talk on Sea Monsters and the 'Prehistoric Survivor Paradigm' (henceforth known as 'PSP').

Are there really prehistoric survivors swimming in our oceans and lakes? Are cryptozoologists hot on the trail of watery leviathans? Or is it all just a colossal waste of time?

Roy Mackal and Dr Karl Shuker have written extensively about sea monsters and the 'PSP' theory. So what does Dr Naish think? Are there still massive marine animals waiting to be discovered?

You'll have to watch it to find out...

Missing lynx revealed at Weird Weekend 2011

Last week UK news site This is Devon covered an intriguing story that was also the subject of a talk at this year's Weird Weekend: the discovery of a 100-year-old specimen in a museum basement. We'll be featuring the video of the talk by Max Blake and Dr Darren Naish on this blog, but in the meantime here's the story:

The evidence includes the body of a lynx that was shot in mid-Devon just over a century ago, and leopard hairs and plaster-cast paw prints found recently near Woolfardisworthy that have been positively identified by independent experts.

Jonathan Downes, director of CFZ, told the Western Morning News: “We showed the lynx to various people last night and Dr Darren Naish and student Max Blake will be explaining its story this weekend. It is absolutely fascinating and it proves big cats are not a new thing.

“Max discovered the lynx in the archives of Bristol Museum and realised the importance of it,” said Mr Downes. “The animal was shot over 100 years ago in mid-Devon and that’s important because it proves there have been exotic cats in British countryside for many years.

“This animal has provenance – we have the date, time and the name of the person who presented it to the museum. This is a breakthrough,” he added saying that the stuffed body was of an animal smaller than a Euro-Asian lynx.

“It is within size the range normally equated with a Canadian lynx,” said Mr Downes. “So is it a Canadian lynx that was in captivity and escaped? Or it might be something even more interesting? There were no zoos in Devon that it could have escaped from at the time it was shot.

“The Devonshire naturalist HG Hurrell – a respected columnist for the Western Morning News – suggested that lynx were living in parts of Westcountry 50 years ago – as did Professor Bernard Heuvalmann, a noted academic. We know there were lynx living in Britain 1500 years ago, but could some have survived?”

Mr Downes said the next move was to have DNA extracted from the animal’s teeth or bone in an attempt to answer the riddle. CFZ also revealed that hairs found in woods near Woolfardisworthy had been positively identified as those of a leopard.

“We had them DNA tested by Durham University and they confirmed they were leopard. This is proof that there was, as of last summer, at least one leopard apparently wild in the woodlands of North Devon,” said Mr Downes.

“Local sightings have gone back an awful long time which implies there’s a population here. A few years ago a local farmer contacted us saying something had attacked one of his sheep – we saw the carcase and it had been killed in a fashion characteristic of a leopard.”

Given the subject matter and that the name of his organisation’s conference is “The Weird Weekend”, did Mr Downes fear that some people might question the seriousness of the evidence?

“We are not making outrageous claims,” he told the WMN. “We are not talking about sabre-toothed tigers or Loch Ness Monsters. That’s all nonsense. We are simply saying an animal can live here and adapt to the natural conditions.”

Cryptozoology: Science or Pseudoscience?

From krakens to gigantic sea serpents, terrifying monsters of the deep have haunted the imaginations of generations of mariners.

Now experts in marine life claim sea monsters might actually exist. Because scientists are still finding new species of underwater life, the discovery of “marine monsters” is not impossible, a meeting in the UK heard last Tuesday.

“The huge number of ‘sea monster’ sightings now on record can’t all be explained away as mistakes, sightings of known animals or hoaxes,” said palaeontologist Dr Darren Naish of the University of Portsmouth.

“At least some of the better ones - some of them made by trained naturalists and such - probably are descriptions of encounters with real, unknown animals.”

One such example was reported in 1905 by zoologists Edmund Meade-Waldo and Michael Nicoll, who encountered a strange “sea serpent” off the coast of Brazil.

And in August 1848, the crew of HMS Daedalus saw a 60ft-long sea creature during a voyage to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.

At the time, biologists in London claimed it was most likely an elephant seal - or even an upside down canoe.

Dr Naish told the meeting of the Zoological Society of London: “Because large marine animals continue to be discovered - various new whale and shark species have been named in recent years - the idea that such species might await discovery is, at the very least, plausible.”

Some people have suggested present-day monsters might be plesiosaurs, long-necked marine reptiles that lived at the time of dinosaurs. But this was dismissed by Dr Charles Paxton, of the University of St Andrews, who organised the meeting, entitled Cryptozoology: Science or Pseudoscience?

Cryptozoology is the “study of hidden animals” - or the search for creatures whose existence has not been proved, such as the Loch Ness monster and the Abominable Snowman.

“If there are prehistoric animals alive today it would imply that there’s something very wrong with our understanding of the fossil record,” he said.

Dr Paxton argues it is wrong to assume that all large animals living in the oceans have been discovered. “If the criteria is solely bigness, then this is not the case,” he said. “In 1995 a benthic ray, which lives on the ocean floor, was found that measured 3.42 metres.”

Eight large marine species have been discovered in the past 20 years.

LiveScience interviewed Dr Paxton about his passion for sea monsters in the lead-up to the talk.

While The Guardian attended the discussion and gave a detailed account of the evening.