CRYPTO 1993

AARoN M. BAUER Department ofBiology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster A venue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 1 9085, U.S.A. ANTHONY P. RUSSELL Vertebrate Morphology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences,

reviewed scientific journals have been willing to publish research articles of a cryptozoological nature (e.g., Bodley 1 988, Oren 1 993, Pierce et al. 1 995). The most recent appearance of a cryptozoological paper in a scientific journal is the description of Cadborosaurus willsi, a large "sea serp

Although non-specialists may regard the rules of nomenclature as the arcane regulations of a Victorian science, they are, in fact, the precepts by which systematists function. They provide guidelines for the maintenance of nomenclatural stability, and the recognition oflegitimately described taxa. A

A very basic flaw in the paper is that the authors apparently decided that Cadborosaurus was probably a plesiosaur, and then pressed this point, de spite the fact that virtually all available evidence does not support this interpretation. Of course, Cadborosaurus might have a highly derived body fo

The morphology of the locomotor apparatus is one of the most troubling aspects of the Bousfield and LeBlond ( 1 99 5) interpretation. Bauer ( 1 99 1 ) has previously cautioned against the reconstruction of improbable, if not impossible, morphologies in the attempt to reconcile physical evidence with

REPRODUCTION The authors indicate that Cadborosaurus rarely comes to the surface, and can remain submerged indefinitely. This feature is not known in any am niotes. All amniotes require atmospheric oxygen while active over long periods. Although some may function anaerobically for short periods (Se

The authors indicate that Cadborosaurus rarely comes to the surface, and can remain submerged indefinitely. This feature is not known in any am niotes. All amniotes require atmospheric oxygen while active over long periods. Although some may function anaerobically for short periods (Sey mour 1 982

We have attempted to demonstrate that Bousfield and LeBlond ( 1 995) have not provided convincing evidence for a living plesiosaur in the waters of British Columbia. If we are correct, what, then, is Cadborosaurus? Or, more appropriately, what are the sources for the evidence presented for the exist

GUNTER G. SEHM P.O. Box 304628 20315 Hamburg, Germany ABsTRAcr: This paper discusses the possibility of an unknown species of giant devil ray, Manta sp., distinguished by a dorsal color pattern of symmetrical V-shaped

There have been, so far, no attempts at determining the taxonomic status of this fish, which Beebe himself called an "unknown species" (Fig. 1 ). In the course of a recent study of manta photographs, another specimen from New Caledonia was found to show the same symmetrical white dorsal bands, parti

Flo. 1 . - William Beebe's sketch of an unknown devil ray or manta. Probably male. From Beebe was. shown on German television (3rd Program, NDR [North German Tele vision], N3) titled Sharks: Hunters of the Seas, narrated by Heinz Sielmann, and filmed and produced by Sigurd Tesche, of S. Tesche Prod

A giant ray as depicted by Beebe and appearing in the photographs should be classified as either an eagle ray (Family Myliobatidae) or a devil ray or manta (Family Mobulidae). The taxonomic structure of the latter family is uncertain and still debated. There are thought to be either two or four gene

Further fieldwork is necessary to obtain additional evidence - preferably a specimen- which might then lead to a formal taxon description and nam ing, if indeed a new species or subspecies is involved. In the past, dozens of Manta species have been described under various names. Today, many of them

FIG. 7 . - Mysterious specimen from the East Indies, as illustrated by Nieuhof ( 1 682). ichthyologist was recently shown photographs of such giants, as well as a live young specimen of 32 inches (80 em) in diameter by a Bangkok pet fish exporter (Kottelat 1 989). The young ray, as photographed, con

EXTINCT OR EXTANT? IVAN INEICH Laboratory of Reptiles and Amphibians, Department of Zoology National Museum of Natural History, 25, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France, and

IVAN INEICH Laboratory of Reptiles and Amphibians, Department of Zoology National Museum of Natural History, 25, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France, and Environment Center, B.P. 1013, Papetoai

Laboratory of Reptiles and Amphibians, Department of Zoology National Museum of Natural History, 25, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France, and Environment Center, B.P. 1013, Papetoai Moorea, French Polynesia

Division ofA mphibians and Reptiles, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560, U.S.A. (Dedicated to the memory of John R. H. Gibbons, who searched the central Pacific for known and unknown lizards.)

mm SVL). Another recent specimen is in the Australian Museum, and was collected in 1 992 by Ross Sadlier and Aaron Bauer in northeast New Cal edonia. Both recently collected specimens proves the survival of this giant In the central Pacific, Fiji possesses an iguana, small (220 mm SVL) when compare

Gibbons visited Tongatapu and 'Eua in January and October, 1 98 5 . While his visits were brief on both islands, he collected over 90 lizards. As an aside, his inquiries about large lizards revealed that Brachy/ophus fasciatus still survives on Tongatapu (although he observed none), but that, within

If You See A Grey Ghost, Don't Run, Take Its Photo INEICH AND ZUG: TACHYG YIA. THE GIANT TONGAN SKINK CRYPTOZOOLOGY

The lizard is thousht to be 50.60cm from head These were collected on Tongatapu in the 1 over for plantations and with the introduction of

The lizard is thousht to be 50.60cm from head These were collected on Tongatapu in the 1 over for plantations and with the introduction of

Cryptozoology, 1 2, 1 993- 1 996, 36-4 1 WALTERS

NAMES IN NATIVE VOCABULARIES MICHAEL P. WALTERS Bird Group, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum (London), The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum,

MICHAEL P. WALTERS Bird Group, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum (London), The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, Tring, Hertfordshire,

Bird Group, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum (London), The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, Tring, Hertfordshire, England HP23 6AP, U.K.

Linguistics and folklore have played important roles in other recent cryp analyses, particularly when examining native vocabularies. Bauer tozoologtcal and Russell ( 1 9 8 7), for example, have established a linkage between the legendary kawekaweau, a reptile of New Zealand Maori folklore and the

• Aeto. An eagle. This name may be of fairly recent introduction, aetas being the Greek word for an eagle. Unidentified. Ao. A large spotted sea bird (apparently this word has a great many other meanings). = Sula leucogaster, the Brown Booby. • Arevareva (also called oovea). A large spotted bird; sa

Research Re p orts Cryptozoology, 1 2, 1 993- 1 996, 42-49

PETER A. DRATCH Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Building 560/Room 2 1-105, Frederick, Maryland 2 1 702, U.S.A. National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory

Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Building 560/Room 2 1-105, Frederick, Maryland 2 1 702, U.S.A. National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory Ashland, Oregon 96520, U.S.A.

FIG. 1 . -0nza shot in 1 986 in western Sierra Madre, Mexico. (International Society of Cryp National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory Ashland, Oregon 96520, U.S.A. tozoology.)

Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Building 560/Room 2 1-105, Frederick, Maryland 2 1 702, U.S.A. Tissue samples from an alleged Mexican Onza, shot in the western

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UNKNOWN PERUVIAN MAMMALS PETER J. HOCKING Natural History Museum National Higher University of San Marcos Apartado 14-0434, Lima 1 4, Peru

PETER J. HOCKING Natural History Museum National Higher University of San Marcos Apartado 14-0434, Lima 1 4, Peru INTRODUCfiON

ARKADY TISHKOV Laboratory of Ecosystems Dynamics and Historical Biogeography, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 29 Staromonetny Street, Moscow 1 0901 7, Russia (Translated by Dmitri Bayanov)

Laboratory of Ecosystems Dynamics and Historical Biogeography, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 29 Staromonetny Street, Moscow 1 0901 7, Russia (Translated by Dmitri Bayanov) INTRODUCTION

A PRELIMINARY SEARCH JAY W. TISCHENDORF A merican Ecological Research Institute (AERIE) P. 0. Box 380, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522 U.S.A. SuSAN B. MoRSE

JAY W. TISCHENDORF A merican Ecological Research Institute (AERIE) P. 0. Box 380, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522 U.S.A. SuSAN B. MoRSE Morse and Morse Forestry and Wildlife Consultants,

Morse and Morse Forestry and Wildlife Consultants, RD 1, Box 263, Jericho, Vermont 05465 U.S.A. New Bruasw:i,ck INTRODUCfiON

CRYPTOZOOLOGY Burington, Ver ont, served as field assistants throughout the entire study. Thei efforts are Sincerely appreciated. Likewise, we are indebted to Malcolm Rossiser, Alma, New Brunswick, who gave freely of his time and provided extensive knowledge of the region.

Pub l i c a t ion of PROCBHDINGS OF THB &ASTERN COUGAR CONFBRRNCB , 1994

T i s c hendorf and S t eve Rops k i , he Ea s t ern Cougar Con f e rence , held at Gannon unl.vers l.· ty , .in

J AMES A . HEwKIN 35237 Aubuchon Drive, St. Helens, Oregon 97051, USA INTRODUCI10N us findings The 1 99 3 investigations given in this report update my previo

1 3-B Seaton Drive Aberdeen, Scotland AB2 1 UP, U.K. CRYPTOZOOLOGY A Parrot Without a Name: The Search for the Last Unknown Birds on Earth.

(Comment on Nikolai Spassov, 1 99 1 , The Musk Ox in Eurasia: Extinct at the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary or Survivor to Historical Times? Cryp tozoology, Vol. 1 0: 4-1 5) Nikolai Spassov failed to cite another paper supporting his contention that the Mongolian ornamental plaques depict muskoxen.

P. O. Box 101 Glenwood, New Mexico 88039, U. S.A. (Peter Lent is a wildlife biologist with a special interest in ungulates. He is the author ofnumerous publications on the biology ofmuskoxen and caribou. ) AsiAN MUSKOX: MAIN PURPOSE ACHIEVED

(Response to Lent) Lent presents two additional opinions concerning the animals depicted on the Noin-Ula (Hun) plaques from Mongolia that were not included in

(Comment on Van Wallach and Gwilym S. Jones, 1 992, Cryptophidion annamense, a New Genus and Species of Cryptozoic Snake from Vietnam [Reptilia: Serpentes], Cryptozoology, Vol. 1 1 : 1 -3 7) The description of the genus Cryptophidion by Wallach and Jones is based on the examination and interpretatio

Laboratory of Reptiles and A mphibians Department of Zoology National Museum of Natural History 25 rue Cuvier, 7 5005, Paris, France DANNY MEIRTE

Herpetological Service, Vertebrate Section Royal Museum for Central Africa Steenweg op Leuven B- 3080 Tervuren, Belgium (Olivier Pauwels has a primary interest in the herpetofauna of West Africa

(Response to Pauwels and Meitre) The sunbeam snake, Xenopeltis unicolor, is a rare but extremely well known species of eastern Asia. It is a stout-bodied, nearly cylindrical form, tapering abruptly to the small head without a hint of neck. The tail is thick. Broad ventral plates extend to the menta

The Conservation Agency 6 Swinburne Street Jamestown, Rhode Island 02835, U. S.A. mam mals, reptiles, and (James Lazell is a vertebrate zoologist specializing in

(Response to Pauwels and Meitre) and Meitre indicate In challenging the validity of Cryptophidion, Pauwels gnomy. Cryp a lack of understanding of basic ophidian anato

CuLTURALLY BASED? (Response to Mackal) (Comment on Yasushi Kojo, 1 992, Distributional Patterns of Cryptid Eye witness Reports from Lake Champlain, Loch Ness, and Okanagan Lake, Cryptozoology, Vol . 1 1 : 8 3-89)

(Response to Mackal) (Comment on Yasushi Kojo, 1 992, Distributional Patterns of Cryptid Eye witness Reports from Lake Champlain, Loch Ness, and Okanagan Lake, Cryptozoology, Vol . 1 1 : 8 3-89) When I visited Loch Ness some years ago, I asked some local people if

(Comment on Aaron M. Bauer, 1 992, Review of Natural Mysteries: Monster Lizards, English Dragons, and Other Puzzling Animals, Cryptozoology, Vol. 1 1 : 1 1 6- 1 9)

(Response to Hall) Apparently, Mark Hall's concept of a useful review is synonymous with a favorable review. Hall's comment (and his book, for that matter) is not consistent with a scientific approach to cryptozoology. I do not maintain that my interpretation of data collected or phenomena observed