APRIL FOOLS

Well of course the panzer frog and the Hemel Hempstead BHM were April Fool's Day jokes. I have always enjoyed such frivolity and have been looking mildly forward to today for months. Chris Clark sent me the panzer frog months ago and I have been waiting for today to post it, and the Hemel Hempstead story just fell into my lap when I received a telephone call from a PR company trying to find a fun story with which to launch their new skislope.

But there have been other ones:

Jan Edwards sent me this:
http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/findings/newbutterfly.htm
It’s not often you get a new species unknown to science, thriving in England. Currently in Kent, but how far has it spread?

The BBC, however claim that Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine, currently filming the TV adaptation of the late Douglas Adams' Last Chance to See have photographed a true cryptid:

First ever shot of the elusive shark-whale
Until now, scientists have regarded the shark-whale as a modern-day myth. See Stephen and Mark's sensational sighting of the half shark, half whale creature that had never been photographed before.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchancetosee/sites/map/sea_of_cortez/mexico_sea/video/mexico_sea_sharkwhale