Herpetologica volume 68 number 4

Contents:

Amburgey, Staci, W. Chris Funk, Meline Murphy and Erin Muths. 2012. Effects of hydroperiod duration on survival, developmental rate, and size at metamorphosis in Boreal Chorus Frog tadpoles (Pseudacris maculata). Herpetologica. 68 (4): 456-467. [ amburgey@rams.colostate.edu]

Bernhard, Rafael and Richard C. Vogt. 2012. Population structure of the turtle Podocnemis erythrocephala in the Rio Negro Basin, Brazil. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 491-504. [ vogt@inpa.gov.br]

Cooper, William E., Jr. 2012. Risk, escape from ambush, and hiding time in the lizard Sceloporus virgatus. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 505-513. [cooperw.ipfw.edu]

Dabes, Lucianne, Vanessa Maria Gomes Bonfim, Marcelo Felgueiras Napoli and Wilfried Klein. 2012. Water balance and spatial distribution of an anuran community from Brazil. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 443-455. [ wklein@usp.br]

Embrechts, Eline and Heinz-Ulrich Reyer. 2012. Age and size of hybrid water frogs: the role of genotype and ecology. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 468-481. [ uli.reyer@ieu.uzh.ch]

Ferro, Juan M., Dardo A. Marti, Claudio J. Bidau, Pablo Suarez, Cleusa Y. Nagamachi, Julio C. Pieczarka and Diego Baldo. 2012. B Chromosomes in the tree frog Hypsiboas albopunctatus (Anura: Hylidae). Herpetologica. 68 (4): 482-490. [ ferrojm@gmail.com]

Guarnizo, Carlos E., Camilo Escallon, David Cannatella and Adolfo Amezquita. 2012. Congruence between acoustic traits and genealogical history reveals a new species of Dendrosophus (Anura: Hylidae) in the hgh Andes of Colombia. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 523-540. [ cguarnizo@utexas.edu]

Hofmann, Sylvia, Peter Fritzsche, Torstein Solhøy, Tsering Dorge and Georg Miehe. 2012. Evidence of sex-biased dispersal in Thermophis baileyi inferred from microsatellite markers. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 514-522. [ s.hofmann@ikmb.uni-kiel.de]

Kraus, Fred. 2012. A new species of Nyctimystes (Anura: Hylidae) from Papua New Guinea. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 541-550. Nyctimystes cryptochrysos sp. nov. [ fkraus@hawaii.edu]

Woolrich-Piña, Guillermo A. and Geoffrey R. Smith. 2012. A new species of Xenosaurus from the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico. Herpetologica. 68 (4): 551-559. Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus sp. nov. [ smithg@denison.edu]

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES (CFZ)

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that, whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monstersl, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.

• New Mexico bird-of-prey rescue center threatened b...
• Cal woman hides bird rather than give to state
• Milwaukee named a 'Bird City'
• Bird flu kills 4-year-old boy in Indonesia; 160th ...
• Scientists Develop Novel Method to Study Parasite ...
• If You Cut Down a Tree in the Forest, Can Wildlife...
• Coal tits struggling after poor seed year – Appear...
• Cornwall Wildlife Trust buys 19 acres wetland

CRYPTOLINK: Sasquatching' in the Sierra: Searching for bigfoot near Lake Tahoe

TAHOE/TRUCKEE — The hairiest experience Chuck Langrill ever had while he was out ‘Sasquatching' in the Sierra Nevada took place one night as he followed a riverbed into the mountains.

Searching for signs of the elusive bigfoot in the soft mud, he heard whooping vocalizations coming from both sides of a nearby valley. So like any good Sasquatch searcher, Langrill sat down and waited as the sounds got closer.

“I was sitting there with my camera in my hand. I just had a feeling something was going to happen. Then the trees start to move and I see this black, furry thing,” Langrill said.

The shape that emerged turned out to be nothing more exotic than a resident black bear, but Langrill said he's convinced he was surrounded by a group of Sasquatches that night. The whooping sounded just like a primate's cry, he said.

In search of the elusive beast

Langrill, who runs the website Sierra Tahoe Bigfoot Research (sierratahoebigfoot.com), didn't catch a glimpse of a bigfoot on that trip. In fact, during the four years since he founded the site that's dedicated to research of the giant primate and its habitat in Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada, he's never seen one.

But that hasn't damped his confidence in the species' existence.

“There are just so many sightings in the Tahoe area, and they're credible people who have seen them,” Langrill said. “Everything I've witnessed at night, no one can tell me they're not real. And all these people who have seen them, they're obsessed.”

California is second only to Washington state when it comes to reported bigfoot sightings, according to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. More than 420 Californians have posted alleged sightings online, 41 of which occurred in Placer, Nevada and El Dorado counties.

But in an arena overrun by amateur researchers, the anthropological has morphed into the mythological. Photos of the eight-foot primate are too blurred to make out, bones decompose rapidly or are scavenged too quickly to find again, and some sightings turn out to be people masquerading in hairy ape suites.

“Probably what it's going to take is someone is going to have to capture one. I don't think a picture is going to do it,” Langrill said.

Even a recent DNA study led by researcher Melba Ketchum that purports to confirm the existence of the large primate has already lost some credibility in the ensuing “soap opera,” Langrill said. Though the study hasn't been published, findings suggest that the animal emerged about 1,500 years ago as a hybrid species related to modern Homo sapiens and another unknown primate.

The report, leaked through Facebook, didn't follow the traditional methods of academic dissemination and it's unclear where the DNA came from. According to Langrill, the sample came from a piece of meat, called “The Steak,” that was cut off a Sasquatch killed in the Sierra Nevada, but he admits there are many ways it could have been tainted.

Read on...

CRYPTOLINKS: Mystery animal attacks livestock in Shelby County. Ky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A mystery in Shelby County has people on high alert. Something is on the prowl, attacking animals and leaving them for dead. People say a creature attacked six goats -- five of which had to be put down -- and four calves in the past couple weeks. Rusty Newton, Deputy County Judge Executive, says, "It's not doing it to kill the animal to eat, these animals are just being mauled. That's where the mystery is at this point."

Neighbors say it lurks in the woods, and only comes out at night. No one has seen the creature, but people are on the lookout. A couple found what they believe are tracks from the animal.

Read on...

KARL SHUKER - UNEARTHING THE EARTH HOUND, A CORPSE-DEVOURING CRYPTID FROM SCOTLAND

Karl Shuker investigates the grisly case of Scotland's graveyard-inhabiting, corpse-devouring earth hound - truly, an x-rated cryptid if ever there was one!

Read on...

I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

So I finally finished my Christmas shopping yesterday. Mother and I trudged around Barnstaple in the rain (she 4ft 11, and me 6ft 7) looking like something from a grotesque caricature of a Victorian street scene. Corinna went grocery shopping thisa morning but forgot the credit cards and is on the way home again. I spoke to Michael Des Barres last night about his forthcoming reissues and his Rolling Stones tribute gig in LA the other night, and am presently reading an extraordinary biography of Evelyn Waugh. So life goes on.

 

Today's Gonzo Track of the Day, is - appropriately - 'Dragons and Fables' by Huw Lloyd-Langton
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/gonzo-daily-track-of-day-dragons-and.html

 

An insitghtful US review of Chris Thompson's live DVD/CD package
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/chris-thompson-us-review.html

 

Our daily visit to Thom the World Poet, who continues to amaze me with his kindness
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_3374.html

 

As I type Graham is at Huw Lloyd-Langton's funeral, which apparently had Dave Brock doing a moving rendition of 'Hurry on Sundown' and a rousing version of 'When the Saints go Marching in' by Dead Fred and Mr Dibs.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/huw-lloyd-langton-is-laid-to-rest.html

 

The December newsletter from Rick Wakeman
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/rick-wakemans-december-newsletter.html

 

A Portuguese review for the Atkins/May project
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/atkinsmay-project-portuguese-review.html

 

And finally an EXCLUSIVE: Michael Des Barres on this week's Rolling Stones tribute gig in LA
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/exclusive-michael-des-barres-on-rolling.html

 

*  The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

*  The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

 

*  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

On this day in 1946 famous bender of spoons and getting people to touch tv screens to make the English football team loose matches, Uri Geller was born.

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Because Uri Geller is Jewish it's a Hanukkah song today instead of a Christmas one. I present to you the most rudest, most innuendo laden song in the world NOT sang by George Formby, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKreDYVWark