WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

Search This Blog

WATCH OUR WEEKLY WEBtv SHOW

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON
Click on this logo to find out more about helping CFZtv and getting some smashing rewards...

SIGN UP FOR OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER



Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Monday, December 31, 2012

CRYPTOLINK: Giant Snake attacks truck! Eye witness (Via Richard Freeman)

KITHRA: The Dyatlov Pass Incident


Many people have written about this incident as it's not only a real mystery but remains, to this day, unsolved. It happened during the night of 2nd February, 1959, in the northern Ural Mountains on a mountain known as Kholat Syakhl. The mountain's name comes from the language of the endangered indigenous Mansi people of Russia. And it's a language that is, in many ways, very similar to Hungarian. A translation of the mountain's name means Mountain of the Dead, so it's somewhat chilling that the incident should have occurred there. Because it happened the event has come to be known as the Dyatlov Pass incident after the name of the leader of the group to which it happened.


DALE DRINNON: African bears, Atlantis, bigfoot, Benny's Blogs

New on Frontiers of Zoology:

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 monsters - 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.

Berkeley Law Students Charged In Vegas Bird Decapi...

I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

And so here we are at the end of another year - my fifty-fourth year on the planet. The New Year starts tomorow, with all the possibilities, threats and promises that this entails. Thank you for having stuck with us during 2012, and I hope that you continue to do so in 2013. Hold on tight, it might well be a bumpy ride.
 
The Gonzo Track of the Day is specifically for Gonzo Artists, but occasionally, being editor, I choose a song which has a lot to do with the day, and nothing to do with the company...
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-gonzo-track-of-day-george-harrison.html
 
I think that Peter McAdam is one of the funniest people with whom I have ever been involved.
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-daily-henry-henry-at-grassy-knoll.html
 
Corky Laing's new project sounds absolutely incredible. Here, for the second day running he explains it all
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/corky-laing-ongoing-saga-of-drummer_31.html
 
 
 
Liam Davison's new album took me completely by surprise
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/liam-davison-not-at-all-what-i-was.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 which he shares with various fish and batrachians. 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?

KARL SHUKER - THE NEPHILIM: A BIBLICAL MYSTERY OF GIANT PROPORTIONS



Who - or what - were the Nephilim? Karl Shuker enters his Eclectarium in search of answers.

Read more...

OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today


Yesterday’s News Today

On this day in 1552 the Elizabethan ocultist and astrologer Simon Foreman ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Forman ) was born.
And now the news:

  • 2012’s Noteworthy Species-A roundup of species tha...
  • Some Drivers Intentionally Run Over Turtles, Clems...
  • Two Bengal tiger cubs rescued from a dry water tan...
  • Starvation Didn't Wipe Out Sabertooth Cats
  • Flaming-Orange Shellfish Reef Found in Scotland
  • Call of the wild
  • Dragonfly Shows Human-Like Power of Concentration
  • Pooches have their cake and eat it in Japan for Ch...

  • Astrology and ocultism are still practised by experts of the craft:

    Sunday, December 30, 2012

    THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN SAGA CONTINUES

    This morning I received this very pleasant and reasoned letter from Dr Robert Bartholemew, author of the book on the Lake Champlain creature which was talked about in a Cryptolink yesterday.  I thought it important enough to post it as a blog posting as well as a comment. Although we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting, usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me, the fact that there are factual errors in the original piece, means that we have a chance here to allow Dr Bartholemew to redress the balance.

    I have tried to contact him, but the new profile system on Blogger is so complicated I cannot work out how to do so. So, if you are reading this could you possible email me on jon@eclipse.co.uk


    This article contains two factual errors: 

    1. When I tried to interview Sandra Mansi, her attorney said she was unavailable due to illness; I have no reason to doubt this. 

    2. It should read “burned or buried” and not “burned and buried” the negative.

    The article title is unfortunate as it can be interpreted as debunking the notion of Champ and the Mansi photo. Champ may exist and the Mansi photo may be authentic, but in order to assess them we need an accurate accounting of the facts presented in a chronological, hysteria-free manner that does not take sides. The majority of the book carefully documents the history of the Champlain Monster from Indian lore to the present day, with an emphasis on detailing early sightings from the 1870s to the 1930s. There is some compelling, credible evidence for Champ, especially from the 1800s, but without a body, an ultimate determination cannot be made. 

    The main contribution to Cryptozoology is the meticulous documentation of early reports that have never appeared in any book before, especially from prominent citizens; a clearing up of several myths about Champ that have been perpetrated by sloppy journalists; unfortunate attempts to cash in on Champ by some locals (which is fine so long as they do not bend the truth in doing so); and an assessment of the claims by researchers such as Elizabeth von Muggenthaler (that she can hear a Champ-like creature in the water) and Dennis Hall (video and visual sightings), research which is not credible. It also documents in great detail the behind-the-scenes feud between rival Champ researchers Dr Philip Reines and Joe Zarzynski, over what to do with the Mansi photo and other issues. This is not done to air ‘dirty laundry’ in public or to sensationalise, but any understanding of the Mansi photo must be grounded in its historical and social context. The photo may be genuine, but until now several aspects of it and the circumstances surrounding it, were kept hidden. This information should have been disclosed in the interests of accuracy. There are perhaps a dozen red flags that surround the photo, which are presented for the reader to form their own opinion. Is it faulty memory – which happens to all of us – or something more sinister. Ultimately, I wrote this book in order to separate fact from fiction and speculation. 

    I would ask that if others wish to pass judgement on my research, they go to their local library and assess it for themselves instead of making a snap judgment based on a single newspaper article from a busy reporter who has the impossible task of boiling down 60,000 words and decades of research, into a thousand or so words. 

    You can get a sense of the style of the book by reading the first 20 pages at:
    http://www.sunypress.edu/p-5611-the-untold-story-of-champ.aspx

    Dr Robert E. Bartholomew

    DALE DRINNON: Big catfishes/Atlantis/Cedar and Willow/ Benny's Blog

    New at Frontiers of Anthropology:
    Once again I was fighting Blogger to get this article posted. It is actually "Christmas Letters about Atlantis #3" but it requireda complete Google-Translation from Russian and Blogger's inability to publish. It still is not listed among my publications on my dashboard at Blogger, and the listing is supposed to come automatically.
    New at the Frontiers of Zoology:
    New at Cedar and Willow:
    New at Benny's Blog, the Ominous Octopus Omnibus:
    Best Wishes, Dale D.

    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 monsters - 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.

    Miracle owl survives head-on collision with pickup...








    TODAY'S BIG CAT ROUND-UP

    The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012 Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.



    http://mysterycats.blogspot.com/2012/12/newslink-big-cat-sightings-expected-to.html

    CRYPTOLINK: Goodness me...

    Once again I would like to stress that we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting, usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. Unless 'Goodness Me' counts as a comment.


    Ok folks...here we go again. Ed Smith and D.W.Lee of the Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center are claiming a Bigfoot has been captured:

    Did it happen?
    Written by D.W. Lee
    Friday, 28 December 2012 09:27
    Did the Quantra group obtain a live specimen with their operational plan to capture a Bigfoot? Ed Smith received an automated text message yesterday from the group's messaging system as shown here.
    **********
    December 27, 2012 10:09 AM
    From: CINC - 6
    As of 0906 27 DEC 2012, "Daisy" is in the box.
    **********
    And Ed had this to say about it.
    Read on...

    AND NOW THIS HAPPENS:

    'Daisy' The Bigfoot Has Been Released...
    Ghost Theory (blog)
    According to Tim Fasano, Daisy the Bigfoot has been released with all evidence and reports destroyed. That's right. He just got word from “Central Command headquarters” that they had to release the supposed Bigfoot they had captured because of the ...
    See all stories on this topic »

    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO DAH MAN

    It's been nearly a week since Christmas now
    and I still don't understand how
    the time can go so bloody fast
    and all the holidays are passed
     
    and so it's sunday once again
    and time to lift conceptual pen
    and do the Gonzo blogs in verse
    (never mind, it could be worse)
     
    And I suppose I should explain
    its not because I've gone insane
    once a week I write the rhymes you see
    purely because it amuses me
     
    Monday to Saturday in this place
    I write in prose, sometimes po-faced
    but on Sunday I like to be daft
    and stupid rhymes always make me laugh
     
    We start off now with a big bang
    an opera from Corky Laing
    which covers everything from ethics
    to the freakier end of genetics
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/corky-laing-ongoing-saga-of-drummer.html
     
    Death is something we all expect
    but when it's someone we respect
    the Gonzo blog people and I
    like to take time to say goodbye
     
    (There was no way I could find a convincing rhyme for Sir Richard Rodney Bennett)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/those-we-have-lost-sir-richard-rodney.html
     
    Last night I hchganced to happen upon
    a video of Jon Anderson
    I think it comes from Costa Rica
    but let me know and take a peek - uh
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/jon-anderson-does-anyone-know-where.html
     
    A review of a great Pantomime
    from a favourite Gonzogirl of mine
    come on folk, just take a look
    at this essay from Ms McCookerybook
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/helen-mccookerybook-pantomime-review.html
     
    I choose a Track of the Day for you
    based on whom I'd like to listen to
    and so today you all can hear,
    Annie Haslam singing 'Ave Maria'
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/gonzo-daily-track-of-day-annie-haslam.html
     
    And finally, regular readers know it
    each day we visit the World Poet
    whose poetry is really fine
    and light years far ahead of mine
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_30.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 which he shares with various fish and batrachians. 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


    Yesterday’s News Today

    On this day in 1924 Edwin Hubble proudly announced the existence of other galaxies.
    And now the news:
  • Shetland pony takes a ride on Berlin subway
  • Asian toad stowaway gets new home in South Africa
  • Dog survives light lunch of Christmas decorations
  • Whale watchers get ready as Pacific gray migration...
  • Zoo polar bear dies during heatwave
  • Decision to Give a Group Effort in the Brain
  • Two orphan otters from Cumbria being raised on Sky...
  • Nutrient-Sensing Enzymes Key to Starvation Respons...

  • Richard Freeman should enjoy this:

    Saturday, December 29, 2012

    VIDEO: Alleged chupacabras body from Cuba.

    Another dead dog?

    THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Gerry Anderson (1929-2012)

    DALE DRINNON: Bigfoot at the Crypto Crew, and Benny's Blog

    Doing things a little differently today:

    CRYPTOLINK: Champ: Hook, line and sinker


    Photo courtesy SUNY Press
Cover of book recently published by SUNY Press. / ALWHITEHALL — Robert Bartholomew admits it. He really, really wanted to believe that there is a sea monster lurking in Lake Champlain named Champ.

    Bartholomew grew up in Whitehall on the lake's southern shore, worked as a radio reporter in Glens Falls and Albany and spent most of his life gathering boxes of material on the possibly prehistoric creature of the North Country that scores of people claim to have glimpsed over the past century.

    Now, Bartholomew's long investigation and endless fascination has resulted in a book, "The Untold Story of Champ: A Social History of America's Loch Ness Monster," published in December by SUNY Press.
    It's a full-fledged biography of perhaps the second-most famous sea monster in the world after Nessie, the Loch Ness monster.

    Bartholomew approaches his subject with the skepticism of an investigative reporter. He debunks and exposes hoaxes as much as he chronicles evidence of the elusive serpentine creature described as having a long, humped back and a horse-like head.

    His lively and readable account starts out by puncturing the myth that Samuel de Champlain spotted Champ in 1609. He describes the egos and obsessions of numerous serpent hunters across the decades. He also lays out an almost willful complicity in pumping up reports of Champ sightings among boosterish local journalists, over-eager chambers of commerce leaders and well-meaning lake residents.

    Read on...

    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 monsters, 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.


    I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO DAH MAN

    As you have probably noticed, we are running stupidly late today. Is this because we don't care and have been sitting around in a lackadaisical fashion doing now't? Of course not. How could you THINK such a thing? It is merely that Corinna and I have been procrastinating a trip into Bideford to do some groceriestuff for several days now, and Prudence wouldn't let us procrastinate any further. She had run out of dog food, mother had run out of nuts and I had run out of brandy. Desperate measures needed to be taken. So we took them. (But we wanted to do it in daylight, so we are running hours late)
     
     
    Classic Rock have announced their albums of the year -= and look who is at #28
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/classic-rock-albums-of-year.html
     
     
    Martin Stephenson is singing today's Gonzo Track of the Day
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/gonzo-daily-track-of-day-martin.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 loudly 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, which he shares with various fish and batrachians. 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


    Yesterday’s News Today

    On this day in 2003 Bob Monkhouse died. Monkhouse, as well as being a rather good comedian, scriptwriter and quiz show host of great renown, was an obsessive recorder of television. Monkhouse had owned television recording equipment before it was even available to the public and it is thought that in his vast uncatalogued archives there may be several lost films and tv episodes including lost episodes of Doctor Who.
    And now the news:
  • Some in Congress oppose wider ban on big snakes – ...
  • Whale washed ashore in New York
  • China: Shark Tank Explodes At Shopping Centre
  • First Goat Genome Sets a Good Example for Facilita...
  • Tanzania to withdraw proposal for ivory sale
  • TSA Opens New Turtle and Tortoise Facilities in My...
  • Army worms invade Zambian maize fields
  • Ice Seals Get Endangered Species Protection

  • The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse, a documentary about his vast collection:

    Friday, December 28, 2012

    ALLEGED BIGFOOT TRACKWAY IN MAINE

    ALLEGED RUSSIAN BHM FOOTAGE

    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 monsters, 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.



    DALE DRINNON: Zimbabwe monster, Cedar & Willow, Benny's Blogs

    New at Frontiers of Zoology:
    New at Cedar and Willow:
    New at Benny's Blog for Thelma Todd:
    New at Benny's Blog, the Ominous Octopus Omnibus:

    TODAY'S BIG CAT ROUND-UP

    The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012 Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.





  • NEWSLINK: The puzzling extinction of the sabre-too...
  • NEWSLINK: Tigers roar back: Good news for big cats...
  • I'M YER GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN

    I have to admit that I am very much enjoying doing as little as possible this week. I don't usually get the opportunity, and I am relishing it a lot.

    An interview with out favourite poet - no, not Keats; Texas Thom!
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/an-interview-with-thom-world-poet.html
    It is always good to have an excuse to play this song by Eric Burdon, so I have made it the Gonzo track of the day
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/gonzo-daily-track-of-day-eric-burdon.html
    The last portion of Christmas music for this year is from Helen McCookerybook
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/countdown-from-christmas.html
    Listen to this podcast featuring Michael Des Barres
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/12/michael-des-barres-podcast.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


    Yesterday’s News Today

    On this day in 1795 construction began on Yonge street in what would become Toronto, Canada. Yonge Street was, and by some estimates still is, the longest street in the world and was formally recognised as such in the Guinness book of Records.
    And now the news:

  • Judge says golf can stay at Sharp Park (Territory ...
  • Bumblebees Do Best Where There Is Less Pavement an...
  • Orientation of migrating leatherback turtles in re...
  • Two new lizard species discovered in Australia
  • Revealed: Rudolph Really Did Have a Red Nose
  • Tigers Roar Back: Great News for Big Cats in Key A...
  • Polar bear trade ban divides campaigners
  • Erratic Environment May Be Key to Human Evolution

  • Robert “Philip Marlowe” Mitchum sings The Ballad of Thunder Road (on a related note, Mitchum's version of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep is vastly superior to the Bogart and Bacall one and you all should watch it; it's free on Love Film and probably the inferior Netflix too):

    Thursday, December 27, 2012

    Journal of Herpetology Table of Contents Vol. 46, Issue 4 (Dec 2012)


    Journal of Herpetology Table of Contents 
    Courtesy of BioOne 
    Vol. 46, Issue 4 (Dec 2012)

    The above issue is now available online from BioOne at:
    http://www.bioone.org/toc/hpet/46/4
    Probably also from Zen Scientist 
    Compare both for price.

    JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY


    JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY

    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: i-viii.

    Reviews


    A Practical Guide for the Study of Malformed Amphibians and Their Causes


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 429-441.



    Uncovering Salamander Ecology: A Review of Coverboard Design


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 442-450.



    A Review of a Rare Type of Anomaly in Amphibians, Tail Duplication and Bifurcation, with Description of Three New Cases in European Species (Triturus dobrogicus, Triturus carnifex, and Hyla arborea)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 451-455.

    Ecology


    Spatial Distribution and Activity Patterns in African Barking Geckos: Implications for Mating System and Reproduction


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 456-460.

    Behavior


    Hot Boys Are Blue: Temperature-Dependent Color Change in Male Eastern Fence Lizards


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 461-465.

    Systematics


    A New Species of Proceratophrys (Anura: Cycloramphidae) from Midwestern Brazil


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 466-472.



    A New Golden Toad (Bufonidae: Incilius) from Northwestern Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 473-479.



    A New Species of Large Flying Frog (Rhacophoridae: Rhacophorus) from Lowland Forests in Southern Vietnam


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 480-487.



    A New Species of Small Bent-Toed Gecko (Cyrtodactylus: Gekkonidae) from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 488-493.



    A New Acontine Skink from Zambia (Scincidae: Acontias Cuvier, 1817)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 494-502.



    Identification and Description of the Tadpole of the Parachuting Frog Rhacophorus catamitus from Southern Sumatra, Indonesia


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 503-506.

    Conservation


    Urban Ponds, Neglected Noah's Ark for Amphibians


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 507-514.

    Ecology


    Feeding Ecology of the Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum, Colubridae) in the Western United States


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 515-522.

    Behavior


    Prey Chemical Discrimination by the Desert Nightsnake (Hypsiglena chlorophaea): A Comparison of Invertebrate and Vertebrate Prey


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 523-526.

    Conservation


    Elucidating Predator–Prey Interactions Using Aquatic Microcosms: Complex Effects of a Crayfish Predator, Vegetation, and Atrazine on Tadpole Survival and Behavior


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 527-534.

    Behavior


    Female Preferences Are Not Altered by Early Acoustic Experience in the Neotropical Frog Physalaemus pustulosus


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 535-538.

    Ecology


    Spatial Ecology and Habitat Use of the Western Foxsnake (Pantherophis vulpinus) on Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge (Missouri)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 539-548.



    Temporal Patterns of Reproductive Activity and Site Attachment of the Brilliant-Thighed Frog Allobates femoralis from Central Amazonia


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 549-554.



    Relation between Parasitism, Stress, and Fitness Correlates of the Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis gloydi) in Ontario


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 555-561.



    Diet Composition and Food Preferences in Adult Common Toads (Bufo bufo) (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 562-567.

    Systematics


    Genetic and Reproductive Evidence of Natural Hybridization between the Sister Species Rhinella atacamensis and Rhinella arunco (Anura, Bufonidae)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 568-577.

    Conservation


    Ecology and Conservation of the Turks Island Boa (Epicrates chrysogaster chrysogaster: Squamata: Boidae) on Big Ambergris Cay


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 578-586.

    Physiology


    Do Higher Temperatures Increase Growth in the Nocturnal Gecko Homonota darwini (Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae)? A Skeletochronological Assessment Analyzed at Temporal and Geographic Scales


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 587-595.

    Ecology


    Long-Term Use of Hibernacula by Northern Pinesnakes (Pituophis melanoleucus)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 596-601.



    Contrasting Genetic Differentiation of a Poorly Dispersing Lizard in Connected and Fragmented Scrub Habitats


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 602-607.



    Vegetation Refuges of a Sand Lizard Assemblage in Temperate Coastal Sand Dunes


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 608-613.

    Systematics


    Description of the Tadpole of Hylodes magalhaesi (Bokermann, 1964) (Anura: Hylodidae)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 614-619.

    Physiology


    Thermal Biology and Temperature Selection in Juvenile Lizards of Co-occurring Native and Introduced Anolis Species


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 620-624.

    Conservation


    Effects of the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus and Four Insecticides on Pacific Treefrogs (Pseudacris regilla)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 625-631.

    Ecology


    Seasonal Reproduction in the Rock Gecko Phyllopezus pollicaris from a Rock Field Habitat in Southeastern Brazil


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 632-636.

    Physiology


    Digestive Performance in the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) with Reference to Temperature Dependence and Bioenergetic Cost of Growth


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 637-642.



    Disruption to Recovery Metabolism in the Fence Lizard Sceloporus occidentalis Infected with the Malarial Parasite Plasmodium mexicanum


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 643-647.



    The Differential Effect of Tail Autotomy on Sprint Performance between the Sexes in the Lizard Uta stansburiana


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 648-652.



    Toxicological and Histological Evaluation of Bothrops itapetiningae Venom


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 653-657.

    Conservation


    Terrestrial Movement Patterns of the Common Toad (Bufo bufo) in Central Spain Reveal Habitat of Conservation Importance


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 658-664.



    Long Distance Migrations, Landscape Use, and Vulnerability to Prescribed Fire of the Gopher Frog (Lithobates capito)


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 665-670.

    Ecology


    Habitat Choice of Palestine Saw-Scaled Viper (Echis coloratus) in an Extreme Environment


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 671-674.

    Conservation


    Multiple Stressors and Amphibians: Contributions of Adverse Health Effects and Altered Hydroperiod to Population Decline and Extinction


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 675-681.

    Ecology


    Habitat Selection by Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus) in a Large Mixed Grassland/Forest Habitat


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 682-688.



    Reproductive Ecology and Human-Caused Mortality in the Japanese Mamushi Snake (Gloydius blomhoffii) on the Northernmost Main Island of Japan


    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 689-695.

    JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY


    JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY

    Journal of Herpetology Dec 2012, Vol. 46, No. 4: 696-706.