Where are we most likely to discover new animals?

Adam Khor

Was going to start a thread for this but, I think it fits here. A group of people are actively hunting for the yeti/snow man not in the Himalayas but in the Kemerovo region of Siberia, where the creatures are said to roam too.

I believe the expedition hasn´t been out for long but they already claim to have found "evidence" of the creature's existence- namely footprints and hair samples, as always. Never a good picture or a carcass, unfortunately.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8818086/Yetis-do-exist.html

In other news, the Nile crocodile has been confirmed as being actually two different species- DNA studies show that the smaller crocodiles living in western Africa are actually a separate species (Crocodylus suchus) and that, in fact, both species are only distantly related, with the true Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) being closer to American crocs than to C. suchus!

The most amusing part of the story is that the Ancient Egyptians knew this, according to Herodotus; the smaller and more docile Crocodylus suchus was the one they seemingly kept in their temples, that's why some have suggested the common name "sacred croc" for the "new" species.
Took science 3.000 years to figure out what the Egyptians knew without any DNA technology... :P



Crocodylus suchus

steddyeddy

Adam Khor wrote: »

Was going to start a thread for this but, I think it fits here. A group of people are actively hunting for the yeti/snow man not in the Himalayas but in the Kemerovo region of Siberia, where the creatures are said to roam too.

I believe the expedition hasn´t been out for long but they already claim to have found "evidence" of the creature's existence- namely footprints and hair samples, as always. Never a good picture or a carcass, unfortunately.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8818086/Yetis-do-exist.html

In other news, the Nile crocodile has been confirmed as being actually two different species- DNA studies show that the smaller crocodiles living in western Africa are actually a separate species (Crocodylus suchus) and that, in fact, both species are only distantly related, with the true Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) being closer to American crocs than to C. suchus!

The most amusing part of the story is that the Ancient Egyptians knew this, according to Herodotus; the smaller and more docile Crocodylus suchus was the one they seemingly kept in their temples, that's why some have suggested the common name "sacred croc" for the "new" species.
Took science 3.000 years to figure out what the Egyptians knew without any DNA technology... :P



Crocodylus suchus

I heard about the yeti thing to. As regards possibility of a unknown living in siberia its quite possible. Wouldnt surprise me at all. As you say though Adam hair and territory markers dont cover it in terms of proof. Its not a yeti though as far as I know the local tribes, the Yakuts and Tungus call it the Chuchunaa or mulen (which means raider).

The croc is interesting and it seems like another case of the scientists playing catch up with the natives. The ancient egyptians also described the okapi thousands of years before we discovered it in 1901.

Adam Khor

steddyeddy wrote: »

I heard about the yeti thing to. As regards possibility of a unknown living in siberia its quite possible. Wouldnt surprise me at all. As you say though Adam hair and territory markers dont cover it in terms of proof. Its not a yeti though as far as I know the local tribes, the Yakuts and Tungus call it the Chuchunaa or mulen (which means raider).

The croc is interesting and it seems like another case of the scientists playing catch up with the natives. The ancient egyptians also described the okapi thousands of years before we discovered it in 1901.

So many similar cases

I think one of my favorites is the earliest form of Western "dragon". To the classic civilizations like Greek and Roman, and even during the Middle Ages dragons were nothing else than huge constricting snakes. They were even described as being "serpents born from other serpents" which started out small and then became "as large as tree trunks" and killed their prey not with venom but by "crushing" them with their coils. They were also tellingly said to live in Africa and India.
Even the word dragon comes from Greek for serpent...

Which basically means a lot of people keeps "dragons" as pets today XD