#coelacanth — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #coelacanth, aggregated by home.social.
-
Via @your.local.federal.agent on Instagram:
Coelacanth fact session! The fish family who was found to still be swimming about 65+ million years after their supposed extinction!!
-
Via @your.local.federal.agent on Instagram:
Coelacanth fact session! The fish family who was found to still be swimming about 65+ million years after their supposed extinction!!
-
Via @your.local.federal.agent on Instagram:
Coelacanth fact session! The fish family who was found to still be swimming about 65+ million years after their supposed extinction!!
-
Via @your.local.federal.agent on Instagram:
Coelacanth fact session! The fish family who was found to still be swimming about 65+ million years after their supposed extinction!!
-
Via @your.local.federal.agent on Instagram:
Coelacanth fact session! The fish family who was found to still be swimming about 65+ million years after their supposed extinction!!
-
Via @your.local.federal.agent on Instagram:
Coelacanth fact session! The fish family who was found to still be swimming about 65+ million years after their supposed extinction!!
-
Animal March 03 - Quastenflosser
Heute war leider zu viel Arbeit und zu wenig Zeichnungs-Zeit. Ev schaffe ich es Morgen ein bisschen aufzuholen.
Der Quastenflosser ohne Backdrop. Gefällt mir aber trotzdem ganz gut.
So, nu Zähneputzen und ab ins Bett!
#kunzkunst #Art #Kunst
#ink #KleineKunstklasse
#AnimalMarch #AnimalMarch2026
#Quastenflosser #Coelacanth -
In 1938, the first specimen of a coelacanth, an early fish thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago, was found. #Poetry #Science #History #Ichthyology #Coelacanth (https://sharpgiving.com/Sharp/thebookofscience/items/p1938b.html)
-
David Attenborough program about Coelacanths. Fish that remained almost unchanged for over 400 million years. For a long while it appeared they went extinct along with the dinosaurs. Then in the 20th century occasionally one would be caught by fishermen that were clearly alive when caught. This program is about the mission to see an alive coelacanth in the sea
Deep Ocean: Kingdom of the Coelacanth - BBC iPlayer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002jy67/deep-ocean-kingdom-of-the-coelacanth -
#paleontology #fossils #coelacanth
An article published in the "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" reports the identification of coelacanth fossils that were previously attributed to very different animals, such as reptiles. A team of researchers subjected a series of fossils to examinations such as X-rays and CT scans. The conclusion is that many fossils previously attributed to the reptile species Pachystropheus rhaeticus actually belong to coelacanths.
https://english.netmassimo.com/2025/09/10/possible-new-species-of-ancient-coelacanth-discovered/
-
SCUMSUCK sticker club, July 2025: An eternal #coelacanth, with bonus #ammonite. We'll be printing and cutting these into physical stickers tonight.
Layered .clip files for subs: https://ko-fi.com/i/IW7W71J93C3
-
#biology #anatomy #coelacanth #latimeria
An article published in the journal "Science Advances" reports the results of a thorough examination of the cranial musculature of the African coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), a so-called living fossil because it has changed very little over tens of millions of years.
-
Steve le, AAAA!! Le Poisson Steve!!
#fish #coelacanth #digitalart #procreate #cartoon #meme #brainrot
-
Pop Cryptid Spectator 15
Hello and welcome to the 15 edition of Pop Cryptid Spectator – a newsletter solely meant to indulge my interest in the subject of cryptids in popular culture. If you’re reading it, that’s awesome; I appreciate it. It’s important to me to document changes in the thinking about mysterious animals over modern times. It’s not just some weird fringe subject, it’s mainstream now. The modern stories and events associated with mysterious animals reflect societal views and the different agendas of subgroups involved in the topic. This edition does go a bit heavy on the traditional view of cryptozoology, where people are interested in finding a real animal behind the rumors of existence. But, things will go off the rails, as everything has in this wacky 21st century. Thanks for joining me on this kooky trip.
In this edition:
- Florida Bigfoot Conference review
- Sasquatch heads around town
- AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
- AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
- AI Fake Coelacanth News
- Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
- Cryptid media: The Cryptid Factor podcast
Florida Bigfoot Conference review
Amanda from Swell Entertainment attended the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference in Ocala a few weeks ago and posted a video review. I found several parts interesting but also, there was a lot of the same old thing that always happens with cryptid conferences (vs conventions which are more fan oriented). However, conferences usually suggest a more serious audience but cryptid events in general seem to be leaning more towards merchandise sales and para-celebrity attractions, with almost no scholarly presenters (maybe because there are so few).
For example, Amanda says there was considerable time given to the audience to supply content. That is, there was a panel discussion that was mostly audience questions, and there was a big session of testimonials where people were encouraged to tell their (sometimes long and rambling stories). Often, these events get one or two big name speakers from TV shows to draw fans. The quality of content is hit or miss.
Amanda didn’t have a strong background in Bigfoot information. This can be an advantage or disadvantage for a fair review. The advantage is that she had fresh eyes on the content and was unimpressed by the quality of much of the evidence presented, the over-reliance on eyewitness testimony, and poorly documented physical traces (like footprints). Additionally, she noted the drama that took place regarding a certain skunk ape researcher (if you know, you know – I know), who felt he should have been the main draw at this and previous events. Not only do these events not invite scholars (who are mostly going to be skeptics), they also have much ado about internal squabbles re: claiming areas, ideas, and even evidence, for themselves. All of this shows how “zoology” based cryptid research is unscientific. She even noted that very few presenters had a scientific background, and there was considerable fringe talk regarding conspiracies, government coverups, and even obvious nonsense about pseudoarchaeology and Roswell’s alien bodies. None of this is at all surprising.
From her comments, and from my past experience from such events, it seems that this event really leans into an agenda that transcends Bigfoot as simply a mystery to be solved. Going by the popularity of UAPs and eccentric ideas about nature, a portion of Bigfoot audiences will buy into scary concepts without foundation, where belief and personal testimony outweigh scientific evidence and critical evaluation. That’s not rational, that’s religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTiOZXToRk8
Sasquatch heads around town
Moving on to a more lighthearted, and very “pop cryptid” story, Seattle artist Henry is on a mission to paint 1000 Sasquatch faces across the city. He loves to create his cartoon, friendly-fanged version of the big guy and thinks it’s a nice way to connect the community with a common theme. He is still taking requests for locations on his website https://www.henry.art/1000-murals.html, if you have a spare space that needs a furry face.
AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
I really didn’t anticipate that so many cryptid stories in the news would roll back around to AI. But with this slop taking over the internet and making that technology less useful every day, this is the way it’s going. The Loch Ness Centre has to consider that every photo they get purportedly of Nessie might be AI generated. In past decades, photo editing and hoaxes was a likely possibility, but now, the photos can be not only heavily manipulated through AI, but created entirely from prompts, not even needing some real event as a basis. The Centre has had to employ a team of consultants to examine the visual evidence for this kind of humbuggery.
Actually, the easier route is to not accept this kind of evidence at all. The odds are overwhelming that any image is not going to show anything worthwhile. Evidence needs to be far better than that.
AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
For this story, I’m trying not to despair because the content is so blatantly fake that it should be obvious to anyone. But people still are circulating it as evidence of the Yeti. It’s so popular that Snopes.com had to put up a debunk of it. It began with an AI generated photo appearing on X (which I always call Xitter, pronounced “shi-ter”) showing a weird bear-like creature next to a man. It got over a million views. Within a few weeks, the image was being circulated on TikTok as evidence of the Yeti. This is not the first time that AI has been used to fool people with photo evidence of a hairy giant and other cryptids. The internet is making us stupid. I just hope most people see this as a form of modern art/commentary, and not real.
AI Fake Coelacanth News
And, finally, on the AI front, is the fake news circulated this week that a coelacanth (a cryptozoologist’s favorite red herring for mystery monsters that may still exist) was found off the coast of California. I wrote a separate post about this which you received if you are subscriber. It’s a depressing state of affairs when news media will simply regurgitate fiction as fact without checking. But this is a warning that it’s happening all the time and we need to be aware. Be SKEPTICAL! Check the sources.
Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
In the past few PCS editions, I’ve mentioned the growing popularity of neodinosaurs (a term that was coined by Fortean and OG cryptozoology commentator Ivan Sanderson). In particular, the mokele-mbembe stories are showing up on media sites documenting the resurgence of belief by locals that a brontosaurus-like creature still exists in the Congo basin in Africa. A new piece from New Lines mag continues the story by emphasizing the connection of this tale to those trying to disprove evolution. The article packs a punch. I have to share a quote:
Mokele-mbembe is the Congo Basin’s bigfoot. Or that’s what it’s become, anyway — a cryptid. Nobody is sure when the myth originated, but it was born among the basin’s communities, who passed it down as an oral tradition. Locals tell me the myth was spiritual at first — a metaphor, perhaps, for humankind’s delicate relationship with the land. But today, nobody can say with certainty what exactly it meant because foreigners long ago twisted it well beyond recognition.
“Congolese people originally believed mokele-mbembe was a spiritual being, not a real dinosaur,” Oyange told me last year. “But that all changed when the white man came to Africa.” A confluence of European colonial expansion into Africa and the birth of paleontology gave rise to a version of mokele-mbembe that was a literal, flesh-and-blood, swamp-dwelling reptilian beast. Tales passed around by explorers, missionaries and colonial functionaries became warped by notions from Victorian literature and emerging science.
Take. Note. It is perfectly clear that the idea of a living dinosaur in the Congo was a manufactured myth. Unfortunately, it is still heavily promoted by a few backwards thinkers who insist that the Bible is a science book. And, worse than that, the locals now believe the modern myth. Similarly, the ideas of lake monsters and many other cryptids, especially Bigfoot, were linked to native stories by white people even where there was originally no strong similarity to the creature in the folklore. In time, the oral traditions merged with modern media depictions and the distinction between the two is lost, even to the point where modern Natives will equate their ancient tales to the manufactured media version of the creature. There have been several studies showing that when you go back to the original native tales of supernatural creatures, they do not resemble the exaggerated named cryptid of today. This article is worth a read.
Cryptid media: Cryptid Factor podcast
And now for something completely comedic. I have been listening to The Cryptid Factor when it was a radio show that turned into a podcast. I can’t remember the year I first heard it but I think it was 2008 or 2009. It was one of the earliest cryptid-related podcasts, though I use that term “cryptid-related” loosely. It’s more “cryptid-themed”. It wasn’t always easy to keep up. There were long breaks between episodes. For example, they are officially up to episode #106 in the 17 years that the show has been in existence. That’s 6.23 episodes per year. However, I forgive them because it’s hosted by TV and movie actor Rhys Darby, whom I first knew from one of my favorite shows, Flight of Conchords. Rhys is a busy guy, even appearing on the special X Files series event in 2016 as a cryptid himself. So the podcast crew couldn’t always manage a regular schedule. In the past 5 years, I gave up listening because I figured it was defunct. Instead, interest was surging on the pop cryptid wave! When I resubscribed a few months back, I realized that their fandom had expanded. Rhys and his cohosts now regularly promote the show, it’s on YouTube and they have a Shopify merch site! Clearly, hanging on to the brand through the lean times paid off. If you search for “cryptid” on BlueSky or Instagram social media feeds today, you’ll get Rhys as part of the results!
Like I said, the show is more comedic than anything. It’s all about having fun and being very silly. After all this time, I’m still not sure what the crew really believe or disbelieve but it doesn’t matter (since I have a liking for New Zealand accents). They have a genuine interest, but still not too much in depth knowledge, about cryptids and related subjects. I do credit Rhys for introducing me to the concept of the Taniwha (a mysterious creature of New Zealand that sort of serves as the catch-all monster, like the Bunyip of Australia). Even though the main purpose of the podcast appears to be an excuse for a trio of zany friends to make jokes and humorous sound effects, talk about their international travel, and “weekly” weird news stories, occasionally, some cryptid content is included. I love it. The Cryptid Factor was totally part of the Pop Cryptid scene before it even began!
Thanks for reading! Send comments, questions, or suggestions to sharon(at)sharonahill.com. If you want to send some cryptid plushies or other merch, or books to review, email for my physical mailing address.
For more, click on Pop goes the Cryptid landing page. Make sure you subscribe to all the posts – it’s always free and I don’t send annoying spam.
Pop Cryptid Spectator is also available on Substack. Please share this with cryptid fans you know!
Pop Cryptid Spectator Pop Cryptid Spectator 14Pop Cryptid Spectator 13
Pop Cryptid Spectator 12
Pop Cryptid Spectator 11
Pop Cryptid Spectator 10
Pop Cryptid Spectator 9
Pop Cryptid Spectator 8
Pop Cryptid Spectator 7
Pop Cryptid Spectator 6
Pop Cryptid Spectator 5
Pop Cryptid Spectator 4
Pop Cryptid Spectator 3
Pop Cryptid Spectator 2
#1 #2 #AICryptids #Bigfoot #BigfootHuntersDie #cryptid #cryptidFake #cryptidTVShow #giantOwls #GodzillaSighting #GoogleEarth #HoodCryptids #OutThereCrimesOfTheParanormal #popCryptids #scryptids #Skinwalker #TheCryptidFactor #Wendigo
-
Pop Cryptid Spectator 15
Hello and welcome to the 15 edition of Pop Cryptid Spectator – a newsletter solely meant to indulge my interest in the subject of cryptids in popular culture. If you’re reading it, that’s awesome; I appreciate it. It’s important to me to document changes in the thinking about mysterious animals over modern times. It’s not just some weird fringe subject, it’s mainstream now. The modern stories and events associated with mysterious animals reflect societal views and the different agendas of subgroups involved in the topic. This edition does go a bit heavy on the traditional view of cryptozoology, where people are interested in finding a real animal behind the rumors of existence. But, things will go off the rails, as everything has in this wacky 21st century. Thanks for joining me on this kooky trip.
In this edition:
- Florida Bigfoot Conference review
- Sasquatch heads around town
- AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
- AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
- AI Fake Coelacanth News
- Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
- Cryptid media: The Cryptid Factor podcast
Florida Bigfoot Conference review
Amanda from Swell Entertainment attended the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference in Ocala a few weeks ago and posted a video review. I found several parts interesting but also, there was a lot of the same old thing that always happens with cryptid conferences (vs conventions which are more fan oriented). However, conferences usually suggest a more serious audience but cryptid events in general seem to be leaning more towards merchandise sales and para-celebrity attractions, with almost no scholarly presenters (maybe because there are so few).
For example, Amanda says there was considerable time given to the audience to supply content. That is, there was a panel discussion that was mostly audience questions, and there was a big session of testimonials where people were encouraged to tell their (sometimes long and rambling stories). Often, these events get one or two big name speakers from TV shows to draw fans. The quality of content is hit or miss.
Amanda didn’t have a strong background in Bigfoot information. This can be an advantage or disadvantage for a fair review. The advantage is that she had fresh eyes on the content and was unimpressed by the quality of much of the evidence presented, the over-reliance on eyewitness testimony, and poorly documented physical traces (like footprints). Additionally, she noted the drama that took place regarding a certain skunk ape researcher (if you know, you know – I know), who felt he should have been the main draw at this and previous events. Not only do these events not invite scholars (who are mostly going to be skeptics), they also have much ado about internal squabbles re: claiming areas, ideas, and even evidence, for themselves. All of this shows how “zoology” based cryptid research is unscientific. She even noted that very few presenters had a scientific background, and there was considerable fringe talk regarding conspiracies, government coverups, and even obvious nonsense about pseudoarchaeology and Roswell’s alien bodies. None of this is at all surprising.
From her comments, and from my past experience from such events, it seems that this event really leans into an agenda that transcends Bigfoot as simply a mystery to be solved. Going by the popularity of UAPs and eccentric ideas about nature, a portion of Bigfoot audiences will buy into scary concepts without foundation, where belief and personal testimony outweigh scientific evidence and critical evaluation. That’s not rational, that’s religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTiOZXToRk8
Sasquatch heads around town
Moving on to a more lighthearted, and very “pop cryptid” story, Seattle artist Henry is on a mission to paint 1000 Sasquatch faces across the city. He loves to create his cartoon, friendly-fanged version of the big guy and thinks it’s a nice way to connect the community with a common theme. He is still taking requests for locations on his website https://www.henry.art/1000-murals.html, if you have a spare space that needs a furry face.
AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
I really didn’t anticipate that so many cryptid stories in the news would roll back around to AI. But with this slop taking over the internet and making that technology less useful every day, this is the way it’s going. The Loch Ness Centre has to consider that every photo they get purportedly of Nessie might be AI generated. In past decades, photo editing and hoaxes was a likely possibility, but now, the photos can be not only heavily manipulated through AI, but created entirely from prompts, not even needing some real event as a basis. The Centre has had to employ a team of consultants to examine the visual evidence for this kind of humbuggery.
Actually, the easier route is to not accept this kind of evidence at all. The odds are overwhelming that any image is not going to show anything worthwhile. Evidence needs to be far better than that.
AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
For this story, I’m trying not to despair because the content is so blatantly fake that it should be obvious to anyone. But people still are circulating it as evidence of the Yeti. It’s so popular that Snopes.com had to put up a debunk of it. It began with an AI generated photo appearing on X (which I always call Xitter, pronounced “shi-ter”) showing a weird bear-like creature next to a man. It got over a million views. Within a few weeks, the image was being circulated on TikTok as evidence of the Yeti. This is not the first time that AI has been used to fool people with photo evidence of a hairy giant and other cryptids. The internet is making us stupid. I just hope most people see this as a form of modern art/commentary, and not real.
AI Fake Coelacanth News
And, finally, on the AI front, is the fake news circulated this week that a coelacanth (a cryptozoologist’s favorite red herring for mystery monsters that may still exist) was found off the coast of California. I wrote a separate post about this which you received if you are subscriber. It’s a depressing state of affairs when news media will simply regurgitate fiction as fact without checking. But this is a warning that it’s happening all the time and we need to be aware. Be SKEPTICAL! Check the sources.
Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
In the past few PCS editions, I’ve mentioned the growing popularity of neodinosaurs (a term that was coined by Fortean and OG cryptozoology commentator Ivan Sanderson). In particular, the mokele-mbembe stories are showing up on media sites documenting the resurgence of belief by locals that a brontosaurus-like creature still exists in the Congo basin in Africa. A new piece from New Lines mag continues the story by emphasizing the connection of this tale to those trying to disprove evolution. The article packs a punch. I have to share a quote:
Mokele-mbembe is the Congo Basin’s bigfoot. Or that’s what it’s become, anyway — a cryptid. Nobody is sure when the myth originated, but it was born among the basin’s communities, who passed it down as an oral tradition. Locals tell me the myth was spiritual at first — a metaphor, perhaps, for humankind’s delicate relationship with the land. But today, nobody can say with certainty what exactly it meant because foreigners long ago twisted it well beyond recognition.
“Congolese people originally believed mokele-mbembe was a spiritual being, not a real dinosaur,” Oyange told me last year. “But that all changed when the white man came to Africa.” A confluence of European colonial expansion into Africa and the birth of paleontology gave rise to a version of mokele-mbembe that was a literal, flesh-and-blood, swamp-dwelling reptilian beast. Tales passed around by explorers, missionaries and colonial functionaries became warped by notions from Victorian literature and emerging science.
Take. Note. It is perfectly clear that the idea of a living dinosaur in the Congo was a manufactured myth. Unfortunately, it is still heavily promoted by a few backwards thinkers who insist that the Bible is a science book. And, worse than that, the locals now believe the modern myth. Similarly, the ideas of lake monsters and many other cryptids, especially Bigfoot, were linked to native stories by white people even where there was originally no strong similarity to the creature in the folklore. In time, the oral traditions merged with modern media depictions and the distinction between the two is lost, even to the point where modern Natives will equate their ancient tales to the manufactured media version of the creature. There have been several studies showing that when you go back to the original native tales of supernatural creatures, they do not resemble the exaggerated named cryptid of today. This article is worth a read.
Cryptid media: Cryptid Factor podcast
And now for something completely comedic. I have been listening to The Cryptid Factor when it was a radio show that turned into a podcast. I can’t remember the year I first heard it but I think it was 2008 or 2009. It was one of the earliest cryptid-related podcasts, though I use that term “cryptid-related” loosely. It’s more “cryptid-themed”. It wasn’t always easy to keep up. There were long breaks between episodes. For example, they are officially up to episode #106 in the 17 years that the show has been in existence. That’s 6.23 episodes per year. However, I forgive them because it’s hosted by TV and movie actor Rhys Darby, whom I first knew from one of my favorite shows, Flight of Conchords. Rhys is a busy guy, even appearing on the special X Files series event in 2016 as a cryptid himself. So the podcast crew couldn’t always manage a regular schedule. In the past 5 years, I gave up listening because I figured it was defunct. Instead, interest was surging on the pop cryptid wave! When I resubscribed a few months back, I realized that their fandom had expanded. Rhys and his cohosts now regularly promote the show, it’s on YouTube and they have a Shopify merch site! Clearly, hanging on to the brand through the lean times paid off. If you search for “cryptid” on BlueSky or Instagram social media feeds today, you’ll get Rhys as part of the results!
Like I said, the show is more comedic than anything. It’s all about having fun and being very silly. After all this time, I’m still not sure what the crew really believe or disbelieve but it doesn’t matter (since I have a liking for New Zealand accents). They have a genuine interest, but still not too much in depth knowledge, about cryptids and related subjects. I do credit Rhys for introducing me to the concept of the Taniwha (a mysterious creature of New Zealand that sort of serves as the catch-all monster, like the Bunyip of Australia). Even though the main purpose of the podcast appears to be an excuse for a trio of zany friends to make jokes and humorous sound effects, talk about their international travel, and “weekly” weird news stories, occasionally, some cryptid content is included. I love it. The Cryptid Factor was totally part of the Pop Cryptid scene before it even began!
Thanks for reading! Send comments, questions, or suggestions to sharon(at)sharonahill.com. If you want to send some cryptid plushies or other merch, or books to review, email for my physical mailing address.
For more, click on Pop goes the Cryptid landing page. Make sure you subscribe to all the posts – it’s always free and I don’t send annoying spam.
Pop Cryptid Spectator is also available on Substack. Please share this with cryptid fans you know!
Pop Cryptid Spectator Pop Cryptid Spectator 14Pop Cryptid Spectator 13
Pop Cryptid Spectator 12
Pop Cryptid Spectator 11
Pop Cryptid Spectator 10
Pop Cryptid Spectator 9
Pop Cryptid Spectator 8
Pop Cryptid Spectator 7
Pop Cryptid Spectator 6
Pop Cryptid Spectator 5
Pop Cryptid Spectator 4
Pop Cryptid Spectator 3
Pop Cryptid Spectator 2
#1 #2 #AICryptids #Bigfoot #BigfootHuntersDie #cryptid #cryptidFake #cryptidTVShow #giantOwls #GodzillaSighting #GoogleEarth #HoodCryptids #OutThereCrimesOfTheParanormal #popCryptids #scryptids #Skinwalker #TheCryptidFactor #Wendigo
-
Pop Cryptid Spectator 15
Hello and welcome to the 15 edition of Pop Cryptid Spectator – a newsletter solely meant to indulge my interest in the subject of cryptids in popular culture. If you’re reading it, that’s awesome; I appreciate it. It’s important to me to document changes in the thinking about mysterious animals over modern times. It’s not just some weird fringe subject, it’s mainstream now. The modern stories and events associated with mysterious animals reflect societal views and the different agendas of subgroups involved in the topic. This edition does go a bit heavy on the traditional view of cryptozoology, where people are interested in finding a real animal behind the rumors of existence. But, things will go off the rails, as everything has in this wacky 21st century. Thanks for joining me on this kooky trip.
In this edition:
- Florida Bigfoot Conference review
- Sasquatch heads around town
- AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
- AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
- AI Fake Coelacanth News
- Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
- Cryptid media: The Cryptid Factor podcast
Florida Bigfoot Conference review
Amanda from Swell Entertainment attended the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference in Ocala a few weeks ago and posted a video review. I found several parts interesting but also, there was a lot of the same old thing that always happens with cryptid conferences (vs conventions which are more fan oriented). However, conferences usually suggest a more serious audience but cryptid events in general seem to be leaning more towards merchandise sales and para-celebrity attractions, with almost no scholarly presenters (maybe because there are so few).
For example, Amanda says there was considerable time given to the audience to supply content. That is, there was a panel discussion that was mostly audience questions, and there was a big session of testimonials where people were encouraged to tell their (sometimes long and rambling stories). Often, these events get one or two big name speakers from TV shows to draw fans. The quality of content is hit or miss.
Amanda didn’t have a strong background in Bigfoot information. This can be an advantage or disadvantage for a fair review. The advantage is that she had fresh eyes on the content and was unimpressed by the quality of much of the evidence presented, the over-reliance on eyewitness testimony, and poorly documented physical traces (like footprints). Additionally, she noted the drama that took place regarding a certain skunk ape researcher (if you know, you know – I know), who felt he should have been the main draw at this and previous events. Not only do these events not invite scholars (who are mostly going to be skeptics), they also have much ado about internal squabbles re: claiming areas, ideas, and even evidence, for themselves. All of this shows how “zoology” based cryptid research is unscientific. She even noted that very few presenters had a scientific background, and there was considerable fringe talk regarding conspiracies, government coverups, and even obvious nonsense about pseudoarchaeology and Roswell’s alien bodies. None of this is at all surprising.
From her comments, and from my past experience from such events, it seems that this event really leans into an agenda that transcends Bigfoot as simply a mystery to be solved. Going by the popularity of UAPs and eccentric ideas about nature, a portion of Bigfoot audiences will buy into scary concepts without foundation, where belief and personal testimony outweigh scientific evidence and critical evaluation. That’s not rational, that’s religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTiOZXToRk8
Sasquatch heads around town
Moving on to a more lighthearted, and very “pop cryptid” story, Seattle artist Henry is on a mission to paint 1000 Sasquatch faces across the city. He loves to create his cartoon, friendly-fanged version of the big guy and thinks it’s a nice way to connect the community with a common theme. He is still taking requests for locations on his website https://www.henry.art/1000-murals.html, if you have a spare space that needs a furry face.
AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
I really didn’t anticipate that so many cryptid stories in the news would roll back around to AI. But with this slop taking over the internet and making that technology less useful every day, this is the way it’s going. The Loch Ness Centre has to consider that every photo they get purportedly of Nessie might be AI generated. In past decades, photo editing and hoaxes was a likely possibility, but now, the photos can be not only heavily manipulated through AI, but created entirely from prompts, not even needing some real event as a basis. The Centre has had to employ a team of consultants to examine the visual evidence for this kind of humbuggery.
Actually, the easier route is to not accept this kind of evidence at all. The odds are overwhelming that any image is not going to show anything worthwhile. Evidence needs to be far better than that.
AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
For this story, I’m trying not to despair because the content is so blatantly fake that it should be obvious to anyone. But people still are circulating it as evidence of the Yeti. It’s so popular that Snopes.com had to put up a debunk of it. It began with an AI generated photo appearing on X (which I always call Xitter, pronounced “shi-ter”) showing a weird bear-like creature next to a man. It got over a million views. Within a few weeks, the image was being circulated on TikTok as evidence of the Yeti. This is not the first time that AI has been used to fool people with photo evidence of a hairy giant and other cryptids. The internet is making us stupid. I just hope most people see this as a form of modern art/commentary, and not real.
AI Fake Coelacanth News
And, finally, on the AI front, is the fake news circulated this week that a coelacanth (a cryptozoologist’s favorite red herring for mystery monsters that may still exist) was found off the coast of California. I wrote a separate post about this which you received if you are subscriber. It’s a depressing state of affairs when news media will simply regurgitate fiction as fact without checking. But this is a warning that it’s happening all the time and we need to be aware. Be SKEPTICAL! Check the sources.
Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
In the past few PCS editions, I’ve mentioned the growing popularity of neodinosaurs (a term that was coined by Fortean and OG cryptozoology commentator Ivan Sanderson). In particular, the mokele-mbembe stories are showing up on media sites documenting the resurgence of belief by locals that a brontosaurus-like creature still exists in the Congo basin in Africa. A new piece from New Lines mag continues the story by emphasizing the connection of this tale to those trying to disprove evolution. The article packs a punch. I have to share a quote:
Mokele-mbembe is the Congo Basin’s bigfoot. Or that’s what it’s become, anyway — a cryptid. Nobody is sure when the myth originated, but it was born among the basin’s communities, who passed it down as an oral tradition. Locals tell me the myth was spiritual at first — a metaphor, perhaps, for humankind’s delicate relationship with the land. But today, nobody can say with certainty what exactly it meant because foreigners long ago twisted it well beyond recognition.
“Congolese people originally believed mokele-mbembe was a spiritual being, not a real dinosaur,” Oyange told me last year. “But that all changed when the white man came to Africa.” A confluence of European colonial expansion into Africa and the birth of paleontology gave rise to a version of mokele-mbembe that was a literal, flesh-and-blood, swamp-dwelling reptilian beast. Tales passed around by explorers, missionaries and colonial functionaries became warped by notions from Victorian literature and emerging science.
Take. Note. It is perfectly clear that the idea of a living dinosaur in the Congo was a manufactured myth. Unfortunately, it is still heavily promoted by a few backwards thinkers who insist that the Bible is a science book. And, worse than that, the locals now believe the modern myth. Similarly, the ideas of lake monsters and many other cryptids, especially Bigfoot, were linked to native stories by white people even where there was originally no strong similarity to the creature in the folklore. In time, the oral traditions merged with modern media depictions and the distinction between the two is lost, even to the point where modern Natives will equate their ancient tales to the manufactured media version of the creature. There have been several studies showing that when you go back to the original native tales of supernatural creatures, they do not resemble the exaggerated named cryptid of today. This article is worth a read.
Cryptid media: Cryptid Factor podcast
And now for something completely comedic. I have been listening to The Cryptid Factor when it was a radio show that turned into a podcast. I can’t remember the year I first heard it but I think it was 2008 or 2009. It was one of the earliest cryptid-related podcasts, though I use that term “cryptid-related” loosely. It’s more “cryptid-themed”. It wasn’t always easy to keep up. There were long breaks between episodes. For example, they are officially up to episode #106 in the 17 years that the show has been in existence. That’s 6.23 episodes per year. However, I forgive them because it’s hosted by TV and movie actor Rhys Darby, whom I first knew from one of my favorite shows, Flight of Conchords. Rhys is a busy guy, even appearing on the special X Files series event in 2016 as a cryptid himself. So the podcast crew couldn’t always manage a regular schedule. In the past 5 years, I gave up listening because I figured it was defunct. Instead, interest was surging on the pop cryptid wave! When I resubscribed a few months back, I realized that their fandom had expanded. Rhys and his cohosts now regularly promote the show, it’s on YouTube and they have a Shopify merch site! Clearly, hanging on to the brand through the lean times paid off. If you search for “cryptid” on BlueSky or Instagram social media feeds today, you’ll get Rhys as part of the results!
Like I said, the show is more comedic than anything. It’s all about having fun and being very silly. After all this time, I’m still not sure what the crew really believe or disbelieve but it doesn’t matter (since I have a liking for New Zealand accents). They have a genuine interest, but still not too much in depth knowledge, about cryptids and related subjects. I do credit Rhys for introducing me to the concept of the Taniwha (a mysterious creature of New Zealand that sort of serves as the catch-all monster, like the Bunyip of Australia). Even though the main purpose of the podcast appears to be an excuse for a trio of zany friends to make jokes and humorous sound effects, talk about their international travel, and “weekly” weird news stories, occasionally, some cryptid content is included. I love it. The Cryptid Factor was totally part of the Pop Cryptid scene before it even began!
Thanks for reading! Send comments, questions, or suggestions to sharon(at)sharonahill.com. If you want to send some cryptid plushies or other merch, or books to review, email for my physical mailing address.
For more, click on Pop goes the Cryptid landing page. Make sure you subscribe to all the posts – it’s always free and I don’t send annoying spam.
Pop Cryptid Spectator is also available on Substack. Please share this with cryptid fans you know!
Pop Cryptid Spectator Pop Cryptid Spectator 14Pop Cryptid Spectator 13
Pop Cryptid Spectator 12
Pop Cryptid Spectator 11
Pop Cryptid Spectator 10
Pop Cryptid Spectator 9
Pop Cryptid Spectator 8
Pop Cryptid Spectator 7
Pop Cryptid Spectator 6
Pop Cryptid Spectator 5
Pop Cryptid Spectator 4
Pop Cryptid Spectator 3
Pop Cryptid Spectator 2
#1 #2 #AICryptids #Bigfoot #BigfootHuntersDie #cryptid #cryptidFake #cryptidTVShow #giantOwls #GodzillaSighting #GoogleEarth #HoodCryptids #OutThereCrimesOfTheParanormal #popCryptids #scryptids #Skinwalker #TheCryptidFactor #Wendigo
-
Pop Cryptid Spectator 15
Hello and welcome to the 15 edition of Pop Cryptid Spectator – a newsletter solely meant to indulge my interest in the subject of cryptids in popular culture. If you’re reading it, that’s awesome; I appreciate it. It’s important to me to document changes in the thinking about mysterious animals over modern times. It’s not just some weird fringe subject, it’s mainstream now. The modern stories and events associated with mysterious animals reflect societal views and the different agendas of subgroups involved in the topic. This edition does go a bit heavy on the traditional view of cryptozoology, where people are interested in finding a real animal behind the rumors of existence. But, things will go off the rails, as everything has in this wacky 21st century. Thanks for joining me on this kooky trip.
In this edition:
- Florida Bigfoot Conference review
- Sasquatch heads around town
- AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
- AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
- AI Fake Coelacanth News
- Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
- Cryptid media: The Cryptid Factor podcast
Florida Bigfoot Conference review
Amanda from Swell Entertainment attended the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference in Ocala a few weeks ago and posted a video review. I found several parts interesting but also, there was a lot of the same old thing that always happens with cryptid conferences (vs conventions which are more fan oriented). However, conferences usually suggest a more serious audience but cryptid events in general seem to be leaning more towards merchandise sales and para-celebrity attractions, with almost no scholarly presenters (maybe because there are so few).
For example, Amanda says there was considerable time given to the audience to supply content. That is, there was a panel discussion that was mostly audience questions, and there was a big session of testimonials where people were encouraged to tell their (sometimes long and rambling stories). Often, these events get one or two big name speakers from TV shows to draw fans. The quality of content is hit or miss.
Amanda didn’t have a strong background in Bigfoot information. This can be an advantage or disadvantage for a fair review. The advantage is that she had fresh eyes on the content and was unimpressed by the quality of much of the evidence presented, the over-reliance on eyewitness testimony, and poorly documented physical traces (like footprints). Additionally, she noted the drama that took place regarding a certain skunk ape researcher (if you know, you know – I know), who felt he should have been the main draw at this and previous events. Not only do these events not invite scholars (who are mostly going to be skeptics), they also have much ado about internal squabbles re: claiming areas, ideas, and even evidence, for themselves. All of this shows how “zoology” based cryptid research is unscientific. She even noted that very few presenters had a scientific background, and there was considerable fringe talk regarding conspiracies, government coverups, and even obvious nonsense about pseudoarchaeology and Roswell’s alien bodies. None of this is at all surprising.
From her comments, and from my past experience from such events, it seems that this event really leans into an agenda that transcends Bigfoot as simply a mystery to be solved. Going by the popularity of UAPs and eccentric ideas about nature, a portion of Bigfoot audiences will buy into scary concepts without foundation, where belief and personal testimony outweigh scientific evidence and critical evaluation. That’s not rational, that’s religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTiOZXToRk8
Sasquatch heads around town
Moving on to a more lighthearted, and very “pop cryptid” story, Seattle artist Henry is on a mission to paint 1000 Sasquatch faces across the city. He loves to create his cartoon, friendly-fanged version of the big guy and thinks it’s a nice way to connect the community with a common theme. He is still taking requests for locations on his website https://www.henry.art/1000-murals.html, if you have a spare space that needs a furry face.
AI cryptids: Faked Nessie sightings
I really didn’t anticipate that so many cryptid stories in the news would roll back around to AI. But with this slop taking over the internet and making that technology less useful every day, this is the way it’s going. The Loch Ness Centre has to consider that every photo they get purportedly of Nessie might be AI generated. In past decades, photo editing and hoaxes was a likely possibility, but now, the photos can be not only heavily manipulated through AI, but created entirely from prompts, not even needing some real event as a basis. The Centre has had to employ a team of consultants to examine the visual evidence for this kind of humbuggery.
Actually, the easier route is to not accept this kind of evidence at all. The odds are overwhelming that any image is not going to show anything worthwhile. Evidence needs to be far better than that.
AI cryptids: Fake Yeti photo circulating
For this story, I’m trying not to despair because the content is so blatantly fake that it should be obvious to anyone. But people still are circulating it as evidence of the Yeti. It’s so popular that Snopes.com had to put up a debunk of it. It began with an AI generated photo appearing on X (which I always call Xitter, pronounced “shi-ter”) showing a weird bear-like creature next to a man. It got over a million views. Within a few weeks, the image was being circulated on TikTok as evidence of the Yeti. This is not the first time that AI has been used to fool people with photo evidence of a hairy giant and other cryptids. The internet is making us stupid. I just hope most people see this as a form of modern art/commentary, and not real.
AI Fake Coelacanth News
And, finally, on the AI front, is the fake news circulated this week that a coelacanth (a cryptozoologist’s favorite red herring for mystery monsters that may still exist) was found off the coast of California. I wrote a separate post about this which you received if you are subscriber. It’s a depressing state of affairs when news media will simply regurgitate fiction as fact without checking. But this is a warning that it’s happening all the time and we need to be aware. Be SKEPTICAL! Check the sources.
Mokele-mbembe and Creationists’ corruption
In the past few PCS editions, I’ve mentioned the growing popularity of neodinosaurs (a term that was coined by Fortean and OG cryptozoology commentator Ivan Sanderson). In particular, the mokele-mbembe stories are showing up on media sites documenting the resurgence of belief by locals that a brontosaurus-like creature still exists in the Congo basin in Africa. A new piece from New Lines mag continues the story by emphasizing the connection of this tale to those trying to disprove evolution. The article packs a punch. I have to share a quote:
Mokele-mbembe is the Congo Basin’s bigfoot. Or that’s what it’s become, anyway — a cryptid. Nobody is sure when the myth originated, but it was born among the basin’s communities, who passed it down as an oral tradition. Locals tell me the myth was spiritual at first — a metaphor, perhaps, for humankind’s delicate relationship with the land. But today, nobody can say with certainty what exactly it meant because foreigners long ago twisted it well beyond recognition.
“Congolese people originally believed mokele-mbembe was a spiritual being, not a real dinosaur,” Oyange told me last year. “But that all changed when the white man came to Africa.” A confluence of European colonial expansion into Africa and the birth of paleontology gave rise to a version of mokele-mbembe that was a literal, flesh-and-blood, swamp-dwelling reptilian beast. Tales passed around by explorers, missionaries and colonial functionaries became warped by notions from Victorian literature and emerging science.
Take. Note. It is perfectly clear that the idea of a living dinosaur in the Congo was a manufactured myth. Unfortunately, it is still heavily promoted by a few backwards thinkers who insist that the Bible is a science book. And, worse than that, the locals now believe the modern myth. Similarly, the ideas of lake monsters and many other cryptids, especially Bigfoot, were linked to native stories by white people even where there was originally no strong similarity to the creature in the folklore. In time, the oral traditions merged with modern media depictions and the distinction between the two is lost, even to the point where modern Natives will equate their ancient tales to the manufactured media version of the creature. There have been several studies showing that when you go back to the original native tales of supernatural creatures, they do not resemble the exaggerated named cryptid of today. This article is worth a read.
Cryptid media: Cryptid Factor podcast
And now for something completely comedic. I have been listening to The Cryptid Factor when it was a radio show that turned into a podcast. I can’t remember the year I first heard it but I think it was 2008 or 2009. It was one of the earliest cryptid-related podcasts, though I use that term “cryptid-related” loosely. It’s more “cryptid-themed”. It wasn’t always easy to keep up. There were long breaks between episodes. For example, they are officially up to episode #106 in the 17 years that the show has been in existence. That’s 6.23 episodes per year. However, I forgive them because it’s hosted by TV and movie actor Rhys Darby, whom I first knew from one of my favorite shows, Flight of Conchords. Rhys is a busy guy, even appearing on the special X Files series event in 2016 as a cryptid himself. So the podcast crew couldn’t always manage a regular schedule. In the past 5 years, I gave up listening because I figured it was defunct. Instead, interest was surging on the pop cryptid wave! When I resubscribed a few months back, I realized that their fandom had expanded. Rhys and his cohosts now regularly promote the show, it’s on YouTube and they have a Shopify merch site! Clearly, hanging on to the brand through the lean times paid off. If you search for “cryptid” on BlueSky or Instagram social media feeds today, you’ll get Rhys as part of the results!
Like I said, the show is more comedic than anything. It’s all about having fun and being very silly. After all this time, I’m still not sure what the crew really believe or disbelieve but it doesn’t matter (since I have a liking for New Zealand accents). They have a genuine interest, but still not too much in depth knowledge, about cryptids and related subjects. I do credit Rhys for introducing me to the concept of the Taniwha (a mysterious creature of New Zealand that sort of serves as the catch-all monster, like the Bunyip of Australia). Even though the main purpose of the podcast appears to be an excuse for a trio of zany friends to make jokes and humorous sound effects, talk about their international travel, and “weekly” weird news stories, occasionally, some cryptid content is included. I love it. The Cryptid Factor was totally part of the Pop Cryptid scene before it even began!
Thanks for reading! Send comments, questions, or suggestions to sharon(at)sharonahill.com. If you want to send some cryptid plushies or other merch, or books to review, email for my physical mailing address.
For more, click on Pop goes the Cryptid landing page. Make sure you subscribe to all the posts – it’s always free and I don’t send annoying spam.
Pop Cryptid Spectator is also available on Substack. Please share this with cryptid fans you know!
Pop Cryptid Spectator Pop Cryptid Spectator 14Pop Cryptid Spectator 13
Pop Cryptid Spectator 12
Pop Cryptid Spectator 11
Pop Cryptid Spectator 10
Pop Cryptid Spectator 9
Pop Cryptid Spectator 8
Pop Cryptid Spectator 7
Pop Cryptid Spectator 6
Pop Cryptid Spectator 5
Pop Cryptid Spectator 4
Pop Cryptid Spectator 3
Pop Cryptid Spectator 2
#1 #2 #AICryptids #Bigfoot #BigfootHuntersDie #cryptid #cryptidFake #cryptidTVShow #giantOwls #GodzillaSighting #GoogleEarth #HoodCryptids #OutThereCrimesOfTheParanormal #popCryptids #scryptids #Skinwalker #TheCryptidFactor #Wendigo
-
Fake California Coelacanth
On April 23, 2025, the website “Animals Around the Globe” published an article by “Esther Evangeline” claiming an “extraordinary find” by researchers in a remotely operated vehicle probing the deep areas 80 miles offshore of San Diego, California. They found a coelacanth! Here is a quote from the piece:
What began as a routine survey of deep-sea biodiversity transformed into a historic moment when the ROV’s lights illuminated the distinctive lobed fins and characteristic body shape of a living coelacanth. The scientists aboard the research vessel reportedly fell into stunned silence before erupting in excitement as they recognized the significance of what they were witnessing.
The coelacanth (genus Latimeria), a lobe-finned fish in contrast to most of today’s ray-finned fish, is a survivor from an ancient lineage. The animal was assumed to be long extinct until a fortuitous event in 1938 resulted in a truly momentous zoological headline. A coelacanth was caught near the Chalumna River on the eastern side of South Africa and identified as a new species of coelacanth. The fish were subsequently found in the western Indian Ocean, around the Comoro Islands, Madagascar and as far east as Indonesia. In total, two new species of coelacanth were identified.
There was no reliable evidence, not even a strong inkling, that the fish would be found outside of this general area. Yet, this article was stating this incredible fact.
It was immediately clear that something was very wrong with the article. While the website looks legitimate, the tone of the story stinks of AI generation. There were no names and details given, no images, and only one clue to follow – the involvement of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. More on that in a bit.
The story goes on to say that researchers collected water samples to examine environmental DNA where preliminary analysis suggested that the California specimen may be the African coelacanth or a new species. With “full genome sequencing” underway, the discovery generated great excitement in the scientific community who “responded to this discovery with a coordinated research initiative” to find out more about the California coelacanth and preserve its habitat.
However, none of was actually happening.
The first thing I do with incredible stories is look for other sources. There were NO other articles except for this one about this claim. It would be outrageous for a general blog to have news of such a find. Unless someone on the research team leaked the info, which would be a huge blunder, news would not be announced in this way. We would have seen the video, a press release, and the news would have come directly from the research institutions. More than one person, including myself, reached out to Scripps and MBARI to get confirmation and Scripps replied. It was a fake story.
It’s not clear why the story existed at all but the arrows point to it being an AI creation. On the same day, April 23, this article was published in Nature Scientific Reports “First record of a living coelacanth from North Maluku, Indonesia“. In this instance, the fish was spotted by divers over two days. There was little similarity between this and the faked story, though. Here, there was clear proof that they found a coelacanth and the location was not very surprising.
Through searching “California coelacanth” the day the article appeared, I found two possible sources that may have been pulled by AI to create the fake story.
- In 2022, UC Santa Barbara researchers discovered a small variety of clam previously known only from the fossil record. The story was framed as similar to the coelacanth discovery and the headlines used the term “living fossil”. If you glanced at this story, you may have wrongly assumed they found a coelacanth instead.
- Secondly, the SciiFii project generated a California Reef coelacanth in a fantasy CG project. The SciiFii wiki describes the animal as if it really exists.
It remains unclear the site Animals Around the Globe hosted this story. Perhaps other contributors to the site are legitimate but the content is not checked and no longer should be considered reputable. Several days later, the story remains up on the site and the comment section does not work. This incident follows a series of article on cryptids in the past few weeks posted on the previously useful site How Stuff Works that are transparently AI generated, alleging spurious claims about existing cryptids.
These AI slop pieces are picket up in syndication and appear on other “news” sites that are delivering less and less reliable news. The fake California coelacanth story was distributed by Newsbreak and also by MSN (which is now a terrible source of news because of the lack of content standards). All this nonsense goes to show that readers must be far more diligent these days to assure the information online is solid. You can’t use one news source, you must do you own work to track down multiple legitimate sources. And, even then, there has to be some independent verification of note. Click bait is worse than ever and media companies have no standards for what they pass of as news.
For more on the coelacanth, click here.
#AnimalsAroundTheGlobe #California #coelacanth #fakeNews #livingFossil
-
Look what arrived in the mail today! My very own coelacanth 🥰🥰 Thank you so much, @IcooIey ! 🥰
-
The Mets have a big game today and they are playing in NYC!
“Honey where’s my Mets hat?”
“It’s on the octopus… next to the coelacanth.”
“oh. yes, of course.” #LGM #baseball #mets #nyc #coelacanth #Opabinia #picathecat #cats -
The Mets have a big game today and they are playing in NYC!
“Honey where’s my Mets hat?”
“It’s on the octopus… next to the coelacanth.”
“oh. yes, of course.” #LGM #baseball #mets #nyc #coelacanth #Opabinia #picathecat #cats -
The Mets have a big game today and they are playing in NYC!
“Honey where’s my Mets hat?”
“It’s on the octopus… next to the coelacanth.”
“oh. yes, of course.” #LGM #baseball #mets #nyc #coelacanth #Opabinia #picathecat #cats -
The Mets have a big game today and they are playing in NYC!
“Honey where’s my Mets hat?”
“It’s on the octopus… next to the coelacanth.”
“oh. yes, of course.” #LGM #baseball #mets #nyc #coelacanth #Opabinia #picathecat #cats -
The Mets have a big game today and they are playing in NYC!
“Honey where’s my Mets hat?”
“It’s on the octopus… next to the coelacanth.”
“oh. yes, of course.” #LGM #baseball #mets #nyc #coelacanth #Opabinia #picathecat #cats -
Now I finally have a paper to go with my cool desktop #coelacanth model!
-
New fossil #fish species scales up evidence of Earth's evolutionary march https://phys.org/news/2024-09-fossil-fish-species-scales-evidence.html
A Late #Devonian coelacanth reconfigures actinistian #phylogeny, disparity, and evolutionary dynamics: Alice Clement et al. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51238-4
"The discovery of an exceptionally well preserved ancient primitive Devonian #coelacanth fish in remote Western #Australia has been linked to a period of heightened tectonic activity, or movement in the Earth's crust"
-
Discovering a new #coelacanth #fossil —
Introducing 'Ngamugawi wirngarri'
-
Our latest paper out in Nature Communications led by Dr Alice Clement:
A Late #Devonian #coelacanth reconfigures actinistian phylogeny, disparity, and evolutionary dynamics
-
The deep #ocean #photographer that captured a 'living fossil'
The youngest known #fossil #coelacanth is 66 million years old, leading to the assumption that these animals were long extinct. Then, in 1938, a #fish with iridescent blue-green scales and four limb-like fins, was caught in a trawl net off the coast of South Africa. This #coelacanth was dubbed a #livingfossil
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240507-the-deep-ocean-photographer-that-captured-a-living-fossil -
I’ll Be Around (In the Ocean) - Coelacanth Green
#FossilASong #Coelacanth #CeeLoGreen #IllBeAround #HashTagGames @hashtaggames
-
"Coelacanth - Ancient Ancestor of the Deep"
The coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) is more closely related to tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles/birds, and mammals) than to other fish.
https://rebeccawangart.com/featured/coelacanth-ancient-ancestor-of-the-deep-rebecca-wang.html
#Art #MastoArt #AYearForArt #ArtMatters #TraditionalArt #AnimalArt #AcrylicPainting #coelacanth #fish #psychedelic #buyintoart
-
Coelacanths thrived after a mass extinction
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-fossil-coelacanths-switzerland-mass-extinction.htmlEarly #Mesozoic burst of morphological disparity in the slow-evolving #coelacanth fish lineage https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-37849-9
"The biggest #MassExtinction of the last 500 million years occurred 252 million years ago... The #coelacanths, which lived about 10 million years after this disaster, demonstrate that they could still take advantage of the post-#extinction Earth environment to evolve into unique forms throughout their history"
-
I don't think I've shared my #coelacanth #tea strainer on here yet. Courtesy of @yuasaemi, who imported it for me :blobcatcoffee:
There's also a deep-sea isopod model which I'm planning to get at some point!
-
I was really excited to get this opportunity to design a coelacanth pin for the launch of the 5th Mini Museum collection.
I'm also designing a second pin to represent one of the other specimens (meteorites! dinosaurs! Roman siege engines! the original Woodstock stage!) I don't know what it'll be yet because backers are going to vote on their favorite!
Check out their campaign at www.backerkit.com/c/mini-museum/mini-museum-bk
-
Fossil of Large #Jurassic #Coelacanth Found in England
https://www.sci.news/paleontology/mawsoniid-coelacanth-england-11454.html Paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2022.2125813During the #Cretaceous period, #coelacanths are known by two families only, the #Latimeriidae, which survived to the present with the genus #Latimeria, and the #Mawsoniidae, which lived from the #Permian to Cretaceous period. Unlike members of the Latimeriidae family, which are exclusively marine, #mawsoniids were also native to freshwater and brackish environments.