— New species are discovered every year, although many of them are insects. Now insects don’t quite do it for me, and I tend to become far more excited about the discovery of a higher animal, especially a mammal, since I happen to be one myself! What’s been identified is the olinguito, which resembles a mini-raccoon with a teddy bear face, and is almost unbelievably cute. The creature is indigenous to the rain forests of South America, and found in countries such as Ecuador and Columbia. Running about 14 inches long with an equally long tail and and rust-colored fur and weighing in at about two pounds, the olinguito escaped classification for so many years owing to its nocturnal and tree-dwelling habits, and the fact that it was confused with the olingo, a larger and distinctive sister species.
The National Zoo in Washington actually housed an olinguito for a year, mistaking it for an olingo and expecting it to breed with them, which it sensibly refused to do. The species has accordingly been hiding in plain sight for some time! Looking like a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat, this smallest member of the raccoon family certainly possesses the “awww” factor!
– – Cernunnos is a righteous dude, and perhaps an early furry lifestyler! Also known as the horned god, Cernunnos is the antlered “God of the Forest” and often considered “God of the Animals” who is often portrayed as sporting a rather significant set of deer, elk, or moose horns; moreover, he wears them well! An anthropomorphic being, Cernunnos is often depicted with an impressive rack while the head beneath is sometimes human and at other times shown as that of a stag. The body tends to be human, ending in feet that in some depictions are cloven deer hooves.
– – We can remember Chevy Chase’s classic SNL “land shark” routines, and it sounds like a plot for another outrageous Syfy channel movie, but this one’s real…a shark was found on a New York City subway car! I swear that I am not making this up…
– – Few things are cool but creepy at the same time; artificial meat is one of them! We had earlier posted about the possibility of artificial meat, a prospect which has now become reality…
— Does it get much better than Wonder Woman versus the Cheetah? Not by much it doesn’t; I’d want to pull up a chair and watch this one!
— As an episode of the Weird or What series hosted by William Shatner would remind us (Aliens Walk Among Us), some candidates for new and unknown species have been nothing more than the products of creative taxidermy, fueled by the simple public desire to believe. The desire to believe is an incredibly powerful thing, intoxicating and seductive. If we are not careful, that desire can cause us to suspend reason and logic.
FOXSYLVANIA 
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