Chupacabras DNA Results Are In
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 3rd, 2007
Contributed Photo: Phylis Canion
Well, no need to dwell on this one. We all saw this coming, and it appears only a few people and the media thought this was going to be anything different.
The DNA results are back from tests run on the “Chupacabras” (as it was called) found by Phylis Canion, near Cuero, Texas, in July, 2007. The biologists at the Texas State University have announced that it is a coyote (Canis latrans).
The DNA sequence is a virtually identical match to DNA from the coyote. This is probably the answer a lot of folks thought might be the outcome. I, myself, really thought it was a domestic dog, but the Cuero chupacabra[s] is a Texas coyote.
That is the best part about science. The first answers often lead to more questions and then better explanations of the world in which we live. We’ve taken additional skin samples and we will try to determine the cause of the hair loss.
Folks fear what they don’t understand, and a big part of the goal in science is to explain the natural world. - Mike Forstner, a Texas State University biologist, said in a news release, as quoted in “Strange beast found near Cuero is a coyote,” by Roger Croteau, Express-News, November 2, 2007.
“Chupacabras: It’s sort of like Jennifer Lopez, kind of cross-cultural.” - Loren Coleman, as quoted by ABC News, 1999.
Why do I call all of them, singular and plural, “Chupacabras”? If interested in the answer, you will not be disappointed if you click on “Chupawhat?”
Every time someone finds a carcass of a strange looking animal like the Chupacabra. Its always a K9 of some sort. Like wild dogs in Chile and Puerto Rico, Coyotes in Texas and much more. So is it wild dogs killing farms animals?
I’m glad that the results are in, because I’m sure there were still those out there insisting that this was a mystery creature of some kind. Everyone take note on how freakish diseased or mangy animals can look and keep that in mind when confronted with photos that at first seem mystifying. Sometimes people want a fantastic explanation when a mundane one fits just fine. It’s interesting that when seeing an animal like this, some will immediately call it a chupacabras and others will say “yeah, maybe it is!”. Why doesn’t anyone ever say “look, its a mangy coyote!” And why is it if they do, people say “how do you know it is a mangy coyote? It might be chupacabras! You have to have an open mind!” ? Not to say that mystery animals are not out there, just that we have to be rational and scientific about finding them. I think we need to maintain a critical eye when appraising the visual evidence. In my opinion it does not help the honest search for cryptids to jump to conclusions on these types of cases. Anyway I’m glad that they had a body on which to perform the necessary tests.
that is one ugly-lookin coyote….. XD
Is it non Latinos making those identifications? The various Latino descriptions sound more like predatory kangaroo-like marsupials or even velociraptor relatives.
Duh.
I knew it.
I can’t believe that nobody has gotten any footage of a Chupacabras yet. We got footage of Sasquatch, what’s up with that?
That shirt would be cool to have. I’m just wondering if and when you guys at Cryptomundo are gonna come at with some cool cryptid shirts. That would rock to have a Cryptomundo shirt. I’d be wearing it everywhere.
Duh! Duh, and thrice duh!
Come on, people, it’s a pooch. Why go to the expense of DNA testing?
This should be called the “Summer of Mange”,…seems to be alot of it out there!!!
Imagine that! A Coyotecabras.
What I want to know is, how come every time someone finds a mangy canine carass, it’s called a Chupacabra? Every description I’ve ever heard of a Chupacabras is of some weird alien/reptilian/humaniod thing with big bug eyes and quills or spines on its back, not of a doglike animal.
Wow! A Coyote this time? Usually in Texas they are just decaying Samson Foxes
Lately, I’ve been pondering on what large creature could survive only drinking the fluids of animals, besides a giant vampire bat. Getting to the point, the only creatures that would need to drain it’s victims of fluids are arachnids, so it is my theory that the Chupacabras are really giant spiders. It isn’t so far fetched, giant spiders did exist in pre-history, and it is possible they may have survived in modern times.