More on Borneo’s New Animal

Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 7th, 2005

Possible Identification Proposed: The Rediscovery of an Extinct Species

The new animal from Borneo does somewhat match another camera trap "mystery creature" photographed by Malaysian wildlife specialists, and pictured directly below. This gave me a hint of what the “new” animal might be. Take a peek…

Borneo Mystery Animal

Borneo Mystery Animal

Photo credit goes to the Wildlife Conservation Society, Upper Baram Project, Malaysia. This organization obtained an interesting series of camera trap photos in 2004 on the unlogged areas of Mount Murud Kecil, Sarawak. One is of this slender unknown civet, shown above, with a very long tail, pale underparts and white around the muzzle, similar to Hose’s palm civet. This individual was photographed on the ridge of the mountain, far from the streams which are the Hose’s palm civet’s supposed habitat.

Compare the photos from Mount Murud Kecil, at the top of this blog, with this drawing of the newly discovered Borneo "civet." I think there is a good case to be made that the new Borneo animal is the allegedly extinct (since 1955) Hose’s palm civet, and may be similar to the above photographed "underreported" unknown civet from Mount Murud Kecil.

The new mammal "discovered" in Borneo, naturally, comes to the attention of cryptozoology and an analysis based on a broad review of what is ethnoknown about similar cryptids is helpful in revealing the “new” Borneo animal’s identity.

Please recall, this new Borneo animal is known only from two camera trap photographs (see our earlier blog), one of which shows this new animal with a leaf across its face and the other from behind. As far as is known, that is what has been deemed as evidence of this new animal’s "discovery."

But it does seem more proper to say this is the probable “rediscovery” of an extinct form, the Hose’s palm civet, as can be seen in a drawing from the excellent Lioncrusher reference site and shown directly below this paragraph. The Hose’s palm civet appears to be what we are talking about from Borneo, and in all of these situations.

Hoses Palm Civet

Also, the "new" Borneo animal and the unknown Mount Murud Kecil civet reinforce, positively, the use of camera traps, as a method to show "hidden" animals, the foundation subjects of cryptozoology, literally the study of hidden animals.

With regard to this specific "new" Borneo animal, as noted above, it does therefore match this other camera trap "mystery creature" photographed by Malaysian wildlife specialists, which has never been widely shown before. The "new" Borneo animal is therefore a civet, members of the family Viverridae, and, I speculate, an example of a rediscovered (no longer extinct) Hose’s Palm Civet (Diplogale hosei).

BTW, the viverrids such as these Borneo civets, and the American procyonids (coatmundis and kinkajous) look like each other because of convergent evolution.

I would be delighted to answer any questions about this developing discovery via an exchange in the comments section below.

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Thanks to Cameron and Matt Bille for data that reinforced our initial identification speculations in these "civet" blogs.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.


3 Responses to “More on Borneo’s New Animal”

  1. Larry responds:

    Hi Loren,

    Another possibility is that the creature is some type of tree kangaroo. A poster on another forum provided a “very” similar picture which caught my eye. I think they may have something there.

    Larry

  2. cradossk responds:

    hmmm, possible. The two areas are quite close to each other…

  3. lily responds:

    New lemur? I saw this animal crossing the road near my work place. I followed it and thought my god this could be the new so called Borneo’s new lemur It’s got everything as described and seen in the video.

    Searched high and low. I called the local wildlife reserve department. Good info, he suggested it was more likely a palm civet. As much as I’d like to agree with the scientists. It was a palm civet! damn it!

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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