Comments on: Shunka Warak’in Taxidermy Specimen Found!

By: MustangAppy

MustangAppy — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:51:09 +0000

I know for a fact that the previous Mammology Curator and the current Paleontology Curator at IMNH have both examined this animal and stated that this is a poorly mounted black wolf, period.

By: Tianne

Tianne — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:32:17 +0000

Very interesting. I sincerely hope the owner will allow a DNA test. Sure, mysteries are nice, but they teach us nothing. Answers further the knowledge of the human race and can lead to surprising breakthroughs. Plus, for those who like mysteries, answers usually bring up NEW mysteries!

No matter what the DNA findings show, Kirby and his grandfather will remain a part of cryptozoological (and taxedermilogical) history. They have nothing to lose.

On first glance I was sure it was a wolf with a bad (or fanciful) mounting job. However, one thing bothers me… Wolves generally have long hair on their haunches under the tail, and this fellow’s haunches appear bare. You can clearly see the angulation of the backside of the hind limbs. Thoughts?

By: kumzum

kumzum — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:02:56 +0000

I am glad I found this website. I would like to know the results of the DNA test. I saw that show on the History Channel about crypto-canines and it showed the pic of the Shunka Warak’in. The reason I am interested is I saw something similar to this near Glenn Ullin North Dakota, right off I-94. I told my wife about it, and wrote it off as a weird looking dog. However, the characteristics of what I saw resembled a hyena-like dog. It surely wasn’t a wolf. I lived in Alaska and Eastern Idaho and have seen wolf in the wild and know what they look like. Also, the animal I saw seemed to have a short snout, nothing like a wolf or coyote. It had a very powerful build and a funny gate as it strutted off down a creek wash. I didn’t observe it long, ( I slowed down as much as possible). I saw the animal about 8am, it walked off the road and down a creek wash. I hope to see it again and maybe take a picture. I am not saying I saw anything special, however I have never seen a dog, wolf or coyote look anything like this thing. It truly was unique, whatever it was.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 04:26:52 +0000

Dogu4- The diversity of Borophaginae is made even more impressive when one considers that this was only one of the three subfamilies of Canidae. Likely this group of animals was fairly diverse even within this subfamily, with each species adapted to different habitats and lifestyles. You would have had your scavengers as well as your pack hunters. This all makes it interesting that such a seemingly successful group of animals died out like that. I always enjoy discussions on what it was exactly that drove a given species or group of animals to extinction, especially in the case of an obviously well established one like Borophaginae.

Primates, now that you mentioned it, are themselves an enormously successful group of animals. Like Canidae, they have adapted to a mindboggling variety of climates and ecosystems.

Don’t want to get too off topic with bats, but they are an interesting story in their own right. Guess we’ll save that one for another thread.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:44:30 +0000

I agree this an exciting find. I don’t know enough about animal behavior to determine what it is but I agree with mystery_man it looks like some sort of hyena offshoot.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:40:53 +0000

Mysery Man…thanks for makin’ that clear. You’ve no doubt heard the toastmaster’s triple admonition to “tell me what you’re gonna tell me, then tell me what you said you were going to tell me, then tell me what you just said.”
That is impressive diversity for a group of species, making it all the harder to believe that all of those experiments failed so momentously.
Of course coming from a time when fully one quarter of all mammal species are bats, one has to ask if there is some kind of practical mathematical constant one could apply to the number of known species in the fossil record that would result in the probable number of actual species, presuming that we’ve located and identified only a portion of the species (recognizing that the way we use species in the context of the paleo record is different from modern population based criteria).
For that matter, how many species of primates have there been here on t”he planet with all the apes” across our evolutionary parade ground.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:41:50 +0000

Dogu4- “Chompers” it is. By the way, sorry about repeating the stuff about Borophaginae over two posts. I wanted to clarify some points, namely that it was 66 species total within the North American continent, and I ended up just rehashing the last part of my fist post so as not to confuse people and make them have to go looking for what I was talking about. In case you were wondering what I was on about, that’s the reason.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:02:36 +0000

So…the demise of the borophaginea line 2.5 mya. Thanks for that info Mystery Man. Amazing that it could go from such prolific success to extinction in all of its 66 different recognized populations (so far) in such short time…if in fact it did. With the discovery of mammoth bones on Wrangel Island dated to only a few thousand years ago, it’s tantalizing to think about how much longer these borophaginae might have hung-on in out-of-the-way refugia and other unexpected niches. Fossils being so rare and so few of those which have been created having been found and correctly identified, it gives would-be paleocreature enthusiasts hope that new and amazing creatures are still out there…way out there.
It would be great to have a pet like that…studded collar, heavy chain leash…I’d name her “Chompers”.

By: jerrywayne

jerrywayne — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:31:40 +0000

Now THIS is exciting news. The possibility that a cryptozoological mystery may have a definitive solution is cool. The solution may enhance the field, or remove the mystery. Very cool, either way.

By: kolobe

kolobe — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:37:42 +0000

Looks like a bad taxidermy job on a brown hyena (not a spotted hyena) take a look at these pictures, I have been looking at this for 2 days wondering and looking for decent pictures of the brown hyena, one is very similar to the taxidermy model. http://home19.inet.tele.dk/hyena/brown_hyena_photo.htm

They are also known in Namibia as the strand wolf (beach wolf) where they usually scavange seal, whale and and other sea creature carcasses. They are well known in South Africa to but usually do not hunt, they may take a small lamb or calf occasionally but generally don’t. They can be quiet smelly and are very shy. http://www.strandwolf.org.za/home.htm. Best time to find one is under spot lights at night, they are solitary animals and far less known than the spotted hyena and are not so noisy.