With six years of phd work on theropod dinosaurs behind him, Darren Naish mostly spends long hours in the library, hunched over his laptop. But he gets out sometimes, and picks up litter and pursues exotic lizards across the British countryside, aiming all the while to publish his technical work on obscure Cretaceous dinosaurs. He also messes around with pterosaurs, swimming giraffes, British big cats and stuff like that. He has given up on the stupid idea of being a dedicated academic and ekes out a living as a technical consultant, editor and author. He can be contacted intermittently at eotyrannus (at) gmail dot com. For more biographical info go 
Amazing news! This mysterious striped mammal was recently photographed by a camera-trap: I won't say where it was photographed as that'll give the game away. What is it? I'll announce the answer soon, but feel free to guess in the meantime (this is not a hoax: the photo really does genuinely depict a wild mammal). Am now going into conference-preparation mode (56th SVPCA, Dublin), so am not going to be posting anything substantial on the blog for a while. I'll try and keep it ticking over with pictures and such though. Dammit, never got to finish the stuff on squirrels, or tortoises. And now I have crazy plans to cover cryptocetology and Lake Dakataua in the near future...
Life Science
Environment
Comments
Tasmania.
Posted by: jude | August 6, 2008 6:27 AM
Nope, west-central Africa. It's a zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra).
Posted by: Christopher Taylor | August 6, 2008 6:35 AM
Oh man, I think I might cry!
Posted by: Christopher | August 6, 2008 6:36 AM
Looks like the wrong back curve for the head-down posture and two wide a base of tail, given the pictures I can quickly find for a zebra duiker. They seem to lack a peak over the forelimbs in the structure of the back and have a steady downslope from posterior to anterior over the length of the back. Even if it's standing on something with the front feet, this doesn't look like that.
Definitely not a tasmanian wolf, given the width of the apparent tail, but I have no idea what it might actually be.
Posted by: Graydon | August 6, 2008 7:05 AM
Seconded. Zebra duiker. (I can wish it were a thylacine . . .)
Posted by: Maureen Lycaon | August 6, 2008 7:07 AM
It could be a relative of the Montauk monster wearing stripy pyjamas....
But no, on second thoughts I'll go for Zebra duiker too. I think I remember reading somewhere recently about pygmy hippos being sighted on camera traps in west Africa, so I'll guess that this photo comes from the same survey.
Posted by: Dave Hughes | August 6, 2008 7:12 AM
I'd have to say zebra duiker too.
Posted by: Hai~Ren | August 6, 2008 7:19 AM
The romantic in me automatically thought "Thylacine", but that would be too good to be true....
Posted by: Robert | August 6, 2008 7:26 AM
The rest of the photo: http://www.edgeofexistence.org/edgeblog/?cat=15
Posted by: Heine | August 6, 2008 7:27 AM
That was cruel Darren, you know how i feel about thylacines!
Posted by: Carpworld | August 6, 2008 7:49 AM
Too late... seen this zebra duiker photo on article of Niger pygmy hippo research.
BTW, duikers are interesting and overlooked group, and camera trap photos are my favorite!
Posted by: Jerzy | August 6, 2008 8:22 AM
If this was tasmania I'd imagine it would be all over the news. Im gona go with numbat since its the only non- tiger/zebra thing I can think of (other than a tiger or zebra of course!)
Posted by: Neil | August 6, 2008 8:39 AM
Zebra duiker? Please! It's definitely a wild baby Liger.
Posted by: Genuinely Doug | August 6, 2008 8:53 AM
I would have said numbat, but Heine already has done to that photo what I have done to the paca. It's a zebra duiker, *Cephalophus zebra*. BTW, if global warming carries on until we have recreated the Eocene, duikers and other such slinkers will have a great future before them.
Posted by: johannes | August 6, 2008 10:03 AM
No fair! That photo was cropped to MAKE us think it was a thylacine!
Beautiful animal, tho.
Posted by: Siamang | August 6, 2008 11:40 AM
Goodness me.
I am a long time reader, first time poster and that photo made me gasp.
Could it be?
Is it true?
Please say it was in Tasmania.
Posted by: Serena | August 6, 2008 12:04 PM
Well, after looking at a few photos of the duiker I'd have to agree that seems the most probable pick.
They seem like very interesting little mammals. I look forward to hearing more.
Posted by: Serena | August 6, 2008 12:09 PM
Hmm, really? Oh, I hadn't thought of that... :)
Posted by: Darren Naish | August 6, 2008 12:56 PM
Its an armadillo
Posted by: Greg Laden | August 6, 2008 1:15 PM
Well like everyone else here I was pretty disappointed at first that it wasn't a true blue thylacine....
But that being said, ALL animals are fascinating in their own right, and I for one (my friends all think I know EVERYTHING about wildlife) have never seen a zebra duiker. Cute little thing eh? Now are they closer to the deer family or antelope family?
I always liked striped and spotted animals.... to the point that for a while I wanted to get thylacine or tiger stripes tattooed on my back (thank God I didn't eh? just stuck with tribal patterns and a really cool Tyrannosaur Jolly Roger.)
I appeal to you all, don't be disappointed because it's not a presumed-extinct thylacine (and I still hold out hope), instead appreciate the endearing (and probably fascinating) little animal for what it is.
Posted by: Max Paddington | August 6, 2008 2:02 PM
One more thing.... Cryptocetology? That sounds incredibly interesting. I would love to hear more.
Posted by: Max Paddington | August 6, 2008 2:06 PM
You are an evil, evil man. :D
Posted by: Mike Keesey | August 6, 2008 2:12 PM
Looks like an okapi's butt.
Posted by: Phil | August 6, 2008 2:38 PM
p.s. it's probably not though.
Posted by: Phil | August 6, 2008 2:39 PM
Late-surviving gorgonopsid, obviously.
Posted by: Zach Miller | August 6, 2008 2:42 PM
I guess you know my vote is for cryptoscansoriplesiosaurology.
Posted by: Nathan Myers | August 6, 2008 3:22 PM
Bad Tetrapod!! No Dessert for you! ;)
My boy's heart lept at the thought of living Thylacine (the rest of him was leaping and bouncing off the walls too)..
The Zebra duiker is cool too, but not as cool as a Thylacine...
Posted by: eric | August 6, 2008 4:03 PM
I have to admit my immediate thought was 'Wow, a thylacine!' Well, my very first thought was Ozenkadnook tiger, and then thylacine. Anyway, I was wondering if camera traps have ever been used in the hunt for the thylacine?
Posted by: Richard Hing | August 6, 2008 4:32 PM
You, sir, are pure dag-nasty evil. I picture you sitting in an overstuffed chair (on a swivel, of course), stroking the last known Stilt-Legged Mauritius Taiga Lynx with one hand, clicking the "post" button on cruelly-cropped non-thylacine pictures with the other, and cackling softly all the while. Also I imagine that your hair is falling out in clumps, past beady eyes that twinkle with perverted ambition and debauchery.
Someone should take a duiker on your keyboard.
Posted by: Dr Vector | August 6, 2008 4:36 PM
If only...
But I'm sure a duiker article will be interesting too
Posted by: Rosel | August 6, 2008 5:18 PM
I still think you're all being hard on the poor little Duiker.
PS: Dr Vector's use of the word 'Duiker' as a poop-reference had me in stitches.
Posted by: Max Paddington | August 6, 2008 5:21 PM
Update: You're all being hard on the poor little Duiker EXCEPT Rosel there, who posted just as I was posting my last post.
And 'Duiker' as a poop joke is still funny.
Posted by: Max Paddington | August 6, 2008 5:24 PM
It's either a juvenile sasquatch, or else a bear with mange.
Posted by: Moai | August 6, 2008 6:42 PM
Looks like a turtle without its shell
Posted by: cecil b. | August 6, 2008 7:28 PM
At last! A ropen!
Posted by: Pterorhynchus | August 6, 2008 7:29 PM
I thought it was Darren in his zebra duiker t-shirt hunched over his laptop in his knucklewalking pose..
Posted by: DDeden | August 6, 2008 8:08 PM
"Anyway, I was wondering if camera traps have ever been used in the hunt for the thylacine?"
Indeed they have. I blogged on my own blog about Darren's blog post, and there's some info on thylacine camera traps in the blog comments. Blog.
Stewart
Posted by: Stewart Macdonald | August 7, 2008 1:13 AM
Dammit! I was so excited when I first saw this photo. Then I read the comments, my hopes were dashed. Mr Naish you are a cruel, cruel man.
Posted by: susan | August 7, 2008 4:25 AM
I'd never heard of the Zebra Duiker before, so I leave
Tet Zoo, a more bit more informed than before. Proportions
in the snap were wrong for Thylacine, anyhow...:(
Posted by: Craig York | August 7, 2008 10:30 AM
IIRC I spotted a Tasmanian wolf not that long ago ...
stuffed, in the zoological museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the same side of the river as the Repin Institute.
Posted by: tdh | August 7, 2008 2:57 PM
Aww, I was hoping Thylacine too. Oh well.
Posted by: Bruce T. | August 7, 2008 6:34 PM
Since we have already been teased, I would like to bring to light some information that some of you may not already know. On Cameron R. Campbell's Thylacine Museum website (which all Thylacine die-hards have probably viewed before) http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/index.htm, towards the bottom of the page is a free publication from a man known only as Tigerman, regarding the continued existence of your favorite lupine marsupial http://www.users.bigpond.com/tigerbook/. It is an interesting story, which is hopefully true. I encourage e-mailing "Tigerman." I stumbled upon this a year ago, read the material, and e-mailed him with many questions. He patiently answered each one to the best of his ability. I also e-mailed Cameron R. Campbell, who verified his belief in Tigerman's credentials and information. So check it out! If you find out anything good, share it!
Posted by: Thylacinus cynocephalus | August 7, 2008 8:47 PM
Oh, I forgot to way in on the identity of the striped mystery. I support Zebra Duiker. At first glance I thought Numbat, but it looks too uniform and bright to be the brownish background of the Numbat.
Posted by: Thylacinus cynocephalus | August 7, 2008 8:50 PM
Hooray for duikers!
I spend way too much time thinking about potential new and interesting evolutionary paths, and I just love the idea of a future predatory ungulate. Small omnivores can end up anywhere!
Posted by: Chris M. | August 11, 2008 4:52 AM
If the Koreans could clone dogs, can they clone the tasmanian tiger?
Posted by: phat_al | August 16, 2008 6:17 AM
Give them the DNA, and they'll do it.
Therein, of course, lies the rub. Even the alcohol-preserved specimen doesn't contain enough undamaged DNA anymore.
Posted by: David Marjanović | August 16, 2008 5:13 PM