Snouters: Comments
(most recent posts first)
It is the greatest book I have ever read. It is wonderfully illustrated and perfectly written, with information and details on a recently discovered island and it's inhabitants.
Tyler C.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003 at 19:20:19
Hello! I recently purchased your book, and was delighted by it. Among other things, I was pleased to see that you included the obscure case of the "snouters", those fictional animals allegedly documented by Dr. Harald Stumpke. I am not sure if you're aware of this, but the snouters have become something of a "tall tale" (by your definitions) among vertebrate biologists. While few laymen know of the Rhinogrades, several authors of serious texts in paleontology and comparative anatomy have included bogus citations of "Dr. Stumpke's" work in their publications, in an attempt to keep research on these remarkable animals alive! I have on my own bookself a volume of vertebrate paleontology, which proudly includes the Rhinograda in its list of living and extinct mammalian Orders (in close relation to both insectivores and elephants, and of "uncertain" derivation); I'll send you the reference, if you like. Likewise, I have seen coy allusions to Dr. Stumpke in the citation-lists of articles on the evolution of elephants, tapirs, and other nasally well-endowed mammals. Even scientists, it seems, enjoy the lighthearted fun of a really clever hoax! ;-)
Dr. Sharon Dornhoff
Thursday, February 27, 2003 at 14:35:54