# Unidentified mammal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650 "2005-09-01T23:00:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/1 "2005-09-01T23:00:15Z")
I don’t believe in goat-suckers! But this stuff has been making the rounds. I’ve checked all the claims of what it should/could be with no luck. The amazing thing to me is that if no one really knows what this is, you would think biologist would be falling all over themselves to classify it. Anyone here know? [http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4895053/detail.html](http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4895053/detail.html) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/2 "2005-09-01T23:07:35Z")
Snopes turns up a couple of chupacabra stories…this one looks to me like one of those almost-bald breeds of cat. Come on, “a mix between a hairless dog, a rat and a kangaroo” is (a) written to match the picture, (b) a mixture of a mammal, a rodent and a marsupial, and © hi Opal! ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/3 "2005-09-01T23:14:17Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > (b) a mixture of a mammal, a rodent and a marsupial Rodents and marsupials _are_ both mammals. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/4 "2005-09-01T23:15:32Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Snopes turns up a couple of chupacabra stories…this one looks to me like one of those almost-bald breeds of cat. Almost, but that nose looks nothing like the ones on any of [these hairless cats](http://images.google.com/images?q=hairless+cat&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images); they all have “cat” noses just like their furry cousins. Hairless _dog_ of some sort I’d buy, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/5 "2005-09-01T23:19:58Z")
Well, I didn’t really clarify. But the biologist and vets who did venture an opinion said it was not mange, hairless, et all. I spent way too much time researching this, but I find it hard to belive that a semi-large mammal could have escaped notice. Or that no one (in that field) would know at a glance what these things are. Other site show photos of different but like animals. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/6 "2005-09-01T23:20:17Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Snopes turns up a couple of chupacabra stories…this one looks to me like one of those almost-bald breeds of cat. The muzzle is too long for a felid, as is the hind leg. It’s definitely some kind of canid. From the photo, I don’t see the slightest reason to think it is anything other than some kind of mongrel domestic dog with a “hairless” gene. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/7 "2005-09-01T23:20:32Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Hairless _dog_ of some sort I’d buy, though. Ditto. I was actually thinking more of a fox–the ears and snout are about right. Perhaps one with a bad case of mange or something. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/8 "2005-09-01T23:23:18Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Rodents and marsupials _are_ both mammals. :smack: sorry for the stupid post! (But the gist of it still stands, I hope?!) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/9 "2005-09-01T23:24:35Z")
> [@Hombre](#): > > Well, I didn’t really clarify. But the biologist and vets who did venture an opinion said it was not mange, hairless, et all. Where is this information from? The site you linked to has very little information. Anybody who would suggest a cross between “a kangaroo, a rat, and a hairless dog” isn’t making a professional assessment. > [@](#): > > Other site show photos of different but like animals. Link? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/10 "2005-09-01T23:27:00Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > :smack: sorry for the stupid post! (But the gist of it still stands, I hope?!) Yeah, I knew what you meant. But, I don’t think the article was trying to claim that the creature, whatever it is, was _actually_ a crossbreed, rather, it seemed an attempt to describe the animal’s general appearance. At least, that’s the way I took it. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/11 "2005-09-01T23:28:34Z")
Like I said I spent way too much time on this already trying to sort the facts from the BS. Suffice to say I went through about 30 sites. That info is from memory. I’ll see if I can pull it up from my history menu. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/12 "2005-09-01T23:36:38Z")
From here: [http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content\_id=AA3ED460-09FB-46CB-AAA5-27A353AA1186](http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=AA3ED460-09FB-46CB-AAA5-27A353AA1186) "Stacy spent twenty years working with a veterinarian and as a zookeeper for five years, so some of her expertise came in handy on this visit. She debunked the mange theory. “This was not a secondary infection,” she pointed out as she examined the pictures. “This was scaly skin. There was no secondary infection in this animal caused by mange.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/13 "2005-09-01T23:43:42Z")
> [@Hombre](#): > > “This was scaly skin” I disagree. You can see signs of short hair in various places, although the resolution is far too poor to see good detail. Hair is evident particularly around the ears, at the back of the neck, on the tail and at the rear of the hind legs. It’s very possible the animal was partially shaven. I would not rule out a deliberate attempt at a hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/14 "2005-09-01T23:45:56Z")
Another one: [http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content\_id=E9FD58FA-8327-4CD1-8C55-4118FE1D50B3](http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=E9FD58FA-8327-4CD1-8C55-4118FE1D50B3) Sorry I couldn’t find the other picture site but pretty sure not a hoax. They are doing DNA testing on it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/15 "2005-09-01T23:50:37Z")
[This link](http://woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4e470718-f7b0-48ab-ac65-c5a1108e62b0), for the same site, says: > [@](#): > > “It’s clearly a member of the dog family, a family candidate,” explains Gramieri. > > Gramieri says he can’t tell what type of canine, but that it could be mixed with coyote that has very weird teeth. > > “For whatever reason, this animal had a very poor fusion in the front here, so it allowed that lower jaw to spread in a way that is not normal for any mammal, actually,” Gramieri told WOAI. > > But what about the creature’s color? A blue-grey hairless coat that’s unlike any dog or coyote? > > “It apparently had some very bad skin ailment,” said Gramieri. “And that skin ailment made it go bald except for the top of its body.” ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/16 "2005-09-01T23:58:08Z")
Yeah, I read it but I could post a site where someone says it’s a deer. That’s really my point. You have biologist and zoologist who say, “maybe it’s a…”. Shouldn’t these people know? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/17 "2005-09-02T00:04:12Z")
Most of the folks who seem like they actually know what they’re talking about generally agree it’s a canid of some sort. The bulk of the disagreement would appear to be on exactly _which_ type of canid it is. It’s obviously not a deer–the tail is FAR too long. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/18 "2005-09-02T00:12:40Z")
But my question stands: How could a canid have escaped classification in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/19 "2005-09-02T00:16:31Z")
> [@Hombre](#): > > How could a canid have escaped classification in the US? No one’s saying it did, yet. Thus far, there has been no definitive identification, but that doesn’t mean that this animal represents a heretofore unknown canid species. As some of your links point out, it could be an unusual cross between wild and domestic canids or simply a diseased specimen of a known canid species, such as a fox. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650/20 "2005-09-02T00:39:21Z")
Reminds me of this story in Maryland [Link](http://www.nbc13.com/news/3545383/detail.html) Make sure to click on the picture link, and go to picture 11 and on. But read the story first. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unidentified-mammal/319650.md?page=2)