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Foundation of Wisconsin. Also planned is amonument to the 8 million Germans who wereexpelled from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland,Romania and Yugoslavia as a result of thePotsdam agreement following World War II. Ofthose civilians, 2 million died.Tiny PterodactylIn northeastern China researchers have discovereda flying reptile the size of a sparrow. Nemicolopteruscrypticus, a tiny, toothless critter,lived 120 million years ago, according toAleaner W.A. Kellner, a vertebrate paleontologistat the National Museum of the Federal Universityof Rio de Janiero. It had a wingspan of25 centimeters, or 10 inches. It is not known ifthe specimen was full grown, but even if theadult was twice as big, it would still be thesmallest pterodactyl known.Other Pterodactyl News . . .Not all pterosaurs spent their time soaring inthe skies, says Mark Witton, vertebrate paleontologistfrom the University of Portsmouth, England,after studying fossils of large pterosaurscalled azhdarchids. The study indicates that theazhdarchids were quite capable on the ground.Most of their fossils are found in locales farfrom the coastline. Even giants such as Quetzalcoatlusnorthropi, whose wings spanned 31 feet,were not built for fish catching and spent muchof their time walking on land.Forged Documents Found in British National ArchivesBRITISH HISTORIANS CALLED RECENTLY for apublic report on the inquiry into 29 forged documentsfound at the British National Archivesthat falsely accuse Winston Churchill’s governmentof having a secret, cordial relationship withNazi SS chief Heinrich Himmler during WorldWar II. Eight leading historians signed an openletter urging police to take action against the suspectwho faked the documents, which also allegethat Churchill ordered the assassination ofHIMMLERCHURCHILLHimmler to keep the discussions secret. “That’s . . . totally untrue,” said historian AndrewRoberts. Mainstream historians reject the assertion about Churchill because there is no evidenceto support it. (Himmler was never assassinated; he committed suicide by poisoninghimself with cyanide after capture by the British in 1945.) Historians hoped swift action byauthorities would deter anyone else from tainting the archives with more forgeries. Robertssaid: “If the guy gets away with it, it will be a green light to manufacture evidence. It’s beendone in a criminal way, and yet the police don’t seem very interested.” Prosecutors, whodid not release the name of the suspect, said they would not press charges because the personwas in poor health. But what kind of sicko forges historical documents anyway?Aquatic ElephantsThe aquatic ape theory, created by the Milesianphilosopher Anaximander around 546 B.C.and popularized by Elaine Morgan in 1997, assertsthat wading, swimming and diving for foodexerted a strong evolutionary effect on the ancestorsof the genus Homo and is in part responsiblefor the split between the common ancestorsof humans and other great apes. Morgan alsosuggested that the proboscidians might haveevolved in a parallel manner. Recently paleontologistAlexander Liu, at the University of Oxfordin England, studied the ratio of oxygen-16and O-18 in the teeth of fossils of Moeritherium,a proto-elephant. The study confirms that apparentlyMoeritherium did spend much of its timein freshwater habitats.Return From Extinction—SortaA bit of the DNA from the extinct Tasmaniantiger is today alive and well in the cells of somemice. The new study is the first to show activityof an “extinct” piece of DNA in a living animal,although scientists have managed to produceproteins form mammoth and Neanderthalhuman genes in cells. To prove extinct DNA canstill work, scientists from the University of Melbournein Australia and the University of Texaschose a regulatory element, called an enhancer,which regulates the COL2A1 gene. If they usedmarsupial mice such as the Antechinus species,the results would be even more interesting.Oldest Animal YetAccording to Science News, a black coral(‘eekaha kuu moana, the official “state gem”of Hawaii) has set a new record for longevityamong coral kind. The creature, which lookslike a black tree with yellow twigs, was determinedto be some 4,200 years of age. The scientificname is Leiopathes glaberrima.MITCHELL-HEDGES SKULLResearcher Questions Timeline of Famed Crystal SkullESPECIALLY WHAT WITH THE LATEST Indiana Jonesmovie, there has been much hoopla about crystalskulls (stone carvings in the shape of a humanskull, which vary in size from a few inches to life-size).Some stone skulls might be genuine artifacts fromMesoamerican cultures such as the Aztecs, who definitelydid have skull masks or death heads. But none ofthe skulls made of pure quartz crystal was ever found insitu by qualified archeologists. Despite the fact that NewAge replicas are easily made and are available from a varietyof sources, advocates of the paranormal nature ofcrystal skulls claim that no one knows how the skullswere made and that they are impossible to duplicate. Themost famous crystal skull is the Mitchell-Hedges “skullof doom,” allegedly discovered by 17-year-old AnnaMitchell-Hedges in the 1920s while accompanying heradoptive father, Frederick A. (“Mike”), on an excavationof the Mayan city of Lubaantun in Belize, where he believedhe would find the ruins of Atlantis. According toThe Skeptic’s Dictionary, evidence collected by Joe Nickellproves that Mr. Mitchell-Hedges bought the skull at aSotheby’s sale in 1943. In addition, Mitchell-Hedges’explanationthat someone stole the artifact from him and itwas then bought back from Sotheby’s is discredited.T B R • P. O . B O X 1 5 8 7 7 • W A S H I N G T O N , D . C . 2 0 0 0 3 T H E B A R N E S R E V I E W 63