(Article by Christian Science Monitor, links by yours truly - grant
April 09, 2002 edition -
Christian Science Monitor
Stalking legendary creatures
By Sharon J. Huntington
IN 1912, a pilot crash-lands on a rugged
Indonesian island. He hears loud
rustling in the bushes. He sees the flash of a
huge tail and hears a
ferocious hissing. Frightened and alone in a
strange land, he wonders: Could
it be a dragon? It disappears before he can get a
good look.
Later, he talks with Indonesian pearl divers. He
learns that stories abound
of a giant reptile 12 feet long living on Komodo
Island. Finally in 1926, an
expedition brings two live specimens back to New
York City. At 10 feet long,
they turn out to be the world's largest known
lizards. Now everyone knows
they really exist. They don't fly or breathe
fire, but they were named
Komodo dragons, thanks to all the rumors they
sparked about dragons on the island.
These "dragons" also serve as an example of the purpose of cryptozoology.
"Crypto" (KRIP-toh) means "hidden," and "zoology" (zoh-OHL-uh-jee) is the study of animals.
Cryptozoologists try to find animals that are
rumored to exist, but have not
yet been proved to be real.
Roy Mackal has been a biologist and biochemist at
the University of Chicago,
but since 1950 he has also been interested in
finding mysterious animals.
Dr. Mackal has traveled all over the world to try
to prove that rumored
creatures exist. He also helps to show that some
mysterious creatures are
not terrible monsters.
Recently, a "sea monster" 50 feet long was
reported and videotaped in a lake
in Papua, New Guinea. Mackal was able to
determine that the "monster" was
actually three large salt-water crocodiles. A
male was holding onto a
female's tail, and another male had the second
one by the tail. When only
portions of their bodies appeared above the
water, it looked like one giant
creature.
"There are no monsters," Mackal says, "just
unidentified animals." And he
believes there are still many unidentified
animals to discover.
He was recently researching in Central West
Africa, in an area of 55,000
square miles of unexplored jungle and swamp.
"There are large areas on the
earth and in the oceans that have never been
explored," he says. "Who knows
what might be living there?"
Natives of the Congo in Africa for years told
European visitors of an animal
that looked like a cross between a giraffe and a
zebra. The visitors assumed
the stories were just folk tales. But in 1901,
Sir Harry Johnston obtained
skins that proved the creature, which we now call
the okapi, was real.
In 1938, a fishing boat off the coast of South
Africa caught a 5-foot-long
fish that was later identified as a coelacanth.
The fish were believed to
have been extinct for 65 million years. And only
a few years ago, in 1994,
biologists captured the first known saola, a
large ox that inhabits the
forests of northern Vietnam.
Cryptozoologists think there are still plenty of
creatures to discover,
while many of us have yet to learn about some of
the strange animals that
already exist. Look at the animals on these
pages, for instance. How many
are real?
Here are some descriptions of animals you might not recognize. Can you guess which ones are proven to exist and which ones are still creatures of rumors and stories? (Answers below [...and don't cheat by hitting the links until after you've read them all! - grant].)
Pangolin
The pangolin is a mammal that looks like a
reptile. It has no teeth, so it
eats rocks and pebbles to help grind up the food
in its stomach. It lives in
southeastern Asia, Indonesia, and parts of Africa.
Bunyip
The bunyip lives in Australia and is believed by
many to be a descendant of
the diprotodon, a marsupial (an animal with a
pouch, like the kangaroo)
about the size of a rhinoceros, which became
extinct thousands of years ago.
The bunyip lives in creeks, swamps, and
billabongs (lagoons) and has a loud,
bellowing cry.
Tuatara
The tuatara is a New Zealand reptile that grows
up to two feet long. It has
a spiny back and a third eye on top of its head.
This eye can't see objects,
but it can sense light and movement.
Solenodon
Solenodons live in Cuba and Haiti. They hide in
hollow logs and come out
only at night. They grow about two feet long and
use their long claws to
scratch for insects to eat. They are said to have
a bad temper.
Star-Nosed Mole
The star-nosed mole is a small mammal with soft
fur and sharp teeth. It has
feelers at the tip of its nose and uses them like
fingers. It spends most of
its time swimming in ponds and streams in Canada
and the northeastern United States.
Queensland Tiger
Inhabiting the rainforests of Australia, the
Queensland tiger is about the
size of a German shepherd. It has stripes across
its back and a cat-like head.
ANSWERS: All except the bunyip and the Queensland tiger have been proved to exist. Stories of bunyips have been told by Australian aborigines for generations, and white settlers have also reported sightings. Many believe they are just stray seals, while others think they may be an unknown animal. Aborigines have also told stories of the Queensland tiger for centuries, and many sightings were reported in the 1940s and 1950s. Expeditions have never been able to locate a specimen. |
