The Wapaloosie

The Wapaloosie is another "fearsome critter" invented by 19th-century lumberjacks.  In this case, though, the term doesn't seem fitting -- the Wapaloosie isn't frightening at all.  In fact, the diminutive beast is completely harmless.  Physically, it resembles a mouse, combined with the long body of a dachshund.  It climbs trees by arching its spine like an inchworm, moving slowly but surely up the trunk.  Though it lacks a squirrel's speed, the Wapaloosie is more sure-footed, due to spiked toes that prevent it from falling.

The Wapaloosie puts these adaptations to good use.  In fact, it has to -- the creature only feeds on tree-dwelling fungi.  Sometimes these grow far above the ground, so the Wapaloosie would starve were it not a good climber.  The animal's tree-scaling behavior is so important that it has become instinctual.  It is said to climb during its sleep, as soon as it's born, and even (most strangely of all) after death.

The story goes that an enterprising woodsman shot a Wapaloosie looking to make some mittens.  Unfortunately, despite the creature's soft fur, these turned out to be completely useless.  As soon as the lumberjack picked up his axe, the gloves crawled off his hands and up the wooden handle.  Whenever he would rest his hand on a tree, the gloves would leap off and try to scale it.  Eventually, he was forced to abandon them in a ditch -- and last saw them climbing over fallen logs.

Read more about the Wapaloosie:
http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/pg25.htm
Image (public domain) from http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/images/wapaloosie_small.png

The Argopelter

The Argopelter is a "fearsome critter" -- a folkloric beast of America's back-country.  In the 19th century, it reputedly terrorized loggers and lumberjacks, attacking them when they intruded on its habitat.  Physically, this creature was not intimidating -- it was thin, lanky and monkey-like.  But don't let its appearance fool you.  The Argopelter was a lethal menace, and a master of projectile warfare.

This critter was completely arboreal, living and sleeping within the treetops.  By night, it would sleep in woodpecker holes, feeding upon the owls that sometimes dwelled there.  By day, it would climb out onto a branch and wait for passerby.  When one came near, the Argopelter would break off a rotting chunk of wood, whirling it around its head at high speed.  Finally, it would let go, launching its weapon and striking the "trespasser" dead.

Generally, an Argopelter attack was never seen coming.  A lumberjack would vanish into the woods, seeking a tree to cut, and simply wouldn't come back.  Eventually, his comrades would come searching -- to find only his body, crushed beneath a fallen branch.  Most would call this a freak accident, unsuspecting of the real culprit.  The Argopelter, meanwhile, would lie in wait -- until another victim came into range.

As a side-note, I've always wondered the source of the Argopelter's name.  I've never seen one recorded, but I've come up with my own pet theory.  The Argo is a ship of Greek legend -- a wooden vessel that carried many great heroes.  Eventually, though, the boat began to decay and was taken out of service.  Its former captain, Jason, still visited the vessel -- until he was killed when its prow fell off and crushed him.  Perhaps the name "Argopelter" is a reference to this story.  Death by rotting wood sounds awfully familiar.

Read more about the Argopelter:
http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/pg35.htm
http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/p3.htm
Image (public domain) from http://www.fearsomecreaturesofthelumberwoods.com/images/agropelter_small.png

The Zuiyo-Maru Creature

In 1977, the Zuiyo-Maru caught itself a sea monster.  This Japanese trawler was looking for mackerel -- but what it found in its net was something else entirely.  The creature was long dead and badly decomposed.  Most of its flesh had rotted away, and its skeleton was clearly visible.  Still, the animal looked like nothing else on earth.  It was thirty feet long -- too big to be anything but a shark or whale.  Yet it resembled neither.  Its most distinguishing traits were its long neck and large fins -- which made it, more than anything, resemble a plesiosaur.

Unfortunately, the Zuiyo-Maru carcass was never brought to shore.  Concerned it would spoil his fish, the captain had it tossed overboard -- after the crew took photographs.  One of these (seen above) was widely publicized as evidence of surviving plesiosaurs.  It caused a media sensation, and sparked the interest of countless cryptozoologists.  According to recent studies, though, it's not a reptile at all.  It seems most likely that the Zuiyo-Maru caught a dead basking shark.

If you've ever seen a basking shark, you're probably very skeptical.  They're bulky, thick-headed, giant-mouthed filter-feeders -- in short, they look nothing like the picture above.  The key point to note, though, is how basking sharks decay.  Most animals, after death, "fall apart" in a specific sequence.  The study of decomposition is called taphonomy, and it can tells us a lot about the Zuiyo-Maru's find.

A basking shark's corpse distinegrates head-first.  The giant lower jaw sloughs off, separating from the rest of the body.  The fat, fleshy portions slide away from the skeleton -- leaving an emaciated carcass behind.  This carcass seems to have a long "neck" with a small head -- but in fact, this "head" is just the brain case.  The animal's jaws are long gone; in effect, the corpse has been decapitated.  A dead basking shark is a dead ringer for this cryptid.

This idea didn't convince everyone -- some were sure that the Zuiyo-Maru had found a sea serpent.  They pointed to purported discrepancies seen in the photograph -- features that a basking shark shouldn't have.  Eventually, though, testing of the monster's flesh revealed its identity.  According to amino acid tests, the carcass was indeed a shark.  Could plesiosaurs still be out there?  Many cryptozoologists think so.  But the Zuiyo-Maru's monster isn't one of them.

Read more about the Zuiyo-Maru Creature:
http://paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm
http://bizarrezoology.blogspot.com/2013/10/zuiyo-maru-carcass-shark-or-unknown.html
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2013/12/zuiyo-maru-addendum-and-rebuttal.html
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Zuiyo_Maru.jpg

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

A few months ago, while hiking with some friends, I saw my first woodpecker.  I've heard these birds plenty of times -- their rapid-fire tapping is unmistakable.  But I'd never gotten a good look at one, and was impressed when I did.  These little birds are flying jackhammers.  They ram their beaks into trees with startling force -- I was amazed mine didn't break its neck.  They're also strikingly beautiful, and distressingly rare.  In fact, one of America's most famous woodpeckers has gone extinct altogether.

In its day, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was not a rare bird.  It could be found throughout the forests of the American southeast -- forests which, in the 19th century, began to disappear.  Loggers cleared hundreds of acres of woodpecker habitat, causing populations to plummet.  Hunters were no help, killing some of the last individuals for trophies and museum specimens.  By the 1930s, the population had dwindled, and only a handful remained.  By 1944, the species had disapeared.

But there are hints that the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker may yet exist.  Since the bird's supposed extinction, several notable sightings have come to light.  Most of these took place within the last two decades -- the best in 2005 and 2006.  The 2005 reports, from Arkansas, were the first to be taken seriously.  They included photos and videos of a large, white-striped woodpecker.  Witnesses claimed that the bird's red crest, wing position and tapping pattern confirmed its identity.  Critics dismissed the evidence, believing a pileated woodpecker to be responsible.

In 2006, new evidence came out of Florida, where a research team recorded woodpecker sightings and sounds.  They were unable to take video, or even photographs -- but they claimed their data was conclusive nonetheless.  Many ornithologists remained skeptical.  The survival of the woodpecker remains, for the time being, debated.  Only one thing will change this -- unequivocal photographic proof.

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is an interesting case among cryptids.  Most unknown animals are treated with extreme skepticism, and are not given serious consideration.  The woodpecker, on the other hand, has been investigated by several major institutions.  Research teams have spent years searching for the bird, and multiple scientific papers have discussed its possible survival.  Why this special treatment?  Simple -- the woodpecker is a bird, and one that was previously known to science.

In recent years, "birding" has become an increasingly common pastime.  Tens of thousands enjoy the hobby, and as a result, we understand our local birds like we do few other animals.  When a rare species is spotted, dozens of witnesses converge on the location.  They report their finds online, discuss them with others, and submit them to interested ornithologists.  The birder community is popular and well-organized -- which means that a species like the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker draws great attention.  It lived into recent times, making its survival conceivable -- and many ornithologists are very willing to consider it.

How likely is the woodpecker's persistence?  I'm very willing to consider it.  Other rare birds have been found decades after "extinction" -- perhaps the Ivory-Billed will join them.  Admittedly, there's little habitat left for this species -- but some can be found in Arkansas, where the species has been sighted.  Keep watching the skies, as they say.  This bird may still travel them.

Read more about the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Campephilus_principalis/
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker/id
http://www.ivorybill.org/
http://www.npr.org/2005/04/28/4622633/ivory-billed-woodpecker-rediscovered-in-arkansas
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker_by_Jerry_A._Payne.jpg

No Picture?

Hello, all!

For the first time ever, I've posted about a creature without including a picture.  This is due to a new policy I'm instating:  the exclusive use of public-domain images.  I write this blog for fun, and it doesn't make me a dime -- but that doesn't mean I can't be sued.  While I don't think that's probable, I'd rather not chance it, and so I'm switching to images I can use risk-free.

Many of my old posts include copyrighted images -- I'm aware of that, and I'm working on fixing it.  Bit by bit, I'll be changing this blog's pictutes, and soon enough everything will be clean.  The only problem is that no non-copyright images EXIST of certain cryptids.  That's why the Enfield Horror has no picture -- and why a few other cryptids will also lack one.

In better news, the blog is still going strong!  I've missed a few days since BeastPedia restarted, sure -- but I've also written some fifty posts, and revamped a ton of old ones.  The project continues on!

The Enfield Horror

My posts on this blog follow a loose format.  I describe a mysterious creature, talk about evidence, and then discuss its likelihood.  I look at possible explanations, and determine which is most probable.  Today, though, I can't do that -- because I have no idea what the Enfield Horror could be.  This is a strange cryptid indeed -- backed by plenty of evidence, yet completely lacking an explanation.

There have only been a handful of sightings, all from 1973.  They started on April 25th, with a man named Henry McDaniel returned home with his wife.  There he found his children in a state of terror -- something, they told him, had tried to break into the house.  Evidently, it hadn't given up -- because shortly thereafter, McDaniel heard a scratching at the door.  When he investigated the sounds, he expected to see a stray dog.  What he beheld instead was horrifying.

The creature was between four and five feet tall, with greyish skin and bulging red eyes.  It stood on three legs, and had small claws for arms.  Horrified, McDaniels emptied a pistol into the beast -- which bounded away, covering fifty feet in three jumps before vanishing unharmed.  McDaniels wasn't the only witness -- a local boy was attacked half an hour earlier by a creature of the same description.

The Enfield story quickly became a media sensation.  Young "monster hunters" combed the woods looking for the beast, and some of them evidently saw it.  They described it as a "grey monkey" that moved much faster than an animal -- far too quickly to be caught.  McDaniels also saw the creature again, traveling along the railroad tracks in the dead of night.  By the end of May, the sightings had ceased, and none have been reported since.  But the question is this -- what caused them in the first place?

Usually, I would dismiss such an improbable-sounding cryptid.  There are no large animals that walk on three legs, let alone ones with claws and bulging eyes.  There's no natural explanation for this creature -- small wonder that it's often called an alien.  So why am I not brushing off this monster?  Because despite its bizarre nature, it's supported by plenty of evidence.  Police found three-footed tracks in McDaniels' yard, and the witnesses involved were quite reliable.  Loren Coleman himself heard the Horror's shriek, and observed the scratch marks on McDaniels' door.

In light of this evidence, some people have offered theories to the Horror's identity.  None of these seem probable, but I'll repeat them for the sake of discussion.  Some suggest that the Enfield Horror was a loose kangaroo -- which would explain its jumping motion.  Its third leg, they say, could have been a dragging tail.  To me, this seems like a stretch -- kangaroos aren't grey, lack red eyes, have no claws and are easily identified.  Who could mistake a kangaroo for such a monster?  Besides, if a kangaroo had escaped from a zoo, it would surely have been reported.

Another possibility is that the Enfield Horror was a "Devil Monkey."  This is a broad category of cryptids including various North American primates.  They tend to be fast, aggressive and around the Enfield Horror's size.  While Dale Drinnon -- whose opinions I respect -- supports this theory, I'm not so sure.  Monkey tails aren't thick enough to mistake for a leg, and none have hairless grey skin.  As I said at the beginning of this post, I'm going to hold out on stating an opinion.  In this case, no clear answer is apparent.

Read more about the Enfield Horror:
http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2010/03/enfield-horror-illinois-usa/
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/enfield73/
http://www.prairieghosts.com/enfield.html
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2012/03/enfield-horror-is-also-fw-monkey.html

The Kumi Lizard

The monitor of Komodo is a dragon indeed.  At ten feet long, it's Earth's largest lizard -- and certainly its most dangerous.  the Komodo dragon is a mighty predator, capable of taking down water buffalo.  This isn't due to strength alone -- the creature is venomous, and can poison its prey with a bite.  Impressed?  You should be -- the Komodo dragon is truly the king of the lizards.  But this crown, as paleontologists know, has been recently earned.  Only 30,000 years ago, it belonged to a much larger and deadlier species.

Its name was Megalania.  A neighbor of the Komodo dragon, it lived in prehistoric Australia alongside many other extinct species.  During the Pleistocene, Australia's animals were huge -- much larger than anything seen there today.  Megalania could exceed twenty-three feet; its prey included ten-foot wombats and thousand-pound kangaroos.  Around 30,000 years ago, all of these "megafauna" disappeared -- right when humans arrived on the continent.  Few scientists think this is a coincidence.  A popular theory is that humans overhunted these animals -- driving Megalania to extinction.

But some are convinced that the beast still lives.  They point to tales of the "Kumi Lizard" -- a reptilian cryptid of New Zealand.  It lives in trees, so it's said, and is about five feet long.  The creature has been sighted as recently as the '70s, and is far larger than the island's other lizards.  Is Megalania's survival possible?  Perhaps, but it's not likely.  On the plus side, New Zealand has plenty of undeveloped land, and a giant reptile would not lack for habitat.  But on the other hand, what would Megalania eat?  There are no giant wombats in New Zealand -- only thousands of sheep, which would surely be noticed if they went missing.

Furthermore, the Kumi Lizard sounds nothing like Megalania.  The latter is four times the cryptid's length -- nothing that size could climb a tree.  Furthermore, Megalania was not native to New Zealand.  Could it have swum there from Australia?  Maybe -- several monitor lizards are semi-aquatic.  But that's an awfully long distance, and would challenge heavy reptiles.

Unfortunately, Megalania seems to be truly extinct.  But that doesn't debunk the Kumi Lizard.  There are two other theories that might explain this cryptid, and both of them are far more likely.  First of all, the creature might be a crocodile monitor.  This species is a powerful swimmer, and lives on nearby New Guinea.  It's a much better seafarer than Megalania -- perhaps it once reached New Zealand.  Furthermore, it's close to the Kumi in size -- adults can reach reach eight feet, and they're fairly decent climbers.

Alternatively, the Kumi Lizard might be a new species.  There are several monitors living in Oceania; an undiscovered type isn't impossible.  If such a species existed, it would belong to the genus Varanus.  That would make it a smaller cousin of the Komodo dragon -- and, of couse, of Megalania.

Read more about the Kumi Lizard and Megalania
http://nzcryptozoologist0.tripod.com/id20.html
http://www.paranormalinvestigators.org.nz/home.php?page=cryptozoology&id=14
http://picsandstuff.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/the-mysterious-kumi-1898/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/3046.shtml
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Varanus_komodoensis/
Image (of Megalania skeleton, public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Varanus_priscus_Melbourne_Museum.jpg

The Hoboken Monkey-Man

This may be the most obscure cryptid I've ever described.  You won't find it on Wikipedia, or in most crypto-books.  I've seen it detailed in only two sources -- both of which are listed below.  The first is "Weird NJ", a magazine which brought the creature to my attention.  The second is a newspaper article, which partially debunks the myth.

But let's start with the story.  The Hoboken Monkey-Man, so it's said, is a decades-old urban legend.  Around Halloween 1982, rumors about the creature spread through the school system -- passed student-to-student in hallway whispers.  According to these tales, children were being attacked by a half-human monster.  It would kidnap them, toss them out windows, and even attempt to murder them.  Some said that students had gone missing; others that a teacher had been killed.

These claims were completely false, as the Hoboken police reported.  No students had been harmed, and no monster had been sighted.  Still, the hysteria spread, encouraged in part by local parents.  The year 1982 was marked by several kidnappings -- leaving parents worried for their children.  They used the Monkey-Man as a scare tactic, encouraging safety through fear.  Eventually, the Monkey-Man tales died down -- but Hoboken residents have not forgotten them.

Was there really a Monkey-Man?  Almost certainly not.  This cryptid's likelihood is often overstated, due to a false claim made in "Weird NJ".  The magazine tells us the Monkey-Man was taken seriously -- so seriously, in fact, that the police devoted a task force to the creature.  This is untrue, as the Hoboken police force has confirmed.  The Monkey-Man is an urban legend, backed by no real evidence whasoever.

Note:  There are no public-domain images of the Hoboken Monkey-Man.  The image here is a public-domain picture of a macaque from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Berberaffe,_Barbary_Macaque_(Macaca_sylvanus)_-_Tierpark_Gera_09.jpg.  Awww.

Read more about the Hoboken Monkey-Man:
http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2414578/article-Ever-heard-of-the--Hoboken-Monkey-Man--Residents-recall-mythical-primate-who-terrorized-kids
http://cressida.websitewelcome.com/~weirdev/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=28

The Hokkaido Wolf

If you want to see wolves in Japan, you'll have to visit the zoo.  But this wasn't always the case; 125 years ago, the nation was home to two unique subspecies.  The first was the Honshu Wolf, a diminutive creature extinct since 1905.  Once common, their populations were ravaged by disease starting in the 1700s.  Human persecution finished off the species for good.  The othe Japanese wolf disappeared even earlier.  This was the Hokkaido Wolf, a larger and rarer breed found in the north.

European tradition has long featured murderous wolves.  But Japanese folklore portrayed them differently.  Wolves, to the Japanese, were noble and spiritual animals.  They were guardians of the mountains, and protectors of those in need.  They had supernatural powers, according to some stories, and were always treated with great respect.  When it became a threat, an individual wolf might be killed -- but when this happened, its spirit was appeased with great ceremony.

Overall, Japanese wolves were seen in a very positive light.  There are various theories which attempt to explain this -- some more likely than others.  One hypothesis is that Japanese wolves were actually helpful to farmers.  Yes, they took occasional livestock -- but they also hunted crop-stealing deer and rabbits.  Sometimes, wolves would even leave part of their prey behind.  On the whole, they increased the productivity of farms, and their benefits outweighed their dangers.

Unfortunately for the wolves, this changed during the 1800s.  After the Meiji Restoration, Japanese agriculturalists put tremendous emphasis on livestock.  And in an effort to "catch up" with western nations, the nation kicked its economy into overdrive.  Rapid industrialization followed, along with increased agricultural land use.  This had several effects on wolf populations.  First of all, it reduced their habitat, bringing them into frequent conflict with humans.  Second of all, it killed off their natural prey -- forcing them to hunt livestock

No longer were wolves seen as beneficial.  Now, they were common farm pests to be killed at every opportunity.  Farmers slaughtered the animals with guns and poison; eventually, this was incentivized by the government.  It issued formal bounties, awarding prize money for every wolf killed.  Dog-spread diseases further reduced populations.  The Hokkaido Wolf disappeared with tremendous speed -- and by 1889, it was extinct.

Or so it is said.  Sightings of the animal have never ceased, and dozens have been reported in the past decades.  Locals report hearing wolf howls, finding wolf dung, seeing wolf footprints and even encountering the animals.  Many of these stories are dubious, but the sheer volume of sightings gives one pause.  There are still plenty of wild places in Japan, and plenty of large prey.  The animals once hunted by wolves -- the deer and the serow -- are still present, and could support a small population.  Perhaps someday, like other "Lazarus species", the Hokkaido Wolf will be rediscovered.

Read more about the Hokkaido Wolf:
http://wolfology1.tripod.com/id147.htm
http://www.scilogs.com/endless_forms/2010/09/27/although-the-gray-wolf-canis/
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/brent-wolf3/
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/%E3%82%A8%E3%82%BE%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AB%E3%83%9F%E5%89%A5%E8%A3%BD%E3%83%BB%E9%96%8B%E6%8B%93%E8%A8%98%E5%BF%B5%E9%A4%A8%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%99%EF%BC%98%EF%BC%94%EF%BC%90%EF%BC%99%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%94.jpg

Post Revamp: the Maltese Tiger

Tigers are among Earth's most fascinating animals.  Their size, majesty and charisma has made them enormously popular -- and enormously recognizable.  In a way, this is ironic, since tigers as reclusive as it comes.  In the wild, they are near-impossible to find, and even researchers can go years without seeing one.  There are two main reasons for this.  First of all, tigers are shy and solitary, spending little time even with members of their own kind.  And second of all, tigers are extremely rare, with under 4,000 left in the world.

Even rarer, some say, is the "Maltese Tiger."  This is an unusual sort of cryptid -- not a new species, but a variant of an existing one.  Maltese Tigers, supposedly, are discolored by a rare mutation.  Their fur is blue instead of orange, and their normally-black stripes are grey.  This explains the name "Maltese" -- many cats from Malta have blue-grey fur.

Before talking about the probability of this cryptid, we should discuss whether Maltese tigers are even possible.  In normal cats, this coloration pattern is created by a specific set of genetic alleles.  Were these alleles present in tigers, they would indeed produce a blue-colored animal.  But such a tiger would not have stripes, unlike the Maltese Tigers of cryptozoology.  A more complicated set of alleles could indeed produce a blue, striped animal -- but such an individual has never been observed.

A perhaps likelier theory is that "Maltese" tigers are not blue at all.  White tigers do exist, and can be produced by a lack of pheomelanin.  This mutation is not uncommon; several white individuals have been captured or bred over the years.  Tigers are mostly nocturnal, and in the moonlight a white animal could easily appear bluish.  The "Maltese" coloration may thus be a trick of the light.

Whether Maltese Tigers are blue or white, they cannot be common.  Only a handful of sightings have ever been reported -- mostly from China, but also from neighboring countries.  In this region, tigers are extremely rare, due to poaching and use in traditional medicine.  Do unusually-coloerd morphs appear on occasion?  Perhaps, but there certainly isn't a population -- and tigers are so infrequently seen that we may never know for sure.

Read more about the Maltese Tiger:
http://www.redorbit.com/education/reference_library/general-2/cryptozoology/1112993059/maltese-tiger/
http://io9.com/could-the-mythical-blue-tiger-actually-exist-1331164937
Image (public domain) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Maltese_Tiger.jpg

Post Revamp: Bergman's Bear

Most cryptids, no matter how many sightings they have, suffer a lack of physical evidence.  Bergman's Bear has the opposite problem.  It is mostly known from tangible remains -- a hide and skull examined in the 1920s.  This bear has never been reliably reported, and only sketchy accoutns testify its existence.  Supposedly, this creature lives in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, and resembles a grizzly in appearance.  The main differences are its size and the quality of its hair.

Bergman's Bear is named for Sten Bergman -- the Swedish zoologist who examined its remains decades ago.  He was instantly struck by the hide's unusual character.  First of all, its hair was black -- darker than that of a normal Russian brown bear.  The hair was also unusually short, and the pelt itself was massive.  Bergman was also shown the creature's outsized skull, and some of its footprints -- which were over fourteen inches long.  The naturalist believed he was dealing with a new subspecies.  Scientifically, it has been named "Ursus arctos piscator" -- but it has gone down in history as "Bergman's Bear."

What is this mysterious animal?  One theory, raised during a rare spurt of sightings, is that Bergman's Bear is a prehistoric relic called Arctodus.  But this ancient bear only lived in North America, and had long, thin legs.  Bergman's Bear sounds nothing like this -- in fact, a native name for the animal means "trousers pulled down."  Does that sound lanky to you?  A better theory is that Bergman was right -- and that his bear is a new brown bear subspecies.

That is, if the animal still exists.  Kamchatka is sparsely inhabited, and during the Cold War was inaccessible due to military testing.  At a glance, it seems an ideal cryptid hiding spot -- but the peninsula has not remained empty.  It is regularly patrolled by bear hunters, few of whom report giant short-haired animals.  Some say Bergman's Bear is extinct; were it present, it would surely be encountered.  Others argue the bear never existed.  Brown bears are variable in color, and some can appear black.  They can also grow to incredible sizes -- with Kamchatka bears (Ursus arctos beringianus) being some of the largest.  Was Bergman's Bear a simple misidentification?  Until more remains are found, we cannot be sure.

Read more about Bergman's Bear:
http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/godbear.php
http://www.examiner.com/article/cryptozoology-bergman-s-bear-of-the-kamchatka-peninsula-russia
http://www.unknownexplorers.com/bergmansbear.php
http://www.strangeark.com/bfr/historical/bille-mystery-bears.html
http://thelordgeekington.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/bergmans-hypersplitting/
Image (public domain, of a Kamchatka brown bear) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Brown-bear-in-spring.jpg

Post Revamp: the Barmanou

The Barmanou is a mysterious hominin of northwestern Pakistan.  Like many cryptids, it has been known to locals for centuries -- but has only recently been the subject of serious research.  The creature came to European knowledge during the 1900s, after a series of Spanish explorations in Pakistan.  These reports inspired, nearly a century later, a dedicated Barmanou-finding expedition.  Led by zoologist Jordi Magraner, it collected years' worth of evidence -- most of which was lost after Magraner's tragic murder.

The Barmanou belongs to the "wildman" subtype of crypto-hominins.  Unlike the Yeti and Sasquatch -- which resemble apes -- this creature is far more human-like.  It is large and hairy, like all mystery primates, but also evidently intelligent.  It is said to wear animal hides like clothes, and to kidnap human women with amorous intent.  This means that, if the Barmanou is real, it may be something close to our own species.  No ape recognizes humans as viable mates.

What could the Barmanou be?  If anything, it's likely a relict hominin.  We aren't the only species of human -- dozens evolved, then disappeared, during the past six million years.  Only a few of these species made it into Eurasia -- most notably the Neanderthals and Homo erectus.  It's been suggested that the Barmanou is one of these.  The Neanderthals are better candidate, as they were more intelligent and more closely related to our species.  Besides, they lived more recently, dying out only tens of thousands of years ago.

It's hard to believe that prehistoric hominins could be hiding in Pakistan.  All human species were social creatures; they'd have to live in groups, making concealment difficult.  But consider this -- the mountain ranges where the Barmanou live are among Earth's least explored peaks.  And the Barmanou live close to other reported cryptids.  This species' range is sandwiched between those of the more famous Yeti and Almas.  The Yeti, if anything, is an ape -- but the Almas sounds quite Neanderthal-like.

Read more about the Barmanou:
http://www.bigfootencounters.com/biology/jordi.htm
http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2010/08/barmanu-afghanistan-pakistan/
http://www.examiner.com/article/cryptozoology-the-man-of-the-forest-known-as-the-barmanou
http://www.unknownexplorers.com/barmanu.php
Image from http://whitengreen.com/imagenew/bigfootpakistan2.jpg

Post Revamp: the Arabhar

The Arabhar is a cryptid snake known for its ability to fly.  It reportedly lives in the Arabian Sea region, and is capable of traveling great distances through the air.  The mechanism for this creature's flight has not been reported -- I've seen it depicted with both wings and sails.  The former would make it capable of true flight; the latter would make it better suited to gliding.

Surprising as this may seem, the Arabhar is a fairly believable cryptid.  After all, there are already five species of "flying snake" known to science.  Found in the genus Chrysopelea, they are capable of climbing trees and gliding hundreds of feet through the air.  They do this by flattening their body to form a wing-like shape, then undulating back and forth for propulsion.

This gliding is not true flight.  Flying snakes lack wings, leaving them unable to surmount the force of gravity.  This means that they are incapable of increasing their altitude, and can only travel downwards.  Furthermore, they have little control over their direction, and can vary it only slightly in midair.  During "flight", these snakes are living javelins -- traveling only in the direction they were launched.

Could the Arabhar be a new "flying" snake?  Easily.  Multiple Chrysopelean species live in India and Sri Lanka -- exactly where the Arabhar is found.  The snake pictured here is one of them, and may well belong to this cryptid's genus.  This theory does an excellent job of explaining the Arabhar -- but it's not the only one out there.  With great hesitation, I now present to you a second option.  It's highly improbable, especially because the Chrysopelean theory is so strong.  But nothing is impossible, especially in cryptozoology, and so I'm forced to ask... could the Arabhar actually have wings?

Flight has independently evolved several times.  Birds, bats and insects all developed this feature quite separately -- so perhaps a snake could too.  But how would such a flight mechanism work?  Birds and bats use modified forelimbs as wings -- but snakes have no limbs at all.  The most popular theory is inspired by the "flying dragon" -- lizard that "flies" using flaps of skin.  These skin-flaps are attached to long, projecting ribs, which form a sort of sail.  When the dragon leaps out of a tree, it extends its "wings" and glides -- sometimes up to 200 feet.

Again, though, this is not true flight.  The flying dragon is a glider, just like the flying snakes -- which have a much more efficient and probable propulsion system.  There's only one piece of evidence that the Arabhar has wings -- and it comes from ancient Egypt.  There, legends told of flying snakes, capable of spitting deadly poison.  These creatures were portrayed with massive wings, and their images served as tomb decorations.  Were the Egyptians recording a real creature?  Most likely not, but who knows... perhaps they were witnesses to the Arabhar.

Read more about the Arabhar:
http://www.lorencoleman.com/top_cryptids.html
http://theunexplainedworld.tumblr.com/post/62113897864/arabhar-these-unconfirmed-flying-snakes-are
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/flying-snake/
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Draco_volans/
Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Chrysopelea_ornata.jpg (public domain)

The Basan

Legends from every continent mention the "Will-o'-the-Wisp".  This mysterious phenomenon is witnessed only at night, usually in forests and swamps.  It manifests as a flickering ball of light, often seen at a distance through the trees.  Travelers may mistake these lights for lanterns, following them off the past and getting lost in the woods.  In fact, they are not human-made at all -- but what are they?

Nowadays, we know that the answer is swamp gas -- ignited by natural processes.  Bioluminescent fungus may also produce the "Wisp" phenomenon.  But these explanations weren't available until the advent of modern science.  The world's mythologies, understandably, thus came up with other answers.  Some legends claim these lights are demons, trying to lure wanderers to their doom.  Other say they are ghosts -- or fairies, or monsters, or something else entirely.  But my favorite theory comes from Japan.  The "Will-o'-the-Wisp" is produced by a yokai, it's claimed.  And this yokai is a fire-breathing chicken.

Yes, you read that right.  I did mention that there were a lot of strange yokai out there -- this is one of them.  It's called the Basan, and by day it sleeps in the canopy of the forest.  At night, it emerges from its sleep, and lights the darkened sky with its glowing, fiery breath.  The Basan is not dangerous -- thankfully, its fire produces no heat, and is incapable of burning.  This chicken's serve only to illuminate -- as a weapon, they're absolutely useless.

The Basan's flames are often mistaken for those of other yokai.  In fact, various creatures of Japanese legend can produce wisp-like fire.  One is the kitsune -- a trickster fox, which can produce glowing lights called Kitsune-Bi.  Other phantom lights come from Hitodama -- human souls, wandering the earth before entering the afterlife.  These are interesting legends, and certainly worthy of attention, but not quite so interesting as a supernatural chicken.

http://yokai.com/basan/
http://matthewmeyer.net/blog/2009/10/25/a-yokai-a-day-basan/
Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/ShunsenBasan.jpg (public domain)

The Nopperabo

The Nopperabo is a common type of yokai.  These creatures are trickster spirits, seeking to scare but generally not to harm.  They are capable of perfectly impersonating any human -- transforming their face and voice to match their target.  Upon doing so, they will terrify their victim's loved ones, engaging them in conversation before revealing their true identities.  Generally, to frighten a victim, the imposter will wipe off its face -- revealing a blank, featureless one underneath.  This is the true appearance of a Nopperabo.

A typical Nopperabo story goes like this.  A man is taking a nighttime walk, and sees a young woman crying by the side of the road.  Her face is buried in her hands, and the man goes over to comfort her.  When he asks if she is alright, she lifts her head to look at him --revealing the blank countenance of a Nopperabo.  Terrified, the man flees down the road.  As he continues along, he encounters a food vendor , with whom he shares his story.  At first, the vendor seems sympathetic -- until he, too, reveals his blank face.

The man loses his wits entirely at this point, and flees all the way home.  Shaking with fear, he arrives at his house, and nearly collapses from exhaustion.  Concerned, his wife asks what had happened and frightened him so badly.  The man relates his tale, explaining his encounters with the faceless girl and the Nopperabo at the food stand.  His wife comforts him, telling him that yokai aren't real, and that he must have been hallucinating.  The man, relieved, begins to convince himself that his wife is right.  He looks up to thank her for her advice... and sees the smooth, white features of a Nopperabo.

Nopperabo are sometimes referred to as "Mujina" -- a word meaning "badger".  In Japanese folklore, badgers are one of many animals to which supernatural powers are attributed.  Badgers, it is said, are capable of changing their shapes -- and transforming into a faceless Nopperabo.  This is a source of much confusion; Nopperabos are imposters who may be impersonated themselves.

Read more about the Nopperabo:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071231182409/http://www.geocities.com/area51/hollow/6166/faceless.html
http://matthewmeyer.net/blog/2009/10/23/a-yokai-a-day-noppera-bo/
http://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/noppera-bo-the-faceless-ghost
Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Ryoi_Nopperabo.jpg/220px-Ryoi_Nopperabo.jpg (public domain)

The Namazu

As of today, BeastPedia is adding a new category.  Meet the yokai, mysterious beasts of Japanese folklore!  These creatures are an incredibly diverse bunch.  Some yokai are ghosts, some are monsters, some are demons, and many are too strange to classify.  In no other mythology will you see an ox-headed spider or an animated teacup.  Believe me, I know.  Excited to read about some yokai?  You should be -- read on, and prepare to meet the Namazu.  It's one heck of a fish story.

Mythology is rife with giant fish, and it's hard to say which is most impressive.  The Greek Aspidochelone was the size of an island -- and was often mistaken for one.  The Bible presents a fish who swallowed a prophet, and Arabian legend gives us Bahamut.  This piscine Atlas was so large that the world rested on its back.  Still, in my opinion, none of these can rival the Namazu.  This catfish was so large, and so dangerous, that it had to be restrained by a god.

The Namazu spent most of its time buried underground.  There a vigilant deity held it in place, preventing it from ever breaking loose.  When the god's concentration slipped, the Namazu thrashed around -- causing the earthquakes that ravaged Japan.  This beast was natural disaster personified.

In 1855, the Namazu went from yokai to national symbol.  After a devastating earthquake leveled Edo, the catfish appeared in a number of woodblock prints.  These prints utilized the Namazu as a symbol of the quake, for reasons ranging from religious to satirical.  On one end of spectrum, people began to venerate the Namazu.  They saw it as a force of cleansing destruction, wiping out the corrupt old order and replacing it with something new.  Others used Namazu prints as a sort of "political cartoon."  They mocked earthquake profiteers (such as carpenters, who built new buildings) by depicting them as catfish worshippers.

The image of the Namazu is still commonplace in Japan.  This yokai lends its likeness to an earthquake-causing Pokemon, and is the logo of an earthquake warning system.  The Namazu has transcended its mythological roots, and is now an icon of popular culture.

Read more about the Namazu:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2012/03/10/namazu-the-earthshaker/
http://pinktentacle.com/2011/04/namazu-e-earthquake-catfish-prints/
http://historyofgeology.fieldofscience.com/2011/01/namazu-earthshaker.html
Image (public domain) from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LaqF-3zoRrjFBVCLW3qdCWSQHThYbfUIIdEY57VDh8I1jyel6tCuBgSS6gPjS2ae4u8lKzONMXvYzywM8P_SF27UQMLIJgQO8TRGTZWRu5yfHzbEt6bR_q-cENTuQSMP_8CcR9ssoa3a/s1600/Namazu_Kashima.jpg

Post Revamp: the Mngwa

Recently, I've been on a streak of African crypto-revamps.  For now, this will be my last post in that series; you'll get something very different tomorrow!  But today, I bring you the Mngwa -- a rare man-eating cryptid like the Nandi Bear.  Like many African cryptids, this monster is an enormous cat.  Its size is variable in description -- some say it's smaller than a donkey; others say it's larger than a lion.  But all sources agree on this:  the Mngwa has striped grey fur, and it's extremely deadly.

Sightings of the Mngwa date back 900 years -- it appears in African folklore, where it's described alongside the leopard and the lion.  Clearly, the native tribes view it as a distinct species; something unlike any other cat.  It certainly doesn't sound like any species we know of.  Lions have manes, and are never grey in color.  Cheetahs are tiny compared to the mngwa.  Leopards are spotted, not striped -- and again, they're not grey.  If the Mngwa exists, it may be a completely unique animal.

That is, if it exists at all.  Many believe it doesn't, and that this cryptid is completely folkloric.  One such skeptic was William Hichens, a British magistrate in colonial Tanzania.  He first heard stories of the Mngwa in the 1920s -- and paid them no heed whatsoever.  Until, that is, several citizens of his town were reportedly slaughtered by the beast.  One of their corpses was clutching a grey tuft of hair -- confirmed by scientists to belong to a cat.

Do we have any good theories about the Mngwa's identity?  Unfortunately, no.  Among the big cats, our best suspect is the leopard -- which has pawprints of similar shape.  Bernard Heuvelmans, the father of cryptozoology, proposed that the Mngwa was a giant relative of the African golden cat.  This is an odd theory, as that species is very small -- but it would explain quite a lot.  For one thing, the Mngwa is said to purr instead of roaring.  For another, golden cats can actually be gray in color.  Perhaps Heuvelmans was right -- the feared Mngwa's only relative may be tabby-sized.

Read more about the Mngwa:
http://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2009/09/mngwalegendary-big-cat-of-tanzania.html
http://www.unknownexplorers.com/mngwa.php
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://thecryptozoologist.webs.com/apps/blog/show/14850761-the-mngwa-terror-of-the-coastlands
Image from http://criptozoologia.webmisterio.com/images/mngwa-leyenda-animal.jpg

Post Revamp: the Nandi Bear

The Mokele-Mbembe is Africa's most famous cryptid.  But surely the most infamous is the Nandi Bear.  By definition, cryptids are mysterious creatures -- but for the most part, they're not particularly deadly.  The Nandi Bear is an exception, known for its reported habit of eating human brains.  This creature dwells in eastern Africa, and tends to hunt at night.  It is large, slightly smaller than a bear or lion, and lacks a long tail.  It has a bearlike snout, a shuffling gait, and longer front legs than hindlimbs.  It is said to be a climber of trees, and is much feared by native Kenyans.  Due to superstition, some will not speak of it; they view it as a sort of boogeyman.

The Nandi Bear's identity is the subject of fierce speculation.  But contrary to what its name implies, the creature is probably not a bear.  Only one modern bear species lived in Africa -- the Atlas Bear, now extinct for 120 years.  The Nandi Bear could be a relic population, but this doesn't seem probable.  The Atlas bear never lived in eastern Africa, and the migration of this species across the Sahara is unlikely.  Besides, small bears like this one aren't known to attack humans.

Another popular candidate is the chalicothere -- a prehistoric mammal that shared the Nandi Bear's claws and sloped back.  Chalicotheres did live in East Africa, but they went extinct 800,000 years ago.  More importantly, all of them were herbivores, and used their claws to strip vegetation from trees.  The idea of a brain-eating chalicothere is honestly preposterous.

Somewhat more likely is a giant baboon.  Baboons have sloped backs, long fangs, and aggressive temperaments.  They've been known to attack humans before, and on occassion they will eat meat.  In prehistoric times, gigantic variants did exist, and these reached the size of the Nandi Bear.  But all baboons live in packs, while the Nandi Bear is solitary -- and unlike the cryptid, baboons are diurnal.

And so we come to our final candidate, and by far the most likely -- a hyena.  Hyenas are deadly predators, and an excellent phyiscal match for the Nandi Bear.  They have powerful jaws, short snouts and a sloping back.  Their gait resembles the cryptid's, and so do their habits -- hyenas often hunt at night, and occasionally attack humans.  What's more, a prehistoric species called the short-faced hyena is about the Nandi Bear's size.  It was a known predator of our ancestors -- in fact, one hominin fossil contains bitemarks that match its teeth.  Where did the hyena bite its poor victim?  Right on the skull, like a Nandi Bear.

Now, the hyena theory isn't perfect.  Hyenas tend to go for the faces of human victims, not the braincases.  What's more, the people of Kenya know a hyena when they see one -- and typically, they call the Nandi Bear a primate.  But no other candidate is very likely, leaving the short-faced hyena as our best bet.  Has this species been hiding in Africa for half a million years?

Read more about the Nandi Bear:
http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/nandi_bear.php
http://www.unknownexplorers.com/nandibear.php
http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/09/nandi-bears-and-death-birds-my-top-ten.html
http://www.karlshuker.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/do-black-ratels-and-orange-hyaenas.html
Image (of short-faced hyena) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Short-faced_hyena1.JPG

Post Revamp: the Marozi

Whether the Marozi exists is hardly a question.  This mysterious cat, also called a "spotted lion," has been sighted in Africa for more than a century.  Scientists have obtained Marozi dung, Marozi footprints, Marozi bones and even a Marozi skin.  The creature has been measured, studied, and even preserved in a museum.  There's little doubt that this cryptid is out there -- the real question is what it is.

Physically, the Marozi resembles an adolescent lion.  It's slightly smaller than an adult lion would be, and tends to lack a mane.  Most notably, however, it is lightly spotted like a leopard.  Spotting is often observed in young lions -- but this trait fades with age.  Only cubs have spots as prominent as the Marozi's.  There are various theories about the identity of these spotted cats.  Some belive they are a new lion subspecies, adapted for life in the mountains.  Others say they are lion/leopard hybrids, or simply a mutant population like the King Cheetahs.

The hybrid hypothesis is fairly unlikely.  In the wild, lions and leopards are competitors -- they hunt the same prey, and generally consider each other to be enemies.  In captivity, the two species have been bred, but this has never been known to occur in nature.  Furthermore, lion/leopard hybrids don't look much like the Marozi.  They still often have manes, and their spots are more visible than a Marozi's should be.  Is it possible that an occasional lion and leopard could interbreed in the wild?  Yes.  But this would never happen often enough to establish a population.

The mutation and subspecies theories are more likely.  There are at least five lion subspecies -- another one isn't hard to imagine.  And since lions are not overly common, it's possible that genetic drift could produce a different-looking group.  A mutation, allowing spots to persist into adulthood, could occur in a single individual.  If that individual had many offspring, and was part of a small population, its mutant coloration could spread through the entire group.  Sooner or later, this mystery will be solved -- there's already Marozi DNA in London's Natural History Museum.  All we need now is a motivated scientist and a simple genetic test.  Soon the Marozi will be cryptid no more.

Read more about the Marozi:
http://www.newanimal.org/marozi.htm
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/marozi.html
http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/lions-spotted.htm
Image (of Marozi skin) from http://i12.servimg.com/u/f12/09/04/81/20/marozi10.jpg

Why BeastPedia?

It's been about a month since I resumed posting on this blog.  Since then, I've updated about forty times -- something I never thought would happen.  At first, I thought every day would be the day I'd quit -- the day my schoolwork took priority, or the day I got bored, or the day I just forgot.  I didn't trust myself to stick to this project -- which I honestly began as a whim, during a burst of sentimentality.

But I haven't stopped, and I don't plan on stopping, and I'm enjoying myself more than I ever thought I would.  So I guess it's time to address a vital question:  what's the point of BeastPedia?  Does it have a real purpose?  Is it just a vanity?  Does the world need another crypid blog?  After much soul-searching (okay, it was 20 minutes in the shower) I believe I've come up with some answers.  And so without further ado, behold:  my justification for why BeastPedia exists!

Personal Reasons:

1. My ego.  I'm not gonna lie -- the fact that people read this blog has something to do with why I write it.  About thirty of you log on every day -- twenty-eight, if you don't include my mom and girlfriend!  Thinking about that makes me want to write; makes me want to put more information out there for people who are interested.  It's flattering to have your voice heard, and it encourages you to keep speaking!
2. My penance for crappy posts.  The entries I wrote five years ago, when I first started this blog, were really not very good.  I was a high-school freshman, so I think I can be forgiven -- but I don't like the idea of people using my poor-quality stuff as a source.  I think this blog can be a valuable resource (more on that later), but only if I patch up my sloppy youthful writings.
3. It helps me learn.  A good bit of research goes into each article I write -- my posts only include a fraction of the stuff I read.  So while I create posts for this blog, I'm teaching myself ever more about cryptozoology.  Updating BeastPedia is a constructive way to study a subject I love.

Legitimate Reasons:

1. It strikes a middle ground.  I find that a lot of cryptid resoures are either extremely shallow or extremely detailed.  The former doesn't tell you much; the latter drowns you with information.  My goal isn't to be an exhaustive resource -- it's to provide a solid foundation; to give you a good summary of each cryptid I describe.  If you want to read more, I always give you the links!  BeastPedia is a starting point from which your knowledge can expand.
2. It's firmly rational.  Cryptozoology is, or should be, a scientific discipline.  I wince when I see cryptids on paranormal sites; these are possibly-real animals which should be studied as such.  On BeastPedia, I try to give you a logical analysis of each beast.  I give plausible explanations for outlandish monsters, and explain which are most likely.  Everything I write is based in reason and probability -- and I try, at all times, to promote a zoological viewing of cryptids.
3. It fills notable gaps.  Entire books have been written about some cryptids -- but others are scarcely known.  Just today I wrote about the Lau, about which all of our knowledge can be crammed into a paragraph.  Even when there's little information, BeastPedia uses science to expand upon it -- providing context, scientific discussion, and a theoretical framework with which to analyze the beast.  Obviously, I can't add much to discussions about Bigfoot -- but when it comes to the Lau or the Canvey Island Monster, maybe I can.

In essence, my mission statement is this:  I want BeastPedia to be like the encyclopedias after which it's named.  I don't want it to be exhaustive or in-depth, but I want it to be accurate.  I want it to give you the basics -- clearly, simply and rationally.  It may not be the last site you turn to -- but I want it to be the first.

That's definitely an overambitious goal -- especially for a blog celebrating its first month.  And who knows, maybe I won't keep posting forever.  Honestly, I'm a busy person -- I write all my articles on the weekends, posting them one by one during the school-week.  Someday I may even lack the time for that.  For now, though, I'm going to keep writing.  I'm going to make BeastPedia the best blog I can, and I hope my faithful thirty viewers keep enjoying it.  Thanks for reading!

Post Revamp: the Lau

High-profile cryptids get a lot of attention.  There are dozens of Bigfoot books, and the internet is full of Nessie info.  But there are other beasts -- more obscure ones -- about which virtually nothing has been written.  Try looking up the Lau and you'll see what I mean.  I spent half an hour reading about this cryptid -- or trying to.  What I learned can be summed up in a sentence:  it's a thirty-foot Ugandan catfish. 

A lesser crypto-blogger might give up in exasperation.  But lack of information won't stop me!  This post will be an exercise in creativity -- let’s see how far we can get with the facts we have.  Personally, my hopes are high.  Location, size and possible identity can tell us quite a lot – especially when it comes to cryptids.

Let’s start with some geography.  The Lau is said to live in Uganda – in particular, in its larger lakes.  This does, in fact, sound fairly plausible.  Catfish are found on every continent except Australia, and they tend to live in fresh water.  The largest species (including, one would imagine, the Lau) favor deep lakes and slow-flowing rivers.  Uganda has plenty of these, and furthermore, its lakes would provide plenty of food for a monster fish.  There are hundreds of catfish species, and their diets are highly variable.  Some eat worms, some eat fish, some eat insects – and some even snatch waterbirds.  The diverse fauna of Uganda’s lakes would be a catfish buffet.

A new catfish in Africa would not be very surprising.  It’s the Lau’s size that makes it unusual.  How realistic is a 30-foot fish?  Not very, but not as unlikely as you’d think.  The world’s biggest fish is the whale shark, which can grow to 42 feet at the largest.  No catfish comes close to that size – but some of them can get very large.  The Mekong catfish averages nine feet in length – and the Wels catfish can reach up to fourteen. 

Africa’s longest catfish is not so large.  It’s called the Vundu, and the biggest specimens are about five feet long.  That’s a far cry from thirty.  Still, it's not too unreasonable to imagine a bigger species out there.  Large catfish dwell in the deeper parts of lakes -- they might not be easily accessible to anglers.  And the Lau's size may also be exaggerated.  Catfish are very strong; some have been known to pull humans underwater.  This often leads to an overestimation of their size.  The thirty-foot estimate is hard to believe, but a giant Ugandan catfish is certainly posisble.

Read more about catfish (you're not gonna find much about the Lau):

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/catfish/catfish.htm

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/OrdersSummary.php?order=Siluriformes

http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Siluriformes&contgroup=Ostariophysi

Image (of Jeremy Wade from "River Monsters" with a Wels catfish) from http://img.poptower.com/pic-9106/jeremy-wade.jpg?d=600

Post Revamp: the Buffalo Lion

In 1898, Britain was the world's great superpower.  India, Canada and much of Africa remained under its control -- and would not achieve independence for decades.  It was thus an Englishman, John Patterson, who oversaw the bridging of the Tsavo.  This Kenyan river was a major barrier to transportation -- in particular, to the construction of railroads.  The Uganda Railway Committee thus commissioned Patterson to create a bridge, across which the tracks would run.  He agreed, hiring a crew of Indian and African laborers.  Nine months later, when they finished the project, thirty-five of them would be dead.

As soon as construction commenced, workers began to die.  In the middle of the night, they would be slaughtered one by one -- by lions, which snuck into the camp and attacked them in their tents.  Lions are dangerous predators, and are certainly known to attack humans.  But for the most part, they aren't maneaters.  The killers of Tsavo were an exception.  Night after night they would return, eventually forcing construction to a halt.  The workers were terrified, and threatened to abandon the project.  Patterson was forced to take action, and set out to hunt the lions.

His attempts to trap the beasts failed, but Patterson (an experienced tiger-hunter) was not discouraged.  Eventually, he managed to fatally shoot the first lion -- and took down the second three weeks later.  Patterson later wrote a book about his adventures, claiming that the maneaters had killed 135 workers.  Official records indicate a much smaller death toll (28) -- but records were not kept of native Africans.  More recent estimates, based on studies of the lions' remains, indicate that they consumed thirty-five men.  But this fails to count those who were killed and not eaten.

It's been over a century since the slaying of the Tsavo lions -- but their story remains of cryptozoological interest.  Some have suggested that these attacks were not isolated.  The lions of Tsavo, they say, were a new kind of feline -- one with a taste for human flesh.  These "Buffalo Lions," it is said, have no manes and are unusually vicious.  Supposedly, they are genetically distinct from other big cats, and may represent a new subspecies.

These claims are certainly plausible, and are based on two lines of evidence.  First of all, East African lions do lack manes -- at least in many cases.  Second of all, lions from this region do have a maneating reputation.  Tsavo lions do appear to be distinct.  But are these distinctions the result of genetic differences, or are they caused by environmental factors?  Evidence seems to lean towards the latter argument.  Studies have shown that lions grow longer manes in cooler climates.  Large manes greatly increase heat retention -- which is helpful in cold places, but harmful in warm ones.  Kenya is brutally hot -- we should expect its lions to be less hairy.

The man-eating behavior of Tsavo lions may also be environmental.  In 1898, the year of the attacks, disease killed off massive numbers of African buffalo.  These animals were normally the lions' main food source -- without them they likely turned to other prey.  Furthermore, they may have been conditioned to eat human flesh.  Smallpox-slain workers in Kenya were often left unburied -- so that people wouldn't have to handle their infectious corpses.  The lions may have eaten these bodies, and come to think of humans as a food source.

A final piece of evidence is this -- we have reason to believe that man-eating is cultural.  Man-eating lions have been observed passing down the behavior, just as humans would pass down a custom or tradition.  They teach their offspring to act a certain way, and the offspring follow their parents' lead.  When one lion learns to eat human meat, it teaches its young to do the same -- raising a new generation of killers.  Man-eating lions are real, but they may not be a new species.  They're more comparable to a cultural group, and a very dangerous one at that.

Read more about man-eating lions:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-most-ferocious-man-eating-lions-2577288/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0211_030211_tsavolions.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/mammals/man-eating-lion1.htm
Image (of the Tsavo lions, stuffed after their deaths) from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Lionsoftsavo2008.jpg

Post Revamp: the Bili Ape

Today I'm adding a new tag to BeastPedia -- "Confirmed."  As you'd imagine, it refers to former cryptids whose existence has been definitively proven.  The first such animal to feature on my blog is the Bili Ape -- discovered in 2003 after years of rumors.  These rumors spoke of a new primate species, living alongside the chimpanzees of the Congo.  They were said to resemble a cross between chimps and gorillas -- much larger than a chimp, with a gorilla-like sagittal keel and ground-dwelling habits.  "Bili Apes," as they are called, were believed to be highly aggressive, and capable of walking upright.

In 1996, conserationist Karl Ammann documented the first physical evidence for this cryptid.  While exploring the Congo, he found massive piles of dung -- three times the size of a chimpanzee's.  He also found apelike footprints longer than those of a gorilla, and most significantly of all, an unusual skull.  This skull was somewhat larger than a chimp's in size -- and it had the sagittal crest of a gorilla.  More evidence soon followed, and by the early 2000s the Bili Ape had been confirmed.  The beast had "graduated" from cryptid status -- something which happens all too infrequently.

So were the Bili Ape legends accurate?  In most cases, yes.  The Bili Ape is a chimpanzee, as scientific study has proven.  But it's certainly a distinct population, and it may even be a new species.  On average, it's much larger than a standard chimp -- and its feet are bigger than a gorilla's.  Bili Apes do nest on the ground, and they can walk upright -- but no longer than your average chimp, which can do the same for short distances.  It's not particularly aggressive, though like all chimps it is predatory.  And some male specimens do have a sagittal keel.

There are many unanswered questions about the Bili Ape.  Most notably, its taxonomic status is still unclear -- is it a population, species or subspecies?  Another major question concerns its unusual behavior.  What caused a group of chimpanzees to start acting like gorillas?  The good news is this -- now that science has acknowledged the Bili Ape, new research is sure to follow.  All it takes is a couple good pieces of evidence; once these are obtained, the floodgates of knowledge burst open.  May all other cryptids share the Bili Ape's fortune!

Read more about the Bili Ape:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0414_030314_strangeape.html
http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-bili-bondo-apes-unmasking-congos.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-468644/From-myth-reality--meet-chimps-eat-lions.html
http://www.karlammann.com/bili.php#.UvEB6PldWSo

The Flatwoods Monster

People have an irritating tendency to associate cryptids with aliens.  Cryptozoology, as the name implies, focuses on unknown (but plausible) animals.  Its hypotheses should thus be naturalistic in origin.  "The Yeti evolved from Gigantopithecus" is a valid theory.  "Bigfoot comes from outer space" is not.  In general, the "extraterrestrial explanation" is just poor science -- it may be exciting, but there's almost always a better answer.

I say "almost " because there's an exception to every rule.  One of those exceptions may be the Flatwoods Monster.  In September 1952, three Virginian schoolboys saw a glowing object shoot through the night.  It came to rest on a nearby farm, upon which two of the boys immediately rushed to tell their mother.  Along with three other locals, she went to investigate, and to see what had fallen from the sky.

Navigating by flashlight, the party of four traveled through the woods.  Eventually, they reached the top of a hill -- where they found a "pulsating ball of fire".  Even more startlingly, they saw a monstrous creature gliding towards them.  It was ten feet tall, with a red face and a spade-shaped hood.  The creature had small, talonlike arms and hissed as it glided across the ground, its feet invisible between a green skirtlike garment.  Terrified, the witnesses fled down the hill, and reported their experience.

In the wake of the encounter, all the witnesses immediately became ill.  They reported a chemical mist they had smelled on the hilltop, something to which they attributed their sickness.  The doctor who examined them, evidently, had seen their symptoms before -- in victims of mustard-gas attacks.  On top of their physical problems, the Flatwoods group were all traumatized.  They reported persistent nightmares, and one was hospitalized for weeks.

It's easy to see why people call this monster an alien.  This ten-foot, spade-hooded being sounds like nothing on earth -- and it appeared alongside a fiery UFO.  In this case, extraterrestrial explanations seem to be justified.  But of course, there are always alternative theories.  Two in particular come to mind -- and they aren't mutually exclusive.  The first is that the Flatwoods witnesses merely saw a barn owl.  Before you scoff, consider this:  these owls have heart-shape faces, hiss while they fly, and often perch ten feet off the ground.  When startled, it would be easy to mistake such a bird for a monster -- especially in poor lighting.

Another theory is mass hysteria.  1952 was dubbed "The Year of the Flying Saucers" -- dozens of sightings were reported across America, and UFOs were on everybody's mind.  A meteor was seen over Virginia on the same night that the monster appeared.  Perhaps the three Virginian boys saw it, and reported it to their mother.  Upon hearing of a fiery object in the sky, she and the other witnesses jumped to conclusions -- they expected to find a spaceship, and perhaps even an alien, where the fireball had landed.

Of course, this would have made them nervous and jumpy.  You would be, too, if you were searching the woods by flashlight for a UFO!  So when they reached the top of the hill, it would have been easy for the witnesses to panic.  Perhaps they did see a barn owl, and in their paranoid state mistook it for a monster.  And what of the toxic fumes?  There may have been none at all.  Hysteria, Wikipedia notes, produces symptoms very similar to mustard gas.  The Flatwoods quartet could have been suffering from either.

There are a number of details in the Flatwoods case that are hard to explain away.  No owl has this monster's coloration, and it's hard to hallucinate a giant fireball.  I'm not convinced this cryptid was an alien -- but the idea isn't ludicrous.  The Flatwoods Monster has been sighted only once, so we may never determine its identity.  But for once, I'm willing to entertain a less natural explanation.

Read more about the Flatwoods Monster:
http://www.ufocasebook.com/Flatwoods.html
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case535.htm
Image from http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/pictures/FlatwoodsMonster.jpg

The Altamaha-ha

"Altie," as it's sometimes called, is a cryptid from southeastern Georgia.  First described in Native American legend, the beast has been reported for centuries -- mostly from streams near the Altamaha River.  In many ways, Altie resembles a typical lake monster.  It has a long neck, a gray hide, and a size of some 20 feet.  But this cryptid also has some less common features -- including a long, crocodilian and a dolphinlike swimming motion.  This final trait is rather striking.  All fish and reptiles propel themselves with side-to-side movements of their tails; only mammals move their flukes up and down in the water.

Is the Altamaha-ha a mammal?  And if so, what kind?  No seals and dolphins can be found in inland North America; neither of these seems a good possibility.  Perhaps this beast is a manatee -- which does, in fact, have a gray hide, and which swims in the reported manner.  Manatees can live in fresh water, unlike most other aquatic mammals, and they are present in the nearby state of Florida.

Of course, there are multiple problems with the manatee theory.  For one, Manatees are far smaller than the Altamaha-ha.  For another, they are slow and stout -- unlike this long, lithe cryptid.  Furthermore, their heads are the furthest thing from crocodilian, and they are hard to mistake for any other animal.  A more likely idea is that the Altamaha-ha is some sort of giant eel or gar.  Neither of these fish swims in a mammalian manner, but otherwise they seem to be good candidates.  Both are serpentlike and slender, both can live in fresh water, both grow to a large size and both have reptilian-looking faces.

The alligator gar is a particularly likely prospect.  These prehistoric-looking fish can grow to ten feet, and are named for their reptilian appearance.  They live in Georgia's lakes, and are thin enough to appear snakelike.  Admittedly, they swim like any other fish -- and they don't match Altie's reported length.  But if the monster is a known species, it's probably this one.  If not, who knows what it might be?  A large inland dolphin?  Cetaceans do have alligator-like teeth.  A monster eel?  They're capable of undulating in many different directions.  There's only one way to find out -- obtaining more evidence and solving the mystery.

Read more about the Altamaha-ha:
http://clatl.com/atlanta/stalking-altie-does-georgia-have-its-own-loch-ness-monster/Content?oid=3283993
http://rhettdavisboy.angelfire.com/sighting.htm
http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/07/altamaha-ha.html
Image from http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140104212938/cryptidz/images/9/9b/Altie.jpg

The Megalodon

August 4th had arrived, and I was ready.  Snack food?  Check.  Phone on silent?  Check.  Garish neon shark t-shirt?  Check.  It was time for the greatest holiday of the year.  It was time for Shark Week.

Discovery's annual shark-fest is a highlight of my summer.  The slow-motion seal attacks... the overdramatic narration... I love it all.  Yes, the programming is always the same, but that doesn't bother me.  "Ten Deadliest Sharks" is an old friend -- and how could I get tired of "Air Jaws?"  Shark Week's uniformity makes it into a ritual; a familiar celebration of real-life monsters.  That's why I was surprised when I tuned in this year -- the first show was brand-new.  Its title?  "Megalodon:  the Monster Shark Lives."

Now, as a paleontology fan, I've long known of Megalodon.  This fifty-foot shark was a prehistoric leviathan -- it fed on whales, and made the great white look like a minnow.  Megalodon was at the top of the food chain.  Its hand-sized teeth could dismember any prey, and pretty much nothing could take it down.  So why did it go extinct?  The answer seems to be climate change.  Just over a million years ago, waters around the globe cooled substantially.  This was caused by the Isthmus of Panama, which changed the ocean's currents when it formed.  Megalodon was used to warmer seas -- without them, it could not survive.

But here was a Discovery Channel special saying otherwise.  As a cryptid fan, this was tremendously exciting.  The continued existence of a prehistoric shark?  Being suggested by a network like Discovery?  I was ecstatic... at least, until I started watching.  Right from the start, something just seemed off.  "Megalodon" kept showing photos and videos of modern-day Megalodons.  But if such good evidence existed, why hadn't I seen it before?  I keep very up-to-date on my cryptozoology -- believe me, if there were reputable Megalodon sightings, I'd have heard of them.

It became apparent, very quickly, that the "documentary" and all of its evidence were fake.  In a ploy to boost ratings, Discovery Channel had completely fabricated the program.  Worse yet, they had included only the feeblest of disclaimers -- saying the film's events were "dramatized" despite their complete forgery.  The public was outraged, and Discovery faced immediate backlash for the special.  Personally, I hadn't been fooled, but that's because I follow cryptozoology.  A lot of people were confused by "Megalodon," and many believed it until informed of the hoax.

So let me just make this clear:  yes, Megalodon is a cryptid.  But that Discovery Channel faux-umentary is not evidence for it.  What's more, the evidence that does exist is not good.  People suggest that a giant shark could survive in the deep waters of the Mariana trench.  But ocean trenches are freezing -- and since cold water drove Megalodon to extinction, it could never survive there.  Furthermore, this was a shallow-water predator -- if it still survived, it would be frequently seen.  The moral of this story, folks, is this -- don't trust everything you see on TV.  Shows like "Megalodon" only undermine cryptozoology, making our field look like shallow forgery.

Read more about Megalodon:
http://cryptid.hubpages.com/hub/Is-the-Megalodon-Shark-Still-Alive
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130807-discovery-megalodon-shark-week-great-white-sharks-animals/
Image from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihg-I1_1lzWyUXAjHhJqx0N-C-ZTrg2oX5nyo83ReSRss26TICz1_ubG5LTxfvyA24PHdVREeL66TqE_qWMMNQX3ZUegeVDWQTwrIDSbF9PPvhkmfYYNbBViN4M1iHdQ65wqHifLc1cBvO/s1600/prehistoric+4.jpg