tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post7590775962087495195..comments2024-03-22T21:58:18.933+00:00Comments on ShukerNature: DO BLACK RATELS AND ORANGE HYAENAS MAKETH THE NANDI BEAR?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15628598508836601012noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-48024085397958209982012-07-18T17:47:05.971+01:002012-07-18T17:47:05.971+01:00There were brown bears in the Atlas Mountains.
P...There were brown bears in the Atlas Mountains. <br /><br />Perhaps they were once more widespread. They would have had to have been found in North Africa at one time, for the Atlas subspecies is isolated from those of the Middle East.<br /><br />There are also wolves, as in the Canis lupus species or species complex, in North and East Africa. At one time, they were considered large, wolf-like golden jackals, but a recent study revealed they were actually from a primitive offshoot of the Canis lupus lineage.<br /><br />Maybe the stories of African bears survived in the folklore of the region.<br /><br />I also have been intrigued by Lydekker's ratel species. I wonder if any genetic studies have been performed on ratel populations to see if any cryptic species exist.Retrievermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15780519136583108632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-8813082002206668582012-01-05T01:11:36.937+00:002012-01-05T01:11:36.937+00:00I don't think that a high percentage of Nandi ...I don't think that a high percentage of Nandi bear sightings would feature ratels, but certainly a few are highly suggestive of such a beast. In reality, the Nandi bear is unquestionably a composite, little more than an umbrella term for sightings of several quite different beasts all labelled as one, such as oddly-coloured/marked hyaenas, large black ratels, very large baboons, and possibly even one or two prehistoric survivors, such as the giant short-faced hyaena and/or a living chalicothere.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-56755885647202277582012-01-05T01:08:08.639+00:002012-01-05T01:08:08.639+00:00A ratel moves differently than a bear, and likes t...A ratel moves differently than a bear, and likes to keep its tail high if aroused. Hard to think a high % of sightings would be from ratels.Matt Coefernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-27697243461803304372012-01-05T01:05:04.407+00:002012-01-05T01:05:04.407+00:00Yes, it was in Heuvelmans's On the Track of Un...Yes, it was in Heuvelmans's On the Track of Unknown Animals (1958), whose collection of Nandi bear accounts I enlarged upon in my own book, In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (1995), adding some reports that postdated or had not been included within Heuvelmans's book. Sadly, however, hardly any further reports have emerged since then. Does this mean that the Nandi bear is no longer being seen? If it was a genuine unknown species or even species (plural), perhaps it/they have now died out?Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-19799260144495908712012-01-05T00:24:36.309+00:002012-01-05T00:24:36.309+00:00I vaguely remember a story of an attack on a hut b...I vaguely remember a story of an attack on a hut by the Nandi bear I read about in one book (I'm guessing "On the Track") was elsewhere recounted as a hyena attack, maybe in "Man is the Prey," a fairly sensationalist old book of animal attacks, but this is from memory.Ian T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04419671917671908368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-56452813195940463102011-05-10T17:50:59.388+01:002011-05-10T17:50:59.388+01:00Hi Karl, Hi Readers!
I went ahead and posted on t...Hi Karl, Hi Readers!<br /><br />I went ahead and posted on the skull at:<br />http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/05/is-nandi-bear-actually-bear.html<br /><br />Sorry for the delay but I had other articles to post first, one of them being:<br />http://frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com/2011/05/doctor-shukers-leviathan.html<br /><br />And you are welcome to post comments if you wish. I'm only half the ogre that the Chemosit is.<br /><br />Best Wishes, Dale D.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-66933327202517558612011-05-09T22:18:38.912+01:002011-05-09T22:18:38.912+01:00Hi, could the "Malawi terror beast" be l...Hi, could the "Malawi terror beast" be linked to this strange hyena ? <br /><br />I may be wrong, but I can see the Kerit, Mngwa and the Nandi bear sharing the same habitat, they seem to have belonged to the same ecosystem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-15927424451283580552011-05-02T21:51:51.566+01:002011-05-02T21:51:51.566+01:00It is at the Frontiers of Zoology Yahoo group, tog...It is at the Frontiers of Zoology Yahoo group, together with a notice in the back messages I added from the originating site when I put the photo up. I'll try tracking the message down for you but the message search is most unreliable. Cheers!<br /><br />Best Wishes, Dale D.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-85542954010831346572011-05-02T19:35:37.259+01:002011-05-02T19:35:37.259+01:00Hi dale,
Your info re the putative bear skull fro...Hi dale,<br /><br />Your info re the putative bear skull from Kenya is most intriguing! Have you published anything re this anywhere? I'd certainly be interested in learning more about it, or at least seeing the photo.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />KarlDr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-18632647800666649292011-05-02T15:25:27.577+01:002011-05-02T15:25:27.577+01:00Ivan T. Sanderson remarked upon the all-black Itur...Ivan T. Sanderson remarked upon the all-black Ituri ratels in <em>Living Mammals of the World</em><br />Unfortunately, the term "Nandi Bear" is more of a wastebin Cryptid category than most in that nearly each individual report sounds different. However, Heuvelmans also correctly notes that the distinctive dark morph of ther ratel is known in several regions under specific names (eg, "Too'")<br /><br />The larger form of baboon is more problematic and it seems that the measurements alleged of it fall in or nearly in the range of unusually large male common baboons.Part of the reason for this is that the measurements are given ambiguously.<br /><br />No doubt unusual hyenas are also involved, and more than likel more than a single species of hyena. However when all is said and done, there is still some evidence for a type of <em> bear</em> in the region: and there is at least one purported skull of such a bear on record in Kenya. I have a photograph of the skull.<br /><br />Best Wishes, Dale D.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com