ORANG PENDEK - AN APE-HAIRED HOMINID?

Orang pendek, based upon eyewitness descriptions (Tim Morris)

A few days ago, Danish zoologist Lars Thomas announced on the CFZ bloggo the long-awaited outcome of his analyses of the putative orang pendek hairs collected by the CFZ team during its 2009 expedition to Sumatra. In summary, Lars revealed that whereas the hairs' DNA was most similar to that of humans (as demonstrated via DNA studies by his Copenhagen University colleague Tom Gilbert), their structure compared more closely with that of apes (specifically, the orang utans). These intriguing, unexpected findings have since elicited a degree of controversy, with some readers speculating that the CFZ team's findings are inconclusive, as the two sets of results appear to contradict one another and surely must be mutually exclusive, i.e. only one set can be correct, not both.

However, this may not be the case at all. On the contrary, I agree entirely with team member Richard Freeman, who has suggested that BOTH sets of results could be correct - IF the orang pendek is in fact a hominid with ape-structured hair (Tom Gilbert has categorically denied, incidentally, that there might have been contamination of ape DNA with human DNA or vice-versa). On first sight, such a suggestion might seem unlikely, but in reality I documented a very notable, fully-confirmed, yet equally surprising precedent to this situation many years ago.

Before I come to that, however, I'd like to quote here the concise consideration of possible orang pendek identities on offer that I wrote in an orang pendek article of mine that was published in Paranormal Magazine just a few months before the 2009 CFZ Sumatra Expedition set off, and which, in the light of that expedition's subsequent findings, remains relevant:

"If the orang pendek truly exists, what could it be? Always assuming that it is indeed something more than a misidentified familiar species already known to exist within the areas of Sumatra from which it is reported, such as a gibbon or the sun bear Helarctos malayanus (which can rear up onto its hind legs and can leave deceptively humanoid footprints), three principal contenders are on offer.

"The first of these is an unrecorded population of the Sumatran orang utan Pongo abelii. Although this species of great ape once existed throughout Sumatra, it has long since become extinct in all but this island’s northern extent, so any orang utans discovered in the orang pendek’s Kerinci Seblat heartland would be a major zoological find. Having said that, however, the orang pendek’s morphology, habitually bipedal mode of locomotion, and semi-carnivorous behaviour provide scant similarity with those of the orang utan, and Kerinci locals shown pictures of the latter ape by cryptozoologists readily differentiate between it and the mysterious orang pendek.

"Identity #2 for the orang pendek is a completely separate species of ape presently unrecorded by science, at least in the living state. This identity is favoured by Adam Davies among others. Suggestions include a giant gibbon or an unknown specialised species of orang utan, adapted for bipedal, terrestrial activity. Richard Freeman has opined that it may be a descendant of the Miocene ape Sivapithecus (also ancestral to the orang utan).

"The third, and, if correct, most exciting, revolutionary identity on offer for the orang pendek is a primitive species of hominid, separate from Homo sapiens. Traditionally, the most popular option within this category of identity is our own ancestral species Homo erectus, inspired at least in part by the famous ‘Java Man’ discoveries on Sumatra’s neighbouring island. However, a fundamental morphological flaw with any theory involving a surviving hominid has always been the much smaller size of the orang pendek – until, that is, the discovery of Flores Man was revealed in 2004. Coupled with reports of orang pendek-like entities called the ebu gogu said to have existed on Flores until very recently, some cryptozoologists (myself included) now look towards a living representative of Flores Man as a convincing explanation of the hitherto-bemusing riddle of the orang pendek’s identity."

And now, the precedent that I mentioned earlier (and first documented over 20 years ago!) for a creature whose DNA corresponds most closely to one taxon whereas its hair structure is more similar to a quite different taxon. I refer, of course, to the king cheetah. Genetically, it has been fully confirmed to be nothing more than a genetic freak variety of the normal spotted cheetah Acinonyx jubatus, and hence is referred to scientifically as Acinonyx jubatus var. rex. Its ornate coat patterning of stripes, swirls, and blotches is merely a phenotypic expression of a mutant allele of a gene homologous to the gene responsible for blotched tabby coat patterning in domestic cats.

Consequently, it came as a huge surprise when, as I documented in my very first book, Mystery Cats of the World (1989), the structure of its hair was examined:

"Hair samples which they [king cheetah researchers Paul and Lena Bottriell] had submitted to the Institute of Medical Research in Johannesburg revealed that the cuticular scale pattern of king cheetah guard hair compared much more closely with that of leopards than with that of spotted cheetahs."

Cheetahs and leopards not only belong to separate feline genera but also are only very distantly related. Suddenly, an unknown hominid whose hair structure is more similar to that of apes is not so unlikely after all, is it?

NIGHT-RAVENS - OR WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The terrifying nattravnen or night-raven of southern Swedish folklore (Richard Svensson)

What, if anything, is a mysterious winged creature known as the night-raven?

The answer to this question depends upon whether you are investigating it from an ornithological, cryptozoological, or zoomythological standpoint - because three entirely different creatures all share this same intriguing name.

In Norway, the nattravn ('night-raven') is simply a name given to the European nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus or goatsucker. End of story.

Conversely, the night-raven that appears in English literature is a much more diffuse subject. It was a certain William Shakespeare who penned the following tantalising lines: “The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time;” (3 King Henry VI, V.vi.47), and “I had as lief have heard the night-raven, come what plague could have come after it.” (Much Ado About Nothing, II.iii.81). Equally, in his The Faerie Queene (II.vii.23), Edmund Spenser wrote: “And after him the owles and night ravens flew, the hateful messengers of heavy tidings,”. And according to John Lyly in his play Sappho and Phaon (1584), the owl’s shriek and the night-raven’s croak were fatal. But what is the night-raven, this ill-omened bird that appears in such esteemed works of literature yet is singularly absent from any comparably notable ornithological tome?

Several identities have been offered, including the nightingale (even though its famously musical, uplifting song hardly corresponds to the night-raven’s hoarse croak of doom), the afore-mentioned European nightjar, the bittern, various species of owl, and even the night heron (curiously, the latter’s scientific name is indeed Nycticorax – ‘night crow’ – although it shares no resemblance with any corvine bird). However, as elucidated by Edward Armstrong in The Folklore of Birds (1958), it is most likely that the night-raven is of mythological rather than ornithological status, deriving from Norse legends in which the raven is identified with Odin who in turn became identified with the Wild Hunt tradition, featuring spectral hunters riding through the sky at night with a pack of howling dogs – which in literature are extensively associated with the night-raven.

Undoubtedly the most fascinating member of the night-raven trio, however, is the mythological nattravnen ('night-raven') of southern Sweden. I first learnt of this extraordinary entity from Swedish cryptozoological artist Richard Svensson, whose wonderful illustration of it heads my present blog. On 2 October 2008, in response to a request of mine for information concerning it, I received the following detailed account from Richard, who kindly permitted me to publish it if I so wished, and which I am therefore delighted to do here, for the very first time anywhere:

"Nattravnen is found in the folklore of Sweden’s two southernmost regions, Skåne and Blekinge. It’s not very well known in general Swedish folklore, and it’s not considered a mystery beast per se, like the Lake Storsjö monster, for example. It’s called Nattravnen in Skåne and Leharven in Blekinge. The name “Nattravnen” is said to mean “the night raven”. Leharven is a more dubious name. “Le” is an old word for bodily joint (and I’ll get back to why that’s a part of its name). Nattravnen is seldom described in detail, but it is a bird-like monster, sometimes said to be dark in colour, but without any feathers. It belongs to a special group of monsters called “grimmar”. Grimmar are supernatural animals that cannot be killed by any normal weapons. They are either ghosts of animals or beasts created by sorcery.

"Nattravnen flies around during the night and is said to devour any lonely wanderer on the roads. But the monster was also dangerous in another way. If you looked up just as it passed the moon or when its body was illuminated by the moon rays, you would be able to see the skeleton (and its joints) through the creature’s thin hide. This was a very bad thing and the sight would render you horrible pains. Mostly you would fall terribly ill and vomit blood or get blood in your urine for at least a week.

"There is an old story from Blekinge concerning Lake Halen, where in old times a flying monster lived. This creature is not actually identified as Leharven, but it appears to have many similar traits. According to legend it resembled a vulture, but without any feathers. When returning to the lake it would not perch in a tree, but dive down under the water and disappear. In the 1970’s a local school adopted the creature as their mascot and dubbed it “Halengamen”, “the Halen Vulture”.

"If I’m not totally mistaken this aquatic connection rings a bell concerning the African “Kongamato”. And the feature about getting ill from watching the flying beast also seems familiar, from something in the West Indies, perhaps.

"There’s also a folktale about a giant vulture sweeping down and grabbing an oxen in an area of Blekinge called Jämshög. The name is said to be derived from “Gamshög” =”Vulture’s Peak”, a hill where the creature is said to have been observed seen sitting. This tale is generally considered as a tall-tale, with no real etymological verification to the name of Jämshög. It’s still interesting as a Swedish counterpart of the American “Thunderbird” tales.

"I’ve done two illustrations of Nattravnen, where I’ve chosen to depict it as very pterodactyl-like."

From a Norwegian goatsucker and a corvid of Odin to a monstrous Swedish neo-pterodactyl - who would ever have guessed that a name as innocuous as 'night-raven' could have conjured forth such a dramatic diversity of creatures real and imaginary?

HOW IT ALL BEGAN - MY VERY FIRST CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL ARTICLE!

This is a real rarity from the archives - unseen for over 24 years, here is my very first published article on cryptozoology, which launched my entire career.

Back in spring 1986, I had written to the Western Morning News (WMN) newspaper, based in Devon, requesting whether it would be possible to buy a selection of past WMN articles dealing with the Beast of Exmoor. In reply, the WMN said that it could indeed supply me with those articles but would be happy to accept, in lieu of monetary payment, an article written by me on mystery animals for publication within the newspaper. Needless to say, I was delighted to receive this unexpected opportunity to showcase my cryptozoological views and knowledge in print, so I penned the article accordingly, which was duly published as the WMN's Leader Page in its 17 May 1986 issue - and the rest, as they say, is history!

Twenty-four years, sixteen books, several major publishing/media consultant and contributor roles, and countless articles later, I owe my writing career in no small way to this modest little contribution to the cryptozoological literature, which I hope that you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

(NB - Suffice it to say, I did NOT write the captions accompanying the article's illustrations!)

FROM WAR-TIME VAMPIRE TO MODERN-DAY CHUPACABRA?

Highly-acclaimed graphics artist Andy Paciorek sent me yesterday (19 October 2010) the upper of the two illustrations reproduced above, which has a fascinating if totally mystifying cryptozoological connection. The picture is a war cartoon, entitled 'De Vampyr' and was prepared by L J Jordaan for Der Groene Amsterdammer (an underground Dutch periodical) in 1940.

Yet this claw-footed, long-tailed, gasmask-wearing(!) 'vampire' bears scant similarity to the familiar Draculaesque variety with hypertrophied canines, prominent widow's peak, and a talent for melodramatic cloak-swishing!

Instead, as Andy so rightly pointed out, what it does resemble, and to a remarkable degree, is the chupacabra - a Hispanic mystery beast that did not come to widespread public and media attention until the mid-1990s. Of particular note is the Dutch war vampire's row of long dorsal spines, a very distinctive characteristic frequently reported for the chupacabra but not usually for other cryptids. Wings have also been cited for the chupacabra on occasion, as have powerful hind limbs, and its blood-sucking behaviour, often totally draining of blood the carcases of its animal victims, is well-documented - all features exhibited here by Jordaan's vampire, more than half a century before the chupacabra.

For visual comparison, the painting positioned directly below 'De Vampyr' here is of a chupacabra, produced by celebrated cryptozoological artist William Rebsamen, based upon eyewitness descriptions, and except for the chupacabra's quadrupedal rather than bipedal form, fundamental morphological similarities between the two entities are undeniable.

Just a baffling coincidence, or are the history and public evolution of the chupacabra more complex and of earlier origin than previously thought? Over to you...

 

 

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE ENTITIES?

Don't you just hate it when you discover some fascinating information somewhere, then, at some later date, you can't remember where you'd read it?

This happened lately to Martin Phillipps, a colleague of mine from New Zealand, who has contacted me to ask if either of the following two reports sounded familiar, as he cannot recall where he read them originally. Sadly, I had to confess that both of them were new to me, so is there anyone out there in cyberland who can offer any suggestions? Here are the two reports, as quoted directly from Martin's email of 9 October 2010 to me:

"I was wondering if you would be able to help me identify the source of two stories which I believe to be somewhere in my frustratingly large collection of books on paranormal and occult matters.

"In one story, if I remember correctly, there were two men walking along some rough coastal cliffs (it may have been in Britain but I cannot be sure) when they came over a rise and saw a very large orange bat-like creature sunning itself on the rocks just above the water line.

"I believe they described it as being a good thirty or forty feet across but I just cannot find this story anywhere now and it is very frustrating. You know how it is when your mind gets stuck on one particular problem and you are unable to find the relevant information!

"The other story, which I believe is likewise hiding amongst my collection, concerns a man, again I believe walking near the sea, and coming across a being who sounded exactly like a satyr or a Pan-like entity - cloven hooves and all. When this being became aware that he had been noticed he apparently said something along the lines of... "You are not meant to be able to see me!"

"As I cannot locate the book which included this marvelous tale I am not sure if there was much more to the conversation after that very intriguing opening line!

"Do either of these stories ring any bells with you? They were both recounted as non-fiction."

The first report is vaguely reminiscent of an account describing a huge winged nature deva that I documented in my book Mysteries of Planet Earth (1999).

And the second report is reminiscent of a section that I remember reading a long time ago in Paul Hawken's book The Magic of Findhorn, but is not identical, as the entity in the latter book was indeed Pan but was invisible.

Any thoughts regarding either or both of these reports would be very welcome!

FROM 'JAWS' TO 'GUMS' !!

The European giant catfish or wels - could 'Gums' be an undiscovered relative? (public domain)

 

One of the world's most famous explorers is, or was, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fawcett, who mysteriously vanished in 1925 while exploring the vast uncharted jungles of Brazil. Before his tragic disappearance, however, he had penned a fascinating account of his explorations in these lands, which was published in 1953 as Exploration Fawcett. It contains brief accounts of several mystifying creatures, but none more so than his supposed giant toothless shark or manguruyu, to give it its local name.

 

According to Fawcett, the Paraguay River contains: "a freshwater shark, huge but toothless, said to attack men and swallow them if it gets a chance". In reality, however, very few sharks inhabit freshwater, and those that do are far from toothless. So if such a shark really does exist, it is dramatically different from anything currently known to science. However, it may not be a shark at all.

 

British cryptozoologist Mike Grayson has opined that it could be a very large sturgeon, some species of which are vaguely shark-like and can attain great sizes. However, he concedes that this is a very tentative identification, acknowledging that sturgeons do not attack and swallow people, and that there is no known species of South American sturgeon to act as a zoogeographical precedent anyway.

 

My own feeling is that a catfish identity may be more plausible. There are more species of catfishes in South America than anywhere else, and some of these latter are among the world's largest too. In Europe, the giant wels catfish Siluris glanis often been accused (unjustly or otherwise) of swallowing people, but even if this aspect is wholly folkloric, the concept of a giant catfish existing in South America is by no means impossible. True, catfishes usually possess teeth at least on their vomer bone. However, old specimens of some species are entirely toothless - as in, significantly, the giant pa beuk Pangasianodon gigas of southern Asia's Mekong River. Up to 8 ft long, it is the world's largest species of fish confined entirely to freshwater, yet it amazingly remained undiscovered by science until as late as 1930.

 

Perhaps Fawcett's giant toothless shark - aptly dubbed 'Gums' by Grayson - is in reality an elderly edentate catfish, belonging to a still-undescribed extra-large species. Alternatively, as German cryptozoologist Markus Bühler has mentioned to me, South America's piraiba Brachyplatystoma filamentosum, a huge species of goliath catfish, has a deceptively shark-like body outline and is already known to grow up to 12 ft long - so who knows, reports of 'Gums' may have been based upon sightings of exceptionally large, geriatric piraibas.

Piraiba (public domain)

 

 

 

SACHAMAMA - A SNAKE IN A SHELL?

Sachamama-like beast on 16th-Century Peruvian pottery
(Dr Karl Shuker)

In recent times, reports of giant anacondas and other serpentine colossi in South America have attracted notable media attention. Some of these reports, moreover, have referred to the sachamama, but in reality the latter is no 'ordinary' giant snake, because according to the local people who claim to have seen it, this bizarre Peruvian mystery creature resembles a snake with a shell!

On 14 August 1997, the villagers of Nueva Tacna, near Iquitos, in northern Peru, witnessed an incredible event. According to one eyewitness, local fisherman Maximo Inuacari, a loud rumbling sound reverberated from a patch of jungle, as if something large and heavy were roaming through it. Inuacari, sitting in his boat on the Napo River nearby, began to paddle away, and as he did so a 'monster' emerged from the jungle onto the shore behind him, having uprooted many trees and gouged a 1600-ft-long, 30-ft-wide trench during its noisy progression towards the river. According to Inuacari, it resembled a huge black cylinder, and dived into the water, creating a huge whirlpool that submerged several boats.

Another eyewitness, Luis Iluma, who had a better view of this bizarre beast, claimed that it had two tentacles like elephant trunks and two 3-ft-long 'ears' on its head, a muzzle, and a long black snake-like body bearing a shell-like structure in the middle of its back.

This is not an isolated record. Following the above incident, explorer-journalist Arnost Vasícek visited South America, and spoke to several people during his preparation of a detailed account (Blesk Magazin, 14 November 1997). Two were biology teacher Nelly Armos and director Carlos Quinto, both of whom were from a school near Oran, and who had spent a considerable time researching traditional accounts and lore of strange South American animals. One such creature, referred to in old Peruvian Indian legends, is the sachamama - a giant black snake with a large head bearing tentacles, and a calcareous shell upon its back.

According to the legends, this mysterious creature appears only very rarely, and can remain in a state of torpor underwater for many years. When it wakes, however, it can suck prey into its mouth from quite a distance, but cannot pursue prey through the jungle because its progression is impeded by its large shell. So was the beast seen by Inuacari and Iluma in August 1997 a real-life sachamama?

Its description in legends was echoed during the 19th Century by a missionary called de Vernazz, who claimed to have shot one that measured over 45 ft long and 6 ft thick while boating on the Pastaza River bordering Peru and Ecuador. Moreover, there are examples of ceramic pots and saucers from Peru's ancient Moche culture, dating back over 1500 years and owned by the Casinelli Museum in northern Peru's Trujillo region, which depict a huge black snake-like or slug-like beast with tentacles, and a conch-like shell on its back. In addition, Vasícek documented some 16th-Century examples of Peruvian pottery depicting a very similar animal, which also sported a forked tongue and two pairs of snail-like, bulbous-tipped feelers - one pair at the base of its snout, and the other pair at its snout's tip.

Assuming that the sachamama does exist - which is in itself a very big assumption - and that its local description is accurate, it is hardly likely to be a snake, judging from its tentacles and shell. But could it possibly be a giant species of slug? Slugs do possess cephalic (head-borne) tentacles, and some have an external shell on their back too. The existence of such a monstrous mollusc seems highly unlikely, but there is no doubt that something created havoc near Nueva Tacna on 14 August 1997 - as confirmed by local governor Jorge Chavez and various Peruvian journalists who flew over the area by helicopter shortly afterwards to survey the devastation. If it were not for its shell, the sachamama is very reminiscent of another trench-excavating mystery beast from South America - the Brazilian minhocão, which I believe may be a giant form of limbless amphibian called a caecilian.

Iquitos scientist Nixon Reugifa attempted to explain this destructive August 1997 visitation as the work of floodwater, and another idea offered by sceptics was that a wind vortex was responsible, but both were subsequently rejected. Indeed, Reugifa eventually discounted his own idea when more eyewitness accounts and details came to light that revealed the path taken by the destroying agent to be too selective to be satisfactorily explained by flooding. Similarly, none of the fishermen recalled feeling any sensation of wind movement during the incident, thereby eliminating the vortex hypothesis. So was the culprit a living legend? A snake with a shell? As yet, we simply have no answer.