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What Happened To Pterosaurs? |
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A Weakness in Western Mentality
Before proceeding with historical records, let’s first acknowledge a cultural weakness that is inherent in some of Western thought. It concerns the tendency of Westerners to think of some societies as less adept at discerning truth from error. (Particularly when other societies are much less technologically advanced and different in philosophy and religion) This tendency needs to be properly ad- dressed to avoid missing valuable evidence from records and eyewitness testimonies from non-western countries.
There is sometimes a tendency to confuse foreign descriptions of actual creatures, with legends that are obviously fictional or are mostly fictional. For example, a story of a giant turtle that carries the whole world on its back is fictional. But a story of a giant flying creature that sometimes carried away people, is not necessarily fiction. The fact that such a creature isn’t listed (as a living creature) in Western textbooks isn’t really a very good argument against the story. The fossil record contains pterosaur specimens with wingspans well over 20 feet. Should such a creature live near humans, it would be feasible for it to carry off a child or small adult. The fact that (should such an unfortunate event occur) a record of the incident may very much resemble a fable to Westerners, does not necessarily mean the event never happened. Those trained in Western ideas about dinosaur-pterosaur extinctions may very well be prejudiced against any story containing living pterosaur-like creatures. When a person is taught from early childhood that pterodactyls became extinct millions of years ago, how easy it is for a story of a live large flying reptile to be disbelieved!
The conflict between such stories and “accepted” scientific ideas about pterosaur extinction needs careful evaluation. It’s not wise to summarily dismiss foreign testimonies and records simply because they seem to contradict the most popular ideas of many Western scientists.
Accepting pterosaur extinctions blindly, without leaving open any door for objective investigation, is not scientific but smells of dogmatism. Such skepticism is not worthy to be associated with the word “science” unless there is some solid evidence for the extinction of ALL types of pterosaurs. On the other hand, holding a skeptical eye to claims of pterosaur extinction is valid if there are is a reasonable number of accounts of pterosaur-like creatures living alongside humans.
We need to keep our minds open enough to admit the possibility that ancient accounts of creatures that resemble pterosaurs may be accounts of living creatures. We need to examine our beliefs (in the extinction of pterosaurs) and see if they may be based on things other than solid scientific evidence. Above all, we must not dismiss accounts of living pterosaur-like creatures simply because they seem to describe pterosaurs.
Pterosaur-like Creatures in History
If pterosaurs had become extinct before humans existed, there’d be no human record of living pterosaurs. Simple enough! But what does history actually say about pterosaur-like creatures?
Early historical accounts suggest that long-tailed pterosaurs were quite well known in Northern Africa thousands of years ago. At least two clear accounts are in the Bible (Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6) (These probably refer to the “fiery serpents” in Exodus.)
About 15 centuries ago, the Greek explorer Herodotus reported seeing snake-like flying creatures in Northern Africa. Others of the ancient Mediterranean countries reported similar creatures. It should be noted that Herodotus compiled information in two ways: He interviewed people (recording what they said), and he observed things firsthand. (recording what he saw with his own eyes) His firsthand accounts are considered reliable as he was a conscientious investigator and reporter. The creatures he described may be the same animals that attacked the Israelites, according to the book of Exodus in the Bible. One theory is they were Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs. At any rate, Herodotus referred to these creatures from personal experience.
Other ancient accounts of flying reptiles are from Josephus, (who lived about 19 Centuries ago but who had access to older records), Aelianus, Solinus (both about 300 A.D.), and many others, including Aristotle. (details)
Reports After 500 A.D.
Early West European records indicate live pterosaur-like creatures on the British Isles and well as on the mainland. These records are in both written and picture form. Some pictures depict both com- mon, well known animals, and creatures resembling pterosaurs. (There are also many accounts/pictures of dinosaur-like creatures.)
Early native American legends refer to large flying creatures. Some depictions fit pterosaur-types, in particular in regard to the crests at the back of their heads. It’s not unknown for such depictions or stories to indicate or show a large flying creature eating a person.
One story from Venezuela resembles a story from North America. In Venezuela, a large “bat” terrorized natives near a river that is still called by a name that means “feces of the bat”. Why do the natives call the river by this name? Long ago, a giant man-eating bat carried off and ate people. After one such tragedy, the creature was seen defecating into the nearby river. Since that time, none of the natives drink the water from the river named for that event. The North American story is similar in that there was another solitary giant flying creature near or above a river. (The Piasa Bird legend of the Illini tribe; location: near the Illinois River) It too developed a desire for human flesh. Because of this, the creature met the same fate as the South American “bat”: death at the hands of human hunters. These two stories come from very different cultures, on different continents, yet they both have giant flying creatures that lived above rivers and carried away humans for food. Each story is very localized with different details about how the creatures were killed. It seems very unlikely that these accounts originate from a single human event. It would be more likely that similar creatures lived in different locations in the Western Hemisphere. One thing that almost all human societies have in common is a dislike for having friends and relatives being eaten by animals(!) The similarity in how the creatures met their deaths could be a natural reaction that is quite human: meeting a threat head-on and eliminating it. In either case, hunters would be the natural choice to eliminate dangerous creatures.
Getting back to early West European records: in the Sixth Century A.D. King Beowulf died trying to destroy a creature that lived near the sea on the southern coast of Sweden. This “dragon” came out at night and returned to its home before daybreak. It was said to burn with flame. These characteristics are not unlike modern-day sightings of large nocturnal flying creatures in the coastal areas of Papua New the creature, such as “duwas”, “wawanar”, “zenklobari”, and “ropen”.
20th-21st Century Reports: Papua New Guinea
Modern sightings of pterosaur-like creatures include at least four continents. We’ll look at only a sample of some of the better docu- mented cases, in particular many reports from Papua New Guinea.
During World War II, American servicemen were stationed in many areas in what is now called Papua New Guinea. Some of them have claimed that they saw live pterodactyls. Their stories did not receive much attention from many scientists, however. Part of the reason these Americans were not taken seriously was the assumption that they had observed large bats called “Flying Foxes”. On the surface, this may seem a reasonable explanation for the accounts of creatures resembling pterodactyls. Flying Foxes are very large for bats and they are very numerous in this part of the world. One problem with this explanation, however, is that there have been many others, who have seen and described large flying creatures that cannot reasonably be confused with Flying Foxes. These large creatures eat fish and carrion, have combs at the tops or backs of their heads, and have long tails with flanges at the ends. Some of these creatures are also much larger than any fruit bat, in some areas with wingspans over twenty feet. An interesting point of many of these testimonies is that local witnesses are not aware that they are describing creatures that many Western scientists believe became extinct many millions of years ago. (pterosaurs) These local people are not trying to prove anything when they answer the questions of investigators. They are simply telling the interviewers what they saw.
One of the missionaries who has spoken with many local people about the strange flying creatures is the aviator, Jim Blume. As a missionary, he has lived in Papua New Guinea for over thirty years and is well acquainted with the stories of creatures that are clearly not fruit-eating bats. Some of the following descriptions are taken from a telephone interview in 2000, in which Blume relates what eyewitnesses had told him. For more details about these creatures living in some of the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, see:
http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/what
Before proceeding, it’s important to understand that Papua New Guinea consists of many islands and an even greater number of societies, cultures, and languages. In some areas of P.N.G. there is no knowledge of the creatures that others describe in terms bringing to mind pterosaurs. In fact, one tribe may use the word “ropen” for a bat like the Flying Fox, while on Umboi Island, the word “ropen” is reserved for a much different creature. In at least some areas of this remote island, the Flying Fox is called “Byung”. This does not indicate any conflict of evidence for serious inves- tigators. It simply means that large flying creatures (described in terms suggesting pterosaurs) are not found in all parts of Papua New Guinea and that the meaning of the word “ropen” may vary from one language to another.
We also need to understand that the people of these societies do not generally have technical terminology for distinguishing between animals that are similar in basic biology but different in speciation or details. For example, on one island, “ropen” refers to a very large nocturnal flying creature. On another island “duwas” signifies the same general type of creature. The point is, we should not be con- fused by any language differences, but concentrate on descriptions of the creatures and their habits.
Missionary Jim Blume has spoken with about 70 people who have seen creatures that could not reasonably be Flying Foxes. What follows includes a compilation from many descriptions that were given to him plus some research by others:
Sizes In one group of islands, the creatures do not usually have wing- spans over about seven feet. In another group of islands, wing- spans are 12-32 feet. In general, in the areas where the larger creatures live, people are afraid of them and will not generally want to search them out or assist expeditions. (Some people in some villages of Umboi Island are exceptional, however.) On the islands where the creatures are smaller, some people are curious about what they are. Originally, some investigators considered the smaller creatures might be of a different species than the larger ones. By 2005, some opinions had shifted to the theory that the smaller ones are juveniles of the larger ones.
General Descriptions One description is of a tail that has a flange at the end. It’s as- sumed this is the “diamond” mentioned by some eyewitnesses on Umboi Island. Many say the wings are very similar to bat wings. Some descriptions of the heads of the creatures indicate a bird-like bill somewhat like a pelican’s. One description from Umboi Island is that the mouth resembles a crocodile mouth. Considering the brief nature of the sightings, “pelican” and “crocodile” aren’t necessarily contradictory. (elongated mouth)
Interactions with Humans There are reports of native attempts at capturing the larger ones. Two accounts seem to have one thing in common: When a man or men attempt to catch a ropen (when it is found asleep) they’re disappointed. These large flying creatures are strong enough to break out of the fishing nets used by the local fishermen.
There are occasional reports of human death from attacks from the larger creatures. In the 1980’s one man was attacked when he was alone in his garden. Before the villagers could come to his aid, the ropen had carried the man up into a tree, and in view of the onlookers, proceeded to eat him. (account given to Blume)
On some islands, there have been attacks on human graves. It’s unlikely that this is a common habit of ropens in general. Before the use of coffins, bodies were buried in leaves. It was not very unusual in some areas, for a ropen to rob a grave. Modern burial practices have probably been an important factor in the decline in grave robberies from ropens. (It is believed fish is the main diet. On Umboi Island, the ropen is seen flying over reefs and to and from the beach on a regular basis.)
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Accounts of grave robbery in Papua New Guinea resemble accounts in Kenya, Africa: Pterosaur-like creatures seem to have a taste for carrion, including human bodies. In parts of Africa these creatures are called Kongomato (or Kongamato.) |
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Carefully organized interview techniques were utilized by two of the explorers to Papua New Guinea in late 2004. Local people were shown images of birds, bats, and pterosaurs. This ensured accurate conclusions as to what witnesses saw. Ropen sightings were not bats or birds. |
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In 1996, Jim Blume saw what some researchers believe was a pterosaur |
