Anon. (1992) Beyond the Horizon: Adventures in Faraway Lands, National Geographic Society, p. 127

Then there is the matter of dinosaurs ... The December 1990 issue of the German magazine GEO–usually nonfiction–features "Search for the Monster," a report that makes Auyantepui sound like Loch Ness. The article describes a trip that was inspired by the sighting of a strange animal several years before. Then three men helicoptered to the tepui and spotted a long-necked, saurian-looking creature swimming in a lagoon. All had left their cameras in camp. They went back to retrieve them, and as they returned to the lagoon, the mysterious animal animal reappeared! By the time they landed, it had vanished, leaving only widening ripples on the water's surface. No footprints, no pictures. I made light of the story, unaware that Fabian's brother, Dr. Armando Michelangeli, a founder and the president of Terramar, was one of the trio. Armando stepped in: "Look. I was there. I saw it. It had a head about the size and shape of a rugby football, and a neck about a foot long. It wasn't a river otter because they feed primarily on fish, and there are no fish in that lake. It wasn't a tapir because they can't climb cliffs. What was it? I don't know."

On another trip to Auyan-tepui, however, Terramar scientists turned up tapir tracks. Other scientists have also found them. Armando Michelangeli has even sighted cougars. Perhaps GEO's "monster" was a tapir–though no one knows how it got there. At any rate, this is hardly the first dinosaur tale to come out of tepui country. Area resident Alexander Laime claims he saw several long-necked, finned, reptilian creatures one day in 1955, also atop Auyan-tepui. Laime's animals resembled plesiosaurs, only smaller: about three feet long. He was still looking for more of them, 36 years later.

...

Terramar co-founder, biochemist Dr. Fabian Michelangeli, told me about the Makiritare Indian belief in Anakaka–a giant man-ape that supposedly dwells near one of the most southerly tepuis. Wags, Dr. Michelangeli said, have lost no time in nicknaming Anakaka "Tepui-yeti".

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Schafer, Louis S. "The Deepstar 4000," The Compass: A Magazine of the Sea, Vol. 56, No. 1 (1986)

The bright illuminating lights were turned on as he [Joe Thompson] maneuvred the craft [the Deepstar 4000 ] along the San Diego Trough at a depth of 4000 feet [in June 1966]. Suddenly, as Thompson looked out the pilot's viewport, a giant fish swam into view under the port. He looked directly into one of its eyes, which later he described as the size of a dinner plate. As the fish quickly moved on, Thompson could see the silt swirling from the bottom of the ocean. Finally as the enormous fish passed, he saw its serrated tail and he judged it to be nearly 40 feet in length: Joe Thompson was also certain that the fish had possessed scales
Read more

Anstruther, Robert H. "A Strange Sea Reptile," The Spectactor (4 March 1922)

In the spring of 1910, when I was in command of the 'Caesar,' battleship, steaming towards the Clyde and between the coast of Ireland and the Isle of Man, I was on the bridge, in broad daylight, when a creature leapt out of the water close to the ship and shot straight up into the air about forty or fifty feet, and came down spread-eagle fashion. It had the appearance of a chameleon, though shorter in proportion, and was about the size of the skinned chow-dogs one sees hanging outside the butchers' shops of Canton. I called the navigating officer from the standard compass, and as he got to my side the creature leapt again, and we both had a good look at it. I have never been able to get any information about such a thing from books or from people, and had almost given up the quest when I saw the banner of the Ancient Town of Rye. The banner is copied from the seal of the town. The seal is very old and represents the arms of Rye (three figures, half lion, half line o' b...
Read more

Ogilvie-Grant, William Russell, "The Expedition of the British Ornithologists' Union to the Snow Mountains of New Guinea: Part VI, The Discovery of a Pigmy Race," Country Life, Vol. 27, No. 700 (4 June 1910)

There can be no doubt that besides the mammalia already known to inhabit New Guinea, many remain to be discovered. Some very large animal is reported to occur in the mountains. Its presence was first indicated by Mr. C. A. W. Monckton, who, during his ascent of Mount Albert Edward in the west of British New Guinea, discovered the huge footprints and very large droppings of some cloven-footed monster which had evidently been browsing on the grassy plains surrounding the lakes on the summit, at an elevation of about twelve thousand five hundred feet. Unfortunately, he was unable to gain any information respecting this animal from the natives, who hunt all over the mountain, as they proved extremely hostile to his expedition. Among the Europeans at Port Moresby this creature is now commonly known as Monckton's "Gazeka," but up to the present time no one has attempted to return to Mount Albert Edward and procure a specimen. Mr. Monckton stated that Sir William Macgregor had...
Read more