Modern dinosaurs

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

From the school history course, everyone knows that dinosaurs that lived on our planet many millions of years ago, long before the appearance of humans on it, suddenly disappeared in an instant, leaving behind only fossilized skeletons. At the same time, some scientists argue that if an unknown natural disaster could not completely destroy life on the planet (many species of prehistoric land animals and fish have survived to our time), then it is quite possible that not all of the dinosaurs died.

Science enthusiasts do not lose hope and go to remote and deserted corners of the planet with new and new expeditions, trying to find at least some traces of giant reptiles. In particular, the scientist K. Shuker, in one of his scientific works, writes that in remote regions of Africa there is a likelihood of the living of modern descendants of prehistoric animals. The most likely habitat for these creatures is the Republic of the Congo, or more precisely, the valley of the Likvali Marshes. Scientific expeditions were sent here repeatedly, which sought to finish off evidence of the existence of the mokele-mbembe, a large amphibian creature that reaches 9 meters in length, has a massive reddish-brown body, short forelimbs, an elongated neck, a long tail and a small head. When it walks overland, it leaves characteristic three-toed footprints that are unlike any known creature. The description of these animals is very similar to diplodocus and brontosaurus. Even the locals, who have no idea about paleontology, pointed to these lizards in the pictures, as the most similar to the Mokele-mbembe.

The earliest documented mention of this creature dates back to 1776. In the book of the French missionary, Abbot Bonaventure, it is written that the scientist, while studying the flora and fauna in the region of the Congo River, came across huge footprints that could not belong to any of the animals known to him. But the monk did not see the animal itself.

In 1909, another mention of the strange animal appeared. Lieutenant P. Graz wrote that on the territory of modern Zambia he heard stories about a certain creature, which, according to descriptions, was very reminiscent of a mokele-mbembe, and which the local population called nsanga. Graz was the first to compare the creature to a dinosaur, noting that the description reminded him of a sauropod. Later, the lieutenant said that he even saw the skin of this animal. The most interesting thing is that in the same year, another researcher, the famous hunter for big game K. Hagenbeck, described an animal in his book, something between an elephant and a dinosaur.

The stories about mysterious African creatures caused a real sensation. Soon, so many falsifications and perjury appeared that they ultimately completely undermined the confidence of Europeans in hunting the ancient lizard.

Similar evidence, by the way, can be found in a later period. One of the most interesting is the story that was presented in the work of W. Gibbons. The author speaks of the killing of one of these creatures in the Likvali Marshes area in 1960. According to the author, it was like this: the lizard prevented the locals from fishing, because it scared away all the fish. Then the people in the tributary of the lake built a spiked fence. The animal broke through it, but received numerous wounds with thorns, lost a lot of blood, and the natives managed to kill him. After that, they had a victorious feast, and the parts of the animal were fried and eaten. After some time, those who took part in the feast fell ill and died. It is not known for certain whether this was due to food poisoning or if their deaths were due to other causes.

Numerous expeditions were sent to the territory of the Congo in search of the ancient lizard, but none of them was successful. But in fact, there is nothing surprising in this, because the climatic conditions there are so harsh that even the aborigines survive with difficulty and, without special need, try not to penetrate deep into the swamps. The terrain there is very swampy, and the bodies of dead animals instantly sink to the bottom, and it is almost impossible to find them.

The first large-scale expedition was organized in 1938 by explorer Leo von Boxberger. Scientists managed to collect a lot of useful information while communicating with local residents, but all their records were destroyed during the conflict with the pygmies on the way back. Half a century later, several more expeditions were organized, led by James Powell and Roy Makal. The main purpose of Powell's trip was to study crocodiles, but the scientist himself wanted to see the mokele-mbembe with at least one eye. But he only managed to collect a few testimonies from local residents about an unknown animal, similar to a diplodocus, which got entangled between flowering vines. A little later, Powell traveled to the Congo again, but this time, too, he collected only oral evidence. And finally, in 1980, the third expedition was organized. This time, the scientists decided to focus their searches in the area, which, according to the aborigines, was the most likely habitat for the lizard. But at that time the territories were still poorly explored, so the expedition returned with nothing. In 1981, Makal made another expedition, and he still managed to see the object of his interest. In the place of the river, where the channel makes a sharp turn and where, according to the aborigines, the dinosaur often visited, a splash was heard, and a large wave rose, as if from a large creature plunging into the water. Makal has since started looking for sponsors for his expeditions. And he even published a book in which he described his previous attempts and proved the existence of mokele-mbembe. But all was unsuccessful.

Other expeditions were organized, but none of them was successful. It is worth noting that almost everyone who tried to understand the existence of the African pangolin encountered numerous problems. The main problem was doubts about the veracity of the sources, as well as the language and cultural barriers. The words of the aborigines very often differed among themselves and even contradicted each other. Some described a creature that resembled a brontosaurus, others pointed to rhinos as the closest in similarity. Moreover, some tribes were completely convinced that the mokele-mbembe was not an animal at all, but a powerful spirit.

In addition, it should not be ruled out that the stories about a mysterious creature can be deliberately told by local residents in order to ward off hostile tribes from swamps or from ordinary self-interest, because more and more foreigners come to the continent in search of a mysterious beast.

On the other hand, scientists who are very skeptical about the theory of the existence of dinosaurs in Africa do not exclude that the mokele-mbembe is a modern reptile unknown to science. One of the proofs of this can be the statements of paleontologists that the climate on the continent has not changed for several tens of millions of years.

It should be borne in mind that any creature the size of a dinosaur would be very difficult to move around the swampy area. And if elephants 'feet are arranged in a special way, allowing them to distribute weight over the surface and not sink, then dinosaurs' feet resembled those of a horse. Dinosaurs, moreover, were herd animals, and the mokele-mbembe always walked alone, according to the stories of the aborigines. But even if there were a whole herd of these creatures, they would soon become extinct from constant crossing in a small population.

All this made it possible for some scientists to suggest that in fact the mokele-mbembe is not a dinosaur, but some famous animal, distorted by the descriptions of pygmies beyond recognition.

There is also a hypothesis that the mokele-mbembe is just an elephant. It is common knowledge that African elephants are very fond of swimming, and the sight of an elephant swimming in the water with its trunk raised can be mistaken for a lizard unknown to science.

Some scientists believe that a giant python or anaconda that swallowed large prey could have been mistaken for a dinosaur.

And, finally, some other scientists believe that the mokele-mbembe is just an invention, a mythological creature of the local population.

Another creature that naturalists hunt lives in the Likvali bogs. This is an amphibian emel-ntuk, which in size resembles an elephant with one tusk or a horn on the nose, a gray, brown or green powerful body and a long tail. According to some scientists, this is just a rhino, but the animal is so rare for this area that the local population simply mythologized it. At the same time, the habits of this creature are not characteristic of a rhinoceros, but are inherent in another extinct lizard - ceratops. According to the aborigines, this creature hunts elephants and sometimes even attacks graying, but scientists tend to think that this is just inventions to intimidate enemies, and the animal itself is herbivorous and enters into a fight with elephants only for food.

There are also stories about the existence of pterodactyls in the Jundu swamps between Angola, Congo and Zambia. Locals describe these animals as a long-tailed crocodile or lizard that has wings and a toothed beak. Most interestingly, scientists do not deny that these ancient lizards could survive and live in such inaccessible areas. But at the same time, they do not exclude that the aborigines could take a huge bat or a large bird of prey for a pterodactyl.

But perhaps the most famous living dinosaur is the Scottish Loch Ness Monster. For the first time it was captured on film in the first half of the last century, but to this day it attracts all lovers of the mysterious, as well as tourists and just the curious. So many falsifications have fallen to the lot of Nessie that over time it becomes more difficult to find a grain of truth in the huge stream of information and falsified photographs. The only thing that enthusiasts manage to photograph is a head on a long neck, which rises above the water of the lake. But the more valuable is the small part of oral evidence, which describes meetings with a monster on land. This makes it possible to get an idea of the species of this animal. Nessie has a snake-like head with oval eyes, a long neck, flippers and a two-meter tail with a curvature at the end. Based on all the evidence obtained, scientists have come to the conclusion that Nessie is a plesiosaur (a giant reptile that lived in water and became extinct about 60 million years ago).

In addition to these dinosaurs, there are many others, in particular zeugldonts, and diplodocus, and stegosaurs. Science has not yet studied them much, but one can hope that over time the world will learn much more about those creatures that inhabited our planet millions of years ago.