Identifying the... Mapinguary

Megatherium reconstruction.
Image credit Sloth Sanctuary.

Given the evidence and general consensus amongst cryptozoologists, it seems unthinkable to characterise the Mapinguary as anything other than a relict ground sloth. Even so, there are theories that it is actually a type of large primate - and even it it isn't, there are still dozens of different ground sloths. The Mapinguary, if a sloth, can only be a descendant of one.

The Forés Specimen

Forés' photograph of the specimen.
Image credit Virtual Institute of Cryptozoology.

Angel Morant Forés is a Spanish cryptozoologist who is perhaps best known for his work in Amazonian Ecuador, reporting on feline cryptids like water and rainbow jaguars. But his biggest discovery - and from his point of view, biggest mistake - is a photograph of taxidermy specimen of an aquatic animal found in a Macas shop.

TrueAuthority.com's "Quest for the Giant Sloth": An Analysis, part II: Expedition, the Sloth, and DNA Evidence

Preserved Shasta ground sloth dung.
Image credit cindysbeentrippin.com.

This post is a continuation of a previous entry.

Now, we'll move on to examining the main attraction, is it were: the first actual link on the page (I wanted to get the minor links out of the way in that first post), "The Expedition".

Identifying the... Milne

Slightly oversized Arctotherium reconstruction.
Image credit Carnivora Forums.

A fairly obscure cryptid, the Milne is a large black bear known from only one sighting. Allegedly, in 1946, explorer Leonard Clark was floating down the Ucayali River in eastern Peru when he discovered large footprints on the bank, like those of a giant man. The next day, his canoe passed a huge black bear on the bank, clawing apart a rotted tree infested with ants. One of his crew accidentally provoked the bear, and it leaped into the water and swam towards the canoe, prompting Clark's entire crew to leap overboard and flee. Clark shot it dead, but without his crew, he was unable to retrieve it and it was devoured by piranhas (Heuvelmans, 1986; Shuker, 1997).

Rainbow Jaguars and the Ahuizotl Connection

An artistic recreation of the rainbow jaguar.
Image credit Karl Shuker.

Perhaps the most well-known of the Central American Atzec myths - Quetzalcoatl notwithstanding - the Ahuizotl was described in the Florentine Codex as a real animal, a small aquatic predator with smooth hair and primate-like hands. Native Americans in the USA have myths about a very similar animal. If it was based on a real animal, it is today widely believed to have been a new species of otter or other mustelid.

In the field of more strictly Amazonian cryptozoology, there are a number of cryptids similar to the Ahuizotl, but larger.

TrueAuthority.com's "Quest for the Giant Sloth": An Analysis, part I: Photography, External Links and John Lewis

The DNA code from the dung. Perhaps.
Image credit TrueAuthority.com.

Late last week, I made a post on a study which claimed to have found DNA evidence of the Mapinguary. Here, I hope to go into the study in far greater detail, and analyse the DNA result. The basic story is that a man named John Lewis went to South America, found a big pile of dung, had it tested, and found it to be a match for a prehistoric ground sloth. In 2001. After that, nothing else happened, but he did claim that he'd go back to the Amazon shortly after the DNA testing was done.

Review: Man V. Monster: Brazilian Bigfoot

Richard with a two-toed sloth.
Image credit National Geographic.

Man V. Monster was (is?) an interesting series. Aired on National Geographic and presented by English filmmaker Richard Terry, there have been two series' so far. Most of the episodes end with Richard deeming the cryptid he's searching for to be a regular animal mistaken as something else, and the episodes themselves sometimes focus more on the trecherous terrain than the cryptid. Not necessarily a bad thing. "Brazilian Bigfoot", the Mapinguary episode, is something of an exception.

No episode of the series is available for purchase, physically or digitally, so this review is constructed from memory. Some information may be incorrect or in the wrong chronological order.

TrueAuthority.com's "Quest for the Giant Sloth"

Image credit TrueAuthority.com

TrueAuthority.com is a hardcore creationist website, with an entire portion dedicated to trying (and failing) to debunk evolution. However, it also has a cryptozoology portion (the third and final topic is dinosaurs). One article in this section is about the Mapinguary.

Uncontacted Tribe Discovered in the Amazon

Earlier in the month, a previously uncontacted tribe emerged from the Amazon, seeking help after a raid by a Colombian drug cartel.

In Brazil, seven naked tribesmen armed with bows emerged, asking for weapons and allies. They claimed that a group of non-Indians, probably drug dealers, attacked their tribe, massacring most of the older men. Many of the younger men caught a respiratory disease from the outsiders, a common problem.

In Peru, about one hundred natives came out from the jungle.

Review: Destination Truth: Flying Dinosaur & Sloth Monster

Josh with another well-known model Mapinguary.
Image credit TVrage.com.

Although Destination Truth is the third review here, it does deserve credit as the first TV series to investigate the Mapinguary, being aired in 2008, two years before Beast Man and Man V. Monster.

As is the norm for Destination Truth, the first investigation, the Mapinguary, only takes up half the episode before being replaced by another cryptid - this time the African Kongamato. The beginning of the Mapinguary segment sees Josh visiting the famous Mapinguary statue (and some jaguars at a zoo), and the folklorologist who would later be cut from Beast Man. He also interviews David Oren, who tells him about his ground sloth theory. It seems rather rare for Josh to carry out research and interviews before looking for the animal itself, something which changes for the better in this episode.

Juan Acavar's Sabre-Toothed Cat

Smilodon recreated in Walking with Beasts.
Image credit BBC.

Perhaps since the first colonisations of South America, reports of giant cats have come from deep in the jungles of the Amazon.

One very interesting case occurred in Paraguay as recently as 1975. A group of locals, perhaps native Indians, shot a large "mutant jaguar", which was examined by a zoologist named Juan Acavar. Acavar, after examining the body, determined that the animal was a living specimen of Smilodon fatalis. He determined its teeth as being twelve inches long, and it's weight as being one-hundred ans sixty pounds.

To avoid causing paranoia and mass hysteria, Acavar stuck with the mutant jaguar identification.

Recently, there has been speculation that the animal may have instead been Thylacosmilus, a marsupial analogue to Smilodon. However, this animal (supposedly) went extinct in the Early Pliocene, and had highly distinctive flanges on its lower jaw, something which Acavar presumably would have commented upon.

The cadaver, unfortunately, was apparently not preserved, as nothing of it or Acavar has been heard since the shooting. It is entirely possible that the animal was, in fact, a mutant jaguar - though it seems Acavar, an experienced zoologist, would have been able to work this out should it have been the case.

Read more about sabre-toothed cats in the Amazon.

Notes and references

• Shuker, Karl (1989) Mystery Cats of the World. ISBN 978-0709037064

Review: Beast Man: Nightmare of the Amazon

Pat with a well-known Mapinguary model in the city.
Image credit National Geographic.

Beast Hunter (titled Beast Man in the UK), although a short series - consisting of only five episodes - might just be the best cryptozoological TV series since MonsterQuest - in fact, it probably beats MonsterQuest.

The series follows biologist Pat Spain, great-nephew of Charles Fort, as he travels to five different locations around the world, searching for the local cryptid. Fort was an American scientist who researched phenomena such as ball lightning and raining fish, which were dismissed in his time but are now known to be fact.

Amazon Expeditions Since 2010 Discover at Least 441 New Species

Caqueta titi monkey or Callicebus caquetensis, a 'purring' monkey.
Image credit The Guardian.

At least 441 new species of animal have been discovered in the Colombian areas of the Amazon Rainforest from 2010 to 2013. These discoveries include include a herbivorous piranha relative and a monkey that purrs like a cat.