In the lush vegetation rich Congo River basin, both locals, occasional missionaries,
and travelers have claimed to see some sort of large reptilian creature in the river. It’s described as a large animal with a small head and long neck. Some accounts say it has a horn. Those who claim to have seen it say it makes a terrifying sound. Its description is similar to a type of dinosaur known as a Sauropod.
The people of Africa call it the Mokele-mbebme. Some people think the creature is more of a spiritual being that exists in the stories and traditions of the people. Others insist the creature is real. Numerous expeditions have been launched in search of Mokele-mbebmbe. Other than a few mysterious footprints, no solid evidence has been found to confirm its existence.
Perhaps there was a time when a small population of dinosaurs lived there and the stories were passed to each new generation. Or maybe people just let their imaginations get the best of them when they saw something they couldn’t explain. And, just maybe, there really is some undiscovered reptile wandering along the river.
What do you think? Do you think the Mokele-mbembe really exists? Could there be an undiscovered population of dinosaurs living somewhere in the world?
http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2011/04/tracking-mokele-mbembe-legend.html
Yes to the dinosaurs as I believe the Loch Ness Monster is a Plesiosaur if it does exist. I don't know how many large dinosaurs the world could still hide, though. It makes the most sense out of all the weirder explanations.
ReplyDeleteI think the dinosaur thing makes pretty good sense too. It's one of those things we wil never really know about for sure unless someone actually finds something solid.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are still undiscovered species in places like this, they discover so many new things in the oceans so why not on land? As for Nessie yes she does exist, she visits my grand house every lunchtime where she feeds her a plate of trout!
ReplyDeleteIt's possible that there could be some kind of dinosaur living in the remote areas of the world. For example, scientists once believed some kind of armored fish was extinct and then some fishermen off of Madagascar found them. And then I saw this show on television where people in New Guinea said that there was some kind of flying monster that sounded a lot like a pterodactyl had been seen in the skies at night (seen because I guess they are bioluminescent). We live in a day and age where a lot of exploration of our planet has taken place. However, it is scientific hubris to claim that we've mapped out everything there is to see on the planet.
ReplyDeleteWhat intrigues me about this particular entry is that it is an aquatic animal. Water hides so much from our eyes (from giant sharks to the afore-mentioned armored fish). This reminds me that people until recently didn't think the giant squid was real...then tah dah...Japanese fishermen caught one on camera.
Ryan, LOl you should get yourself a picture of that!
ReplyDeleteMichael, I think I saw the same show about the bioluminsescent animal! It was quite interesting. I'm always amazed at how many undiscovered animals could be out there.
The creature apparently has a known migratory pattern, is widely documented in local legends across a wide portion of the continent, evidence & sightings have been collected by numerous expeditions in the past (even though nothing solid has come up in recent years) an, as we know many advanced ancient cultures long had ties with central africa, due to it's resources and we see imagery of similar animals in Mesopotamian and Older Egyptian art, that I know of. It would obviously be seen as a symbol of strength and power to ancient peoples. And this isn't something that is mimicked with any other central african "myths", again, that I know of. So, yes, I would be inclined to belive that such a creature as a mokele-mbembe exists. Whether it's actually a dinosaur or a new genus of reptiles, however, I couldn't tell you unless I saw one for myself.
ReplyDeleteI find it really interesting how creatures get brought into the mythology and stories of people. I would love it if they found some solid evidence of mokele-mbembe someday. It's happened with other creatures that people thought didn't exisit, it could happen again.
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