Prehistoric Reptiles
The biggest fallacy in the cryptozoological community is the idea that, because some sighted animal bears a resemblance to one which existed millions of years before, it must be a survivor of that ancient species. Well, killer whales bear a striking resemblance to pliosaurs. They must be, then. The paca (a caviid rodent from South America) is remarkably similar to Hyraccus, the ancestor of horses. It must be the last of Hyraccus then, musn't it? Glyptodonts were giant armoured herbivorous mammals; ankylosaurs were giant armoured herbivorous archosaurs; aetosaurs were a completely different group of giant armoured herbivorous herbivores: they must all be related, by this logic. What I'm trying to say is, animals with almost identical appearences and physical designs have cropped up time and time again. If a design is a good one, of course it will be used more than just once. So here, I propose that there is no need to bring back Quetzalcoatlus or Atlantosaurus, but simply to realise that nature already brought them back in the form of something different. Get my drift?
Mountain boomer (West Texas NA): A 6 foot tall dinosaur-like animal reported from areas of western Texas. If it exists, think it is some kind of large, bipedal lizard, perhaps related to the Trimble County lizard, but more strongly bipedal.
Colorado "dinosaurs" (Pagosa Springs region of Colorado NA): A woman from this area claims to have seen many dinosaur in her life. She says that she saw 5 babies once when she was little, and that a local farmer killed a 7 foot tall one a couple months later. She also claims to have run across a green one in a local cave, and to have seen one many years later while driving on a road near that same cave. Personally, I think she needs help, and soon, but anyone is welcome to follow up on her reports. I'm sure not going to.
Colorado "river lizards" (The area around and islands on the Fountain River NA): A long-standing local folklore in this region includes things like the prairie devil and "evil river spirits", and recent reports from a local boy concurr that there may be something strange living on and around the Fountain. The boy claims to have watched a greenish coloured lizard with black markings and a yellow-orange belly running on it's hind legs away from him. Anoter local took a series of pictures, but they are indistinct and could be easily faked. However, there is one very good picture, showing a man holding up a 3 foot long lizard with small front legs and long, strong hindlegs. If that was faked, it was done with a very good model. My personal opinion is that these are bipedal lizards, like the mountain boomer but smaller.
Vancouver Island bipedal lizards (Vancouver and Texada Island off of B.C. NA): There are two seperate reports of very similar bipedal reptiles from Vancouver Island, and a report of the exact same creature from Texada Island (For those who don't know B.C. too well, Vancouver island is a large island off of the south coast, and Texada Island is a small one in Granite Bay. Both are heavily forested, and heavily logged). I plan on keeping an eye out for these next time I go to the island. In my opinion, these are bipedal lizards of some sort, although the only lizards in B.C. are found in the Okanagan Valley, quite far from the Island.
"Quetzalcoatlus" (Desert areas of Texas and Arizona NA): Quetzalcoatlus (named after the Mayan god Quetzalcoatl) was the largest flying vertebrate ever, and it's remains have been found in the desert areas of the Southern states. Therefore, many researchers think it no coincidence that giant flying animals have been reported from those very same regions. Well, it wouldn't be a coincidence. The habitat in that region would be the same now as the one Quetzalcoatlus lived in; thus, there must be a species to exploit the same niche that Quetzalcoatlus eked out. An emmense condor seems an okay bet to me, possibly with degenerate plumage (giving the appearence of being "leathery").
"Things that come out of the desert" (Arizona NA): A smaller pterosaur-like animal is known to residents who live on the desert fringes in Arizona. They simply call them "things that come out of the desert", and they know little about them except that they fly out of the desert in the evening. This thing, if it exists, may be some kind of bat or similar animal.
Mexican pterosaurs (Eastern Mexico NA): Although these are always thought to be living pterosaurs, I prefer to think that this cryptid is really a large bat of some kind, probably a fruit bat.
Amazonian "duckbills" (Northwestern Amazon SA): This is a case showing how much wishful thinking can really effect what we find to be "true". For the longest time, the "duck-billed dinosaurs" were considered to be semi-aquatic, and generally like giant ducks. Thus, living dinosaur fanatics often talk about aquatic reptiles being sighted in South America, which just *have* to be hadrosaurs. It is now well known that, not only were hadrosaurs fully terrestrial grazers, but they were not even bipeds; facultative bipeds perhaps, but primarily quadrupedal. Their fingers and toes had thick hoof-like nails on them, and they probably lived an overall bison-like lifestyle. So, then, what about these "aquatic reptiles" that are sid to exist in the Amazon? Well, short of calling all the dino-freaks liars, I'll suggest an enormous species of basalisk. But that's just being courteous.
South American sauropods (Throughout Northwestern South America SA): There are large cryptodire wate tortoises in the Amazon river; long necked, semi-aquatic, and herbivorous. They can reach over a meter in shell diameter. I find it well within the realm of possibility that there could be a very large species which people see and think of as "dinosaurs". Perhaps, sauropod sightings are just based on remarkably large individuals.
Mokele-mbembé (Central Congo AFRICA): This is the most popular of the "living dinosaurs", but there is so much confusion over it's name that, despite it's intense popularity and being extremely well known, there is very little reliable information availible on it... In popular opinion, it is thought to be a modern species of Atlantosaurus, or perhaps a very small descendent of the Titanosaurs. However, the sauropod design has been copyed many times before (Indricotherium, giraffes, and giant tortoises are all Cenozoic animals that use the long-necked-herbivore design), and there is every reason for it to happen again. Let Bill Gibbons do his work, he'll bag one, and then we'll see. Giant turtle or something. We'll see.
Kenyan "dimetrodon" (Rift Valley in Kenya AFRICA): A dimetrodon-like animal has been reported from Kenya's Rift Valley. Dimetrodon was a sphenacodont pelycosaur, an early paramammal which was replaced by more advanced therapsids during the middle Permian. Dimetrodon didn't "die out" in some mass extinction; it was replaced by bigger, badder, and more adaptable species. However, there have been several other carnivores to develop the sail-back design, which shows that it must be an effective one. Since Dimetrodon is (innacurately) thought of as a big lizard, a "dimetrodon-like animal" reported would thus have looked like a big lizard with a sail on it's back. Sail-backed monitor, anyone?
Kongamato (Many African countires AFRICA): Kongamato is one of countless tribal names given to large, pterosaur-like animals seen in many regions of Africa, mostly in or around the Congo Rainforest. More likely than not, Ivan Sanderson was right when he said that it was a second, larger species of Hypsignathus (hammerheaded bat).
Cretean pterosaur (Asteroussia Mountains on Crete EUROPE): A pterosuar-like animal that has been reported from Cretean mountains. It is my opinion that much of the European "dragon" legend comes from fruit bats which used to range over Southern Europe, till they were pushed out of existence early on. On an island like Crete, these bats would have a better chance of hanging on. (For the reocrd, it is my opinion that fruit bats ranged across Europe; that is not a fact, it is my speculation. Don't misquote me, I hate it when people do that.)
Ular tedong (Malaysian Penninsula ASIA): Also known as the naga, the natives of this region claim that there are giant "cobras" in Lake Tasek Bera. They say they have large scales, grey in young ones and golden in older ones. They are said to be peaceful vegetarians, to make a loud booming sound, and to be quite enormous. You can assume that most of the nostalgic researchers have labelled these as "definite" sauropod dinosaurs, but the idea of emmense iguanid super-herbivores is much more appealing to me. I'll write something up about this some time in the future, I want to get this point across.
Ropen (Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipeligo AUSTRALASIA): It's name meaning "demon flyer", the ropen is an extremely pterosaur-like animal reported from islands just off of Papua New Guinea. It is said to be a large, frightening creature which scavenges for a living, and overall behaves much like a massive vulture. It is said that they spend the day in sea caves, then at dusk fly across the sea to the mainland or the islands. When they leave the caves, they allegedly have a bright green glow, but this drips off as they hover above the waves. This is similar to barn owls which nest in hollow trees; they get covered in luminescent bacteria which drip off as they fly around. We can only assume that the same thing occurs with the ropen. I personally doubt it's existence, because this sounds like something a desperate dinosaur hunter would invent to get people to believe in his cause. But, gigantic vultures are always easy to plug into an equation like this one. Plug away.
Zuiyo-maru corpse (Tasman Sea in the South Pacific): This was NEVER proven to be anything. It wasn't proven to be a shark, it wasn't proven to not be a shark. It was a mangled, long-necked, four-flippered carcass dredged out of the Pacific, photographed, and tossed back in. It could have been anything. I'm just gonna say; there are enough reports of giant long-necked seal lions to safely assume that such a creature exists. This was probably just an instance of one of those. You want to argue, go ahead. I won't be listening, because I'm sick of hearing it. It wasn't a basking shark; it wasn't a plesiosaur; it wasn't the re-incarnation of Julius Caesar; we'll never know what it was! Get over it! Can I get an amen here?
