| Mokele-mbembe | |
 | |
| Mokèlé-mbèmbé drawing | |
| Mokele-mbembe | |
| Parent | Sauropoda |
| First sighting | 1776[citation needed] |
In severalBantu mythologies,mokele-mbembe (also written as "mokèlé-mbèmbé") is a mythical water-dwelling entity that is believed to exist in theCongo River Basin. It is variously described as a reptilian creature, a spirit, or a member of the extinct lineage ofsauropods.
In the early to mid-20th century, the entity became a point of focus among adherents ofcryptozoology andyoung Earth creationism, resulting in numerous expeditions led by cryptozoologists and often funded by young Earth creationists and other groups with the objective to find evidence that invalidates or contradicts the scientific consensus regardingevolution. PaleontologistDonald Prothero remarks that "the quest for Mokele-Mbembe ... is part of the effort by creationists to overthrow the theory of evolution and teaching of science by any means possible".[1] Additionally, Prothero noted that "the only people looking for mokele-mbembe are creationist ministers, not wildlife biologists."[2]
However, in the 1940s, Roy Mackal, a microbiologist from the University of Chicago, conducted multiple expeditions to locate the animal and eyewitness testimony described it:
"The head was distinctly snake-like, a long thin tail, and a body approximating the size of an elephant, or at least that of a hippopotamus. The legs are short, with the hind legs possessing three claws. The animals are a reddish brown in color, and have a rooster-like frill running from the top of the head down the back of the neck."[3] However, no expeditions have found evidence of the animal other than eyewitness testimonies.
Most mainstream experts believe that mokele-mbembe, as reported by Congolese natives, was probably inspired by theblack rhinoceros, which once thrived in the region. Historian Edward Guimont has argued that the mokele-mbembe myth grows out of earlierpseudohistorical claims aboutGreat Zimbabwe, and in turn influenced the laterreptilian conspiracy theory.[4]
Source:[5]
The first report of the mokele-mbembe comes from German CaptainLudwig Freiherr von Stein zu Lausnitz [de], as described byWilly Ley in the bookThe Lungfish and the Unicorn (1941). Von Stein was ordered to conduct a survey ofGerman colonies in what is nowCameroon in 1913. He heard stories of an enormous reptile called "Mokele-mbembe" alleged to live in the jungles, and included a description in his official report. According to Ley, "von Stein worded his report with utmost caution," knowing it might be seen as unbelievable.[6] Nonetheless, von Stein thought the tales were credible: trusted native guides had related the tales to him, and the stories were related to him by independent sources, yet featured many of the same details. Though von Stein's report was never formally published, Ley quoted von Stein as writing:
The animal is said to be of a brownish-gray color with a smooth skin, its size is approximately that of anelephant; at least that of ahippopotamus. It is said to have a long and very flexible neck and only one tooth but a very long one;some say it is a horn. A few spoke about a long, muscular tail like that of analligator. Canoes coming near it are said to be doomed; the animal is said to attack the vessels at once and to kill the crews but without eating the bodies. The creature is said to live in the caves that have been washed out by the river in the clay of its shores at sharp bends. It is said to climb the shores even at daytime in search of food; its diet is said to be entirely vegetable. This feature disagrees with a possible explanation as a myth. The preferred plant was shown to me, it is a kind ofliana with large white blossoms, with a milkysap andapple-like fruits. At the Ssombo River I was shown a path said to have been made by this animal in order to get at its food. The path was fresh and there were plants of the described type nearby. But since there were too many tracks of elephants, hippos, and other large mammals it was impossible to make out a particular spoor with any amount of certainty.
However, according toBrian Dunning, in a 1929 German book by science author Wilhelm Bölsche calledDragons: Legend and Science, Bölsche wrote that von Stein clearly believed that the creature described was not an actual animal, but instead was nothing more than local folklore.[7]
According to German adventurer Lt. Paul Gratz's account from 1911:
The crocodile is found only in very isolated specimens inLake Bangweulu, except in the mouths of the large rivers at the north. In the swamp lives thensanga, much feared by the natives, a degeneratesaurian which one might well confuse with the crocodile were it not that its skin has no scales and its toes are armed with claws. I did not succeed in shooting ansanga, but on the island of Mbawala I came by some strips of its skin.[8]
Tales of entities like mokele-mbembe, living saurians or large scientifically unidentified creatures walking around the African rain forest, are not rare; there have been multiple tales of large, smooth-skinned quadrupeds with long necks that fed on large prey still living in central Africa.[9] It was only after the description of the mokele-mbembe surfaced that the rest of the world started interpreting those legends as possessing a dinosaur-like body structure. A notable example would be the emela-ntouka, an elephant-sized creature that shares a lot of similarities with the mokele-mbembe. It is described as having smooth skin, a strong and muscular tail, and a "horn" or "tooth".[10] Another similar creature, thejago-nini, was described byAlfred Aloysius Smith, who had worked for a British trading company in what is nowGabon in the late 19th century, who briefly mentions it in his 1927 memoir.[11]
Reports of entities described to be dinosaur-like in Africa caused a minor sensation in themass media, and newspapers in Europe and North America carried many articles on the subject in the early 1910s; some took the reports at face value, while others were more skeptical. It is notable that Western Europe and the Americas were going through a pop cultural interest in dinosaurs, of which theBrontosaurus was one of the most popular. This cultural trend could have contributed to both the reports as well as the tendency for newspapers to claim the reported beast was asauropod.[12]
Several expeditions, of varying scientific credibility, were undertaken in the 20th century to search for mokele-mbembe or interview claimed eyewitnesses. In 1980 and again in 1981, explorer Henry Powell and biologistRoy Mackal visited the Congo region and interviewed native residents. They did not find any direct physical evidence, but nonetheless argued consistent statements from claimed eyewitnesses tended to support the creature's existence. Mackal published a book in 1987 detailing his expeditions.[13] Mackal admitted his investigation was "tinged with some romanticism", but also insisted he had serious scientific intent.[14] Prothero argues the Powell-Mackall expedition almost single-handedly popularized the modern concept of mokele-mbembe to Westerners, yet was seriously flawed. Mackal's training was in virology, which arguably did not qualify him to search for a large, exotic creature; and Mackal seemed to uncritically accept eyewitness statements without considering the possibility people might lie or exaggerate for financial gain, for attention, or to impress an American visitor. Furthermore, Mackal was dismissive of Africans who "denied knowledge of mokele-mbeme" or who asserted the creature did not exist.[15] In 1981, explorer Herman Regusters and his expedition team traveled to Lake Tele, where Regusters claimed he took a photograph of the dinosaur as well as recorded its sound. Roy Mackal was skeptical of Regusters and his team.[16]
Zoologist Marcellin Agnagna said he took a film of mokele-mbeme in 1983 but the footage did not develop properly. Prothero describes the story as "suspicious", noting critical details of Agnagna's account have changed and none of it was supported by other witnesses. Scottish explorer William "Billy" Gibbons led two expeditions in 1985 and 1992, though Prothero question his motives as a creationist and describes Gibbons as not following even basic scientific principles.[17] JournalistRory Nugent's bookDrums Along The Congo: On The Trail Of Mokele-Mbembe, the Last Living Dinosaur was published in 1993 by Houghton Mifflin. Nugent's book included a photograph he claimed was possibly mokele-mbembe, but which Prothero argues was more likely a floating log.[17]
In 2001, BBC'sCongo, a television documentary series on the natural history of the region, included an interview with theBiaka people who identified the mokele-mbembe as arhinoceros while looking at an illustrated manual of wildlife.[18] However, neither species of African rhinoceros is common in the Congo Basin, so the mokele-mbembe may be a mixture ofmythology andfolk memory from a time when rhinoceroses were found in the area.
In 2016, a travel documentary crew fromSouth Africa made a documentary about searching for mokele-mbembe, which they later sold to Discovery Africa.[19][20] The team spent roughly four weeks in theLikuoala swamp region visiting various Aka (pygmy) villages, collecting stories of the creature's existence. They pointed out the difficulty of differentiating between a mokele-mbembe's metaphysical and physical existence. While they interviewed people who believed in its presence, others stated it died at least a decade ago.[21]
In 2018,Lensgreve ofKnuthenborg, Adam Christoffer Knuth, along with a film crew fromDanish Radio and a DNA scientist, traveled toLake Tele in Congo, in search of the mokele-mbembe. They did not find the cryptid; however, they found a new species ofgreen algae.[22][23]
The lack of physical evidence and the conflicting witnesses have made the existence of the entity doubted by the large majority of scientists and historians.[4][24][25] The most reasonable and agreed upon explanation is that the mokele-mbembe is a legend based on theblack rhinoceros, a species once common to central Africa, where the stories of the mokele-mbembe originated. According toskepticBen Radford, the origin of the creature can be traced back to a 1909 book by zoologistCarl Hagenbeck calledBeasts and Men. Based on recently discovered dinosaur bones, Hagenbeck speculated that sauropods may still live in Africa. Although he offered no evidence other than legends, the claims were circulated by the press, includingThe Washington Post.Daniel Loxton andDonald Prothero claimed it "launched what would become the modern cryptozoological legend of mokele-mbembe". They concluded that the reports of the monster were not result of hard evidence or genuine first-hand accounts of native encounters with the creature, but rather a "distillation of many creatively varied stories from widely separated regions.[26] The absence of evidence supporting the creature's existence, despite several centuries of Western contact with the region, numerous expeditions in search of the animal, and periodic aerial and satellite surveillance, all of which have detected elephants and other large animals - but no sauropods - all serve to argue against the existence of mokele-mbembe.
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