Are there living pterosaurs? The kongamato

Does northwestern Zambia house a living dinosaur? The kongamato or "overwhelmer of boats" maybe evidence of a evidence for the pterodactyl.
THE "KONGAMATO" OF AFRICA
Deep in the bush of east central Africa, lives a beaked, flying creature called the Kongamato. This fascinating animal first received widespread attention when explorer Frank Welland described it in his 1932 book In Witchbound Africa. The Kongamato ("overwhelmer of boats"), is described as a large, reddish creature with leathery wings, devoid of feathers. Eyewitnesses who are shown an illustration of the pterodactyl unanimously agreed to this identification of the Kongamato. "The evidence for the pterodactyl is that the natives can describe it so accurately, unprompted, and that they all agree about it. There is negative support also in the fact that they said they could not identify any other of the prehistoric monsters which I showed them...The natives do not consider it to be an unnatural thing like a mulombe [demon] only a very awful thing, like a man-eating lion or a rogue elephant, but infinitely worse... I have mentioned the Jiundu swamp [northwestern Zambia] as one of the reputed haunts of the kongamato, and I must say that the place itself is the very kind of place in which such a reptile might exist, if it is possible anywhere." (Welland, 1932, pp. 238, 240.) \www.genesispark.org...


[edit on 6/5/2010 by zachi]

Thanks Zachi!!

What an intriguing read, how awesome would it be to catch a video of one of these!

www.genesispark.org...

I hope that todays modern world isn't slowly killing them... if they are still alive that is lol

Probably been hunted out long ago, sadly

reply to post by GallopingFish


Thanks for the www.genesispark.org link. I have been there too. It's a very interesting read. Here is another site you might like. news.wustl.edu...

Alaskan. You know how big Alaska is and the Congo is just as difficult. Most people don't want to explore a place with heat, bugs, and evil beasts. It's a very remote place. Perhaps an intrepid videographer will make the journey for us!

Ive always had a harder time believing in Cryptids that spend most of their time in the sky...Thunderbirds, Pterosaurs, etc.

Cryptids like Bigfoot which im assuming usually stay on ground level have lots more areas to hide.
Cryptids like Nessie and the Ogopogo have lots of area's to hide in the water also.

If these creatures are flyingn around in the sky wouldnt people see them more often? Being in the sky means you could be seen from further distances away.

Im not saying they dont exist and id love them to exist.
Are there any theories on why they are not spotted more often?

As the OP said in the original post perhaps they exist in areas that are not inhabited by lots of humans and when spotted by humans that person would usually not have a camera on them.

Cheers



[edit on 6-6-2010 by FoxMulder91]

This sounds awesome, I would love to see things like this. Definitely couldn't survive out there though.

reply to post by FoxMulder91


Check out the photo on page 103 of Weird Pennsylvania
books.google.com... Gk&hl=en&ei=CxccTN5DgYLyBurPgf0L&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=weird%20pennsylvania%20cryptids&f=false
There have been several thunderbird sightings there and some in Alaska too.

Just thought this might be worth posting, as the size of these beasts beggars belief:

Giant prehistoric pterosaurs descend on London


"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag..."

reply to post by pause4thought


Thanks for sharing, man has quite an interest in huge flying animals.

Maybe this is where the myth of the dragon came from? These things are VERY dragon like, stick that in the rumor mill for a few hundred years, and they come out breathing fire etc. I am a firm believer that we don't know whats living on this planet, we're obsessed with life out there among the stars, as we should be, but I reckon the most facinating finds on Earth still haven't been discovered.

Just a thought.

reply to post by The Chez


I supposed it's possible. There's a thread on fire breathing dragons at present. Maybe you would enjoy reading it also.
I believe this animal exists. Too bad no one has filmed him yet. This is the same area that the mkole-mbele is from. (I know I spelled that wrong. )

If I were rich, I would go looking.

[edit on 6/25/2010 by zachi]

I will guess and believe me, I hope I am wrong... that this
type of creature described here (overwhelmer/breaker of boats)
died out long before man appeared... (as they say in mainstream
media)... on the horizon.

A large gliding animal with wings NOT for flapping, but gliding...
that means they glide, attacks boats in a remote area of Zambia
and that classic place for such enigmatic creatures, the Congo.

They glide in and attack... (enter reasons why here)... the guys
in the fishing boats, who never think for one instance, of disposing
of this slight nuisance of a 'overwhelmer' of their boats, but tolerate this
poor flyer of the skies and just hope that the money-spending tourist/
imaginary-world- hunter will take care of it.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Ah, Kongamato.

Sure, I believe in Kongamato. I just dont believe that its a living prehistoric beast. Seeing that the Congo is so vast and unexplored, I'm confedent saying that its a new species of bat. Maybe the bat adapted to eating fish because these is less competition in the water than in the trees for a flying critter. In order to aquire fish, it would need to evolve new traits. Its neck and/or snout would become much longer so it could easily scoop fish out of the water. To support this new weight, along wih the weight of the fish, its wings would become much larger. Overall, it would seem like a very strange creature. I could see why people would confuse it with a prehistoric beast.

Whatever it is, dont expect the Kongamato to be discovered any time soon. The Congo is VERY vast, uncivilized, and unexplored. Did you know that theres also another cryptid in the Congo that is believed to be a living dinosaur? Its called the Mokele-mbembe and its said to look like a brachiosaurus or something that resemles it (with a long neck).

No link needed. This informatioin comes soley from my cryptozoological studies over time as well as theories I brew up on my head. A lifetime of watching Animal Planet helps, too.

I have very little to offer, to the conversation, especially in respects to the African Aspect, being Kongamato.

What I do offer is an answer to the question asked, "Are there living Pterosaurs?", and my submission in respects to this is of course there are.

George Noory and C2C have callers all the time, which indicate they have seen these things. Mostly in the SouthWestern U.S. States, but occasionally in various other locals, even upto the Northeastern Seaboard States.

Now you all may think that isn't anything to much to support My Belief in these reptilian flying creatures, so I will offer the following in closing.

This is (Two) 2 photos combined.

The 1st on the left is a Pterosaur Embryo which was dug up. It shows structure of the little fossilized egg encased creature.

The 2nd on the right, is this little creature as it was photographed after flying into a womans front window and stunning itself somewhere near Boston.

She thought the little critter was a starling and went to pick the dead bird up.

Strange as it seems, the Starling wasn't a Starling, but this creature, placed into her palm, which was in some case of duress due to the window, but not harmed otherwise. It did infact fly away.

Here's your answer, in SPADES.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5e8e7b782650.jpg[/atsimg]



I trust you enjoy.

Ciao

Shane

reply to post by Shane


wow Shane !!I've seen that photo a few times and it looks so real I always wondered what the story on it was!!

how did you find out? If that's true then it is the coolest thing ever!

pterosaurs are adorable ,I'm moving to Boston


as to living pterosaurs in untracked tropical jungles it's certainly possible they're untracked jungles, so we don't know what's in 'em also people say they have seen these things ,and seeing is believing

reply to post by Shane


The Pterosaur embyro is a DRAWING of what one would have looked like, an artist's conception. The real thing looks like this www.abc.net.au...

That 2nd photo is photoshopped and is well known as one.

reply to post by BeingFollowed


oh poop!

well I want one anyway! hahaha I did here rumors a long time ago that there were some in AZ but yeah seeing is believing and I have not seen

A boy in a dress
I am confused. If people see them, they aren't prehistoric. I'm sure they have to flap some time. What tourists. No one has been there since the 1930's? I guess your post was just for fun...Thanks!

nicolee123nd
Yes, there are tons of rumors about what lurks in the Congo. I would love to go exploring over there. Who knows what great new (prehistoric) animals one might find.

Shane
That little critter is certianly interesting. Too bad he's a figment of someones imagination. I agree with MrsBlonde. I would definately want one. I do enjoy C2CAM. I am a cryptid hunter and hope to spot one someday. Any kind will do...

BeingFollowed
Thanks for clearing that up. But I agree with MrsBlonde. I wish it was real. Looks like a bat. We had one get into the house. If scared the kids and we finally slowed it down with hair spray and then swept it out the door. Poor little guy.

That photo dosnt look too real to me.

The body looks exaclty like a bat, and the head looks just like a young sparrow or other type of bird. I think it was photoshopped. I live neer Boston, and I have never or known about anyone who has seen anything that resembles that whatsoever.

reply to post by nicolee123nd


Dang ! I was gonna move to Boston but if they don't really have pterosaurs,I don't see why I should bother