Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

(2) Skulls and skins are now considered t o
be t hose of eit her male chimpanzees or
female gorillas.
Sources: Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Die
Loango-Expedition (Leipzig, Germany:
P. Frohberg, 1879–1907), vol. 3, pp.
246–250; Henri Neuville, “A propos d’un
crâne de gorille rapport é de la Likouala-
Mossaca par le Dr. A. Durieux,”
L’Anthropologie 23 (1912): 363–396; Bernard
Heuvelmans, Les bêtes humaines d’Afrique
(Paris: Plon, 1980), pp. 418–421, 426–427.
Deep-Sea Spider
Myst ery Invertebrate of t he Sout h Pacific
Ocean.
Physical description: Triangular fore body,
0.52 inches in lengt h. Hind body, 2 inches
long, separat ed from t he front by a narrow
waist . Five pairs of joint ed appendages on t he
fore body. The first pair seems t o be used as
feelers. The second pair is very long and carried
high above t he body. The last t hree pairs are
walking legs.
Significant sighting: During t he first Dist urbance
and Recolonizat ion Experiment in a
Manganese Nodule Area of t he Deep Sout h Pacific
(DISCOL) expedit ion, a scorpion-like animal
was phot ographed several t imes at a dept h
of 13,616 feet in t he Peru Trench on February
12, 1989.
Possible explanations:
(1) The animal was t ent at ively ident ified as
a Tailless whip scorpion (Order
Amblypygi), which it cert ainly resembles.
All ot her t ailless whip scorpions are st rict ly
t errest rial, as are modern arachnids.
However, recent discoveries have shown
t hat ancest ors of t he True scorpions (Order
Scorpiones) were once primarily aquat ic and
were equipped wit h organs called book gills,
formed of respirat ory sheet s like t he pages of
a book. These scorpions oft en grew large;
Praearcturus gigas of t he Early Devonian,
400 million years ago, was more t han 3 feet
long. Aquat ic or amphibious species
persist ed unt il at least t he end of t he
Triassic, 205 million years ago. Some
scorpions might have survived by adapt ing
to abyssal dept hs.
(2) Sea spiders (Subphylum Pycnogonida)
are marine art hropods t hat are found from
int ert idal regions t o a dept h of 23,000 feet .
There are at least 1,000 species, but t hey are
lit t le known. Some deep-sea forms grow t o
more t han 2 feet across t he legs. Oft en
classed as an order wit hin t he chelicerat e
art hropods, t hey bear such unusual feat ures
(a long proboscis wit h an odd t erminal
mout h, a reduced abdomen, a pair of
ovigers for carrying eggs, long pouches in
the intest ines t hat ext end t o t he end of t he
legs) t hat t hey probably represent a sist er
t axon t o t he Chelicerat a. The second pair of
legs of t he DISCOL spider may have been
t he ovigers.
Source: Hjalmar Thiel and Gerd Shriever,
“The Enigmat ic DISCOL Species: A Deep Sea
Pedipalp?” Senckenbergiana Maritima 20
(Oct ober 1989): 171–175.
Denman’s Bird
Myst ery Bird of East Africa.
Distribution: Ruwenzori Range, Uganda.
Significant sighting: Canadian mount aineer
Earl Denman wat ched a pair of unident ifiable
birds dive swift ly and almost vert ically in t he
high mount ain air.
Possible explanation: Verreaux’s eagle (Aquila
verreauxii ), a black rapt or wit h a wingspan up
to 8 feet t hat lives in t he highlands of East Africa
and performs spect acular aerial court ship displays.
Adult s are oft en seen in pairs, diving t oget
her t o seize hyraxes and hares.
Sources: Earl Denman, Animal Africa
(London: Robert Hale, 1957), p. 159; Ben S.
Roesch, let t er, Strange Magazine, no. 18
(Summer 1997): 2–3.
Derketo
Fish-t ailed fert ilit y goddess of t he Middle East ,
one of t he first known Merbeings to be depict
ed in art .
Etymology: Greek word.
Variant names: At argat is, Dea Syria, Dercet o.
DERKETO 125