Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Protoceratops, a Late Cretaceous herbivore
that averaged 7–8 feet in length and whose
bones are commonly found in the Gobi,
Turpan, and Junggar Deserts along the
caravan route between the Tien Shan
Mountains of Kyrgyzstan and China and the
Altai Mountains of Mongolia. These
mountains and their alluvial basins were the
source of the gold mined by the Scythians
and other ancient peoples, and the proximity
of the desert fossils accounts for the ancient
association of gold and Gryps. Protoceratops
had a powerful beak and a dorsal shield like
a rearward-projecting horn. Its bones are
common even in modern times, and the area
is a rich source of fossil eggs and clutches of
young dinosaurs.
Sources: Herodotus, The Histories, ed. John
Marincola (New York: Penguin, 1996), p. 221
(iv. 13); Ctesias, Indika, in J. W. McCrindle,
ed., Ancient India (Calcutta, India: Thacker,
Spink, 1882), pp. 17, 44–46; Thomas Browne,
Pseudodoxia Epidemica [1672] (Oxford:
Clarendon, 1981), pp. 199–201, 822–823;
Adolph Erman, Travels in Siberia, Including
Excursions Northwards (London: Longman,
Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848), vol. 2,
pp. 87–89, 377–382; Valentine Ball, “The
Identification of the Pygmies, the Martikhora,
the Griffin, and the Dikarion of Ktesias,” The
Academy 23 (1883): 277; Edward Peacock,
“The Griffin,” The Antiquary 10 (September
1884): 89–92; George Jennison, Animals for
Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome (Manchester,
England: Manchester University Press, 1937), p.
115; Sergei I. Rudenko, Sibirskaia kollektsiia
Petra Pervogo (St. Petersburg, Russia: Akademiia
Nauk SSSR, 1962); Anna Maria Bisi, Il grifone:
Storia di un motivo iconografico nell’antico
Oriente mediterraneo (Rome: Centro di Studi
Semitici, Istituto di Studi del Vicino Oriente,
Universita di Roma, 1965); Engeborg Flagge,
Untersuchungen zur Bedeutung des Greifen (Sankt
Augustin, Germany: Hans Richarz, 1975); Peter
Costello, The Magic Zoo (New York: St.
Martin’s, 1979), pp. 71–82; Joe Nigg, The Book
of Gryphons (Cambridge, Mass.: Apple-wood
Books, 1982); Laskarina Bouras, The Griffin
through the Ages (Athens: Midland Bank, 1983);
Adrienne Mayor, “Griffin Bones: Ancient
Folklore and Paleontology,” Cryptozoology 10
(1991): 16–41; Adrienne Mayor and Michael
Heaney, “Griffins and Arimaspeans,” Folklore
104 (1993): 40–66; Adrienne Mayor,
“Guardians of the Gold,” Archaeology 47
(November-December 1994): 53–58; Kenneth
Carpenter, Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999);
Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters:
Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
2000), pp. 15–53.
Groot Slang
Freshwater Monsterof South Africa.
Etymology: Afrikaans, “great serpent.”
Variant names: Kayman, Ki-man (Nama/
Khoisan), !Koo-be-eng (Nama/Khoisan),
!Kouteign !koo-rou (“master of the water,”
Nama/Khoisan).
Physical description: Length, 20–39 feet.
Larger than a hippo. Black skin. Head, 7–8
inches wide. Neck, 8–10 feet long.
Tracks: Width, 18 inches.
Habitat: Rivers, lakes, and swamps.
Distribution: Orange and Vaal Rivers, South
Africa.
Significant sightings: A Nama rock painting
on Cathedral Peak, KwaZulu-Natal Province,
South Africa, depicts a great horned serpent
called !Koo-be-eng. Others appear in Brakfontein
Cave near Koesberg; in the cave near
Klein Aasvogelkop; and in the cave of the Great
Black Serpent in Rockwood Glen, near the
Upper Orange River.
About 1867, Hans Sauer saw a large, black
snake in the Orange River near Aliwal North,
Eastern Cape Province.
In 1899, merchant G. A. Kinnear was crossing
the Orange River near Upington, Northern
Cape Province, when he saw the head of a monstrous
serpent emerge from the water. About
8–10 feet of head and neck were visible.
In 1910, Frederick C. Cornell was camping
about 20 miles from Augrabiesvalle, Northern
Cape Province, with two companions, one an
American named Kammerer, who was bathing
GROOT SLANG 217