Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

cases, these beings are regarded as primarily supernatural,
although they may leave physical
traces and do other things that humans do—eat
food, wear clothes, use weapons, speak a language,
and worship gods. Little people often
represent the world lived in by children: they are
imperfectly understood, inferior, and yet compelled
to do the bidding of adults.
The literature on Little people is vast. Descriptions
vary widely depending on the environment
and local belief systems. Some cultures
have difficulty distinguishing between the real
and the mythic worlds, and the cryptozoologist
trying to make sense of it all runs the risk of
making the false assumption that these creatures
have a basis in physical reality. Often, the legends
are cited as evidence for Sm all H om inids,
which might include anything from an unknown
race of human Pygmies to surviving australopiths
or unclassified species of apes or monkeys.
Perhaps some folktales are based on beings
that went extinct thousands of years ago and
have become distorted, amplified, or hopelessly
entangled with other motifs.
In this category are found diminutive entities
that could represent folk memories of genuine
Hominids or Primates, as well as those that
have been mentioned in the cryptozoological literature.
Variant names:
Africa—AZIZA, Gnéna, Ijim éré, Kalanoro,
Mm oatia, Tokolosh.
Asia—Djinni.
Australasia—Jingara, Junjadee, Mum ulou,
Vui, Yawt.
Central and South America—Alux, C urup
ira, D uende, G üije, Ikal, Kenaim a, Shiru,
Trau co , Washipi.
Europe—Ælf (Old English), Duergar (Scandinavia),
Dwarf, Elf, Ellyllon (Wales), Fairy,
Gnome (Germany), Knocker (Cornwall, England),
Kobold (Germany), Massariol (Italy),
Nis (Scandinavia), Vila (Eastern Europe).
North America—Am ayp athenya, Atnan,
Ja-gen-oh (Iroquoian), Mem egwesi, Ninimbe,
Nunnehi, Pinini, Pukwudgee, Squolk-Ty-
Mish, Yunwi Tsunsdí.
Oceania—Menehune, Vélé.
Sources: Katharine M. Briggs, A Dictionary of
296 LIZARD MAN
Fairies (London: Allen Lane, 1976); Nancy
Arrowsmith and George Moorse, A Field Guide
to the Little People (New York: Hill and Wang,
1977); Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes, and
Goblins: An Encyclopedia of the Little People
(Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 1996);
John E. Roth, American Elves (Jefferson, N.C.:
McFarland, 1997).
Lizard Man
Bipedal, reptilian Entity of North America.
Variant names: Jabberwok, Reptile man.
Physical description: Humanoid form. Height,
7 feet. Greenish, grayish, or brown color. Scales,
sometimes in combination with or confused
with hair. Froglike face. Glowing red eyes.
Three-fingered hands.
Behavior: Amphibious, by some accounts.
Pungent odor.
Tracks: Three-toed, clawed prints 14 inches
long, 7 inches wide, and 1 inch deep. Stride, 40
inches.
Habitat: Swamps, rivers.
Distribution: Lake Thetis, British Columbia,
Canada; Riverside, California; Dogtown, Indiana;
Frederick County, Maryland; Newton,
New Jersey; Cincinnati area and Mansfield,
Ohio; Scape Ore Swamp, South Carolina.
Significant sightings: At 4:00 a.m.on May 25,
1955, Robert Hunnicutt saw three small figures,
about 3 feet tall, kneeling by a road in
Branch Hill, Ohio. They were grayish, with
froglike faces, a bulge on the chest, and slender
arms. In July 1955, a civil defense volunteer was
driving across the Little Miami River in Loveland,
Ohio, when he briefly saw four small figures
on the riverbank beneath the bridge. These
events have been classed with unidentified flying
object (UFO) sightings, though no direct
connection was established.
Again in Loveland, Ohio, police officers Ray
Shockey and Mark Matthews saw a 4-foot-tall,
leathery-skinned biped with a froglike face on
Riverside Road on March 3, 1972. It jumped
over a guardrail and down an embankment to
the Little Miami River. A similar creature was
seen on March 17.
On June 29, 1988, seventeen-year-old