Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Mami Water
Merbeing of West Africa.
Variant names: Mami wata, Tahbin, Tahbiyin
(for the female).
Physical description: Fair-skinned female water
spirit.
Behavior: Represents eroticism.
Habitat: Rivers.
Distribution: Ghana; Niger River delta in
Nigeria.
Possible explanations:
(1) The West African manatee (Trichechus
senegalensis) is 7–12 feet long and found in
coastal waters and rivers from Senegal to
Angola. It feeds primarily at night, making
chance observations mysterious.
(2) The oldest known Mami water wooden
carvings date from about 1901 in riverine
areas of southern Nigeria. There is artistic
evidence that they derive from Der
Schlangenbandinger (The Snake Charmer), a
circa 1880–1887 chromolithograph of the
exotic, long-haired, snake-charming wife of
a Hamburg zookeeper. Copies of this
popular print that were sold in West Africa
in the mid- to late 1950s originated in
Mumbai and England.
Sources: Edward Geoffrey Parrinder, African
Traditional Religion (New York: Hutchinson’s
University Library, 1954); Jill Salmons,
“Mamy Wata,” African Arts 10, no. 3 (1977):
8–15, 87–88; Henry John Drewal,
“Performing the Other: Mami Wata Worship
in Africa,” TDR: The Drama Review 32, no. 2
(1988): 160–185; David Hecht, “Mermaids
and Other Things in Africa,” Arts Magazine
65, no. 3 (1990): 80–86; “Ghanaian Scientists
Unravel Mystery Mermaid’s Being,” Panafrican
News Agency, April 5, 2001, http://allafrica.
com/stories/200104050058.html.
Mamlambo
Freshwater Monsterof South Africa.
Etymology: From the Xhosa (Bantu) umamlambo,
the name for a mythical river goddess or
Merbeing who brings riches and whose true
form is a snake.
Physical description: Length, 66 feet. Head is
like a snake’s or horse’s. Eyes glow green at
night. Crocodilian body. Short, stumpy legs.
Behavior: Said to kill people and suck out
their blood and brains.
Distribution: Mzintlava River, near Mount
Ayliff, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Significant sighting: Eyewitnesses reported a
“half-fish, half-horse” monster in the Mzintlava
River that was held responsible for nine deaths
in the first months of 1997.
Possible explanations:
(1) The alleged Mamlambo victims
probably just drowned.
(2) The Electric catfish (Malapterurus
electricus) attains a length of 5 feet and can
deliver stunning or fatal shocks.
Sources: “Nature Conservation Called to
Hunt East Cape ‘Monster,’” Johannesburg Star,
April 30, 1997; “Mamlambo on the Loose,”
Cape Argus, May 17, 1997; Ben S. Roesch,
“Mamlambo: A ‘Man-Eating’ Reptile?”
Cryptozoology Review 2, no. 1 (1997): 9–10;
John Kirk, In the Domain of Lake Monsters
(Toronto, Canada: Key Porter Books, 1998),
pp. 259–260; Brian Siegel, “Water Spirits and
Mermaids: The Copperbelt Case,” paper
presented at the Southeastern Regional Seminar
in African Studies (SERSAS), April 14–15,
2000, Cullowhee, N.C., on line at http://
www.ecu.edu/african/sersas/Siegel400.htm.
Manaus Pterosaur
Flying Reptile of South America.
Physical description: Flat head. Long beak.
Long neck. Ribbed wings. Wingspan, 12 feet.
Behavior: Flies in a V-formation.
Distribution: Manaus, Amazonas State,
Brazil.
Significant sighting: Five winged animals flying
in a V-formation were seen by J. Harrison
near Manaus, Brazil, in 1947. Their wings resembled
brown leather and seemed to lack
feathers.
Possible explanations:
(1) A large stork native to Brazil, either the
Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria), the Maguari
(Ciconia maguari), or the Wood stork
(Mycteria americana).
MANAUS PTEROSAUR 313