Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

geographically closer Eastern chimpanzee, P.
t. schweinfurthi (light to dark face, dark hair,
beard). The gray lumbar saddle is more
characteristic of a male gorilla.
(2) An unknown subspecies of chimpanzee,
suggested by W. C. Osman Hill, since
earlier accounts were also recorded in the
area and could indicate a stable population.
(3) The last of a remnant population of
chimpanzees, isolated for many years in this
pocket of Central Africa.
Sources: Ivan T. Sanderson, Abominable
Snowmen: Legend Come to Life (Philadelphia:
Chilton, 1961), pp. 195–203; “Camera
Captures Unknown Ape,” Popular Science
Monthly 179 (July 1961): 83; W. C. Osman
Hill, “The Ufiti: The Present Position,”
Symposia of the Zoological Society of London 10
(1963): 57–59; Bernard Heuvelmans, Les bêtes
humaines d’Afrique (Paris: Plon, 1980), pp.
460–473, 548.
Uktena
FRESHWATER MONSTER of North Carolina.
Etymology: Cherokee (Iroquoian), “keeneyed.”
Physical description: Diamondlike crest on the
forehead, sometimes interpreted as horns or
antlers. Rings or spots of color along its body.
Behavior: Venomous.
Sources: James Mooney, “Myths of the
Cherokee,” Annual Report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology 19 (1900): 297–300;
Arlene Fradkin, Cherokee Folk Zoology: The
Animal World of a Native American People,
1700–1838 (New York: Garland, 1990).
Ulak
Unknown PRIMATE of Central America.
Etymology: Sumo Tawahka (Misumalpan),
“big wild man” or “monkey monster.”
Variant names: Uluk, Wulasha (Mískito/
Misumalpan).
Physical description: Apelike. Height, 5 feet.
Covered with black hair. Backward teeth. Females
have pendulous breasts. Feet or claws
point backward. No tail.
566 UKTENA
Behavior: Said to carry off women.
Habitat: Mountain caves.
Distribution: Cordillera Isabella, Nicaragua;
Montañas de Colon, Honduras.
Sources: Eduard Conzemius, “Ethnographical
Survey of the Miskito and Sumu Indians of
Honduras and Nicaragua,” Bulletin of the
Bureau of American Ethnology 106 (1932): 168;
John E. Roth, American Elves (Jefferson, N.C.:
McFarland, 1997), pp. 33–37.
Ular Tedong
FRESHWATER MONSTER of Southeast Asia.
Etymology: Semelai (Austroasiatic), “buffalo
snake.”
Physical description: Serpentine. Grayish when
young, golden when mature. Width, 6 feet at its
middle. Big, snakelike head. Small, soft horns.
Long neck. Two humps.
Behavior: Aquatic. Rises up out of the water
to the height of a palm tree. Makes a loud,
trumpeting snort.
Distribution: Tasek Bera, Pahang State,
Malaysia. Unfortunately, the lake is now choked
with weeds and largely destroyed by plantations.
Possible explanation: A surviving long-necked,
aquatic reptile like an elasmosaurus, suggested
by Karl Shuker. Its total length of 33 feet included
a huge neck with seventy cervical vertebrae.
It lived in the Late Cretaceous of North
America, 90–65 million years ago.
Sources: Stewart Wavell, The Lost World of
the East (London: Souvenir, 1958); Tim
Dinsdale, The Leviathans (London: Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1966), pp. 101–104; Karl
Shuker, In Search of Prehistoric Survivors
(London: Blandford, 1995), pp. 33–35; Karl
Shuker, “R.I.P. Tasek Bera,” Fortean Times,
no. 158 (June 2002): 21.
Unágemes
Small MERBEING of Maine.
Etymology: Passamaquoddy (Algonquian),
“spirit dwelling in the rock.” Plural, Unageméswuk.
Behavior: Aquatic.
Significant sighting: Said to be featured on
some pictographs.