Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Vadoma
Tribe of WILDMEN of South Africa.
Physical description: Human but only has two
ostrichlike toes.
Behavior: Swift runner. Climbs trees easily.
Distribution: Zambezi River valley, northern
Zimbabwe.
Possible explanation: The Vadoma are a group
of about thirty formerly seminomadic families
living in the Zambezi Valley. Apparently, the
congenital deformity of bidactyly, wherein only
the first and fifth toes or fingers develop, occurs
with some regularity due to inbreeding and has
perpetuated the myth of a two-toed tribe.
Sources: R. S. Roberts, “The Making of a
Rhodesian Myth,” Rhodesian History 5 (1974):
89–92; M. Gelfand, C. J. Roberts, and R. S.
Roberts, “A Two-Toed Man from the Doma
People of the Zambezi Valley,” Rhodesian
History 5 (1974): 93–94; Bernard Heuvelmans,
Les bêtes humaines d’Afrique (Paris: Plon,
1980), pp. 87–105.
Van Roosmalen’s Tapir
Unknown HOOFED MAMMAL of South America.
Distribution: Rio Madeira drainage, Amazonas
State, Brazil.
Significant sighting: In 1996 and 1997, Dutch
zoologist Marc van Roosmalen glimpsed what
he considers to be a new species of Tapir
(Tapirus sp.) in the Amazon jungle.
Sources: Laurie Goering, “Amazon
Primatologist Shakes Family Tree for New
Monkeys,” Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1999;
“Amazon Flora and Fauna: An Interview with
Marc van Roosmalen,” 1999, http://www.
ethnobotany.org/zz-roos.html.
V
571
Varmint
Term used interchangeably for the BLACK DOG,
EASTERN PUMA, or MANED AMERICAN LION in
the United States, as well as small-game animals
popular with hunters.
Etymology: Southern U.S. variant form of vermin,
used for such undesirable animals as coyotes,
woodchucks, or other small game.
Physical description: Various forms of large
dogs or cats, often black.
Tracks: Five toes, unlike a big cat, which has
four.
Distribution: Throughout the United States,
primarily in sparsely populated areas.
Significant sightings: On August 7, 1948,
Arthur and Howard Turner were walking by
their farmhouse near Richmond, Indiana, when
they saw two animals, one like a maned lion, the
other like a black panther. For the next two
days, other people saw the pair in the area. Police
found tracks made by a five-toed animal estimated
to weigh 300 pounds.
Sources: Richmond (Ind.) Palladium-Item and
Sun Telegram, from July 29 to September 5,
1948; Predator Defense Institute, “Varmint
Hunting,” http://pdi.enviroweb.org/varmints.
htm.
Vasitri
WILDMAN of South America.
Etymology: Maipuran (Arawakan), “big devil.”
Variant name: Vasuri.
Physical description: Humanlike. Covered
with hair.
Behavior: Said to build huts and carry off
women.
Distribution: Upper Río Orinoco, Venezuela.
Significant sighting: Alexander von Humboldt