Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

ANDEAN WOLF pelt at the zoological museum in Munich. (Alan Pringle/Fortean Picture Library)
beck discovered four pelts for sale in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, similar to those of a maned
wolf but thicker, darker in color, and with
smaller ears.
Ingo Krumbiegel examined an odd skull in
1935, supposedly that of a maned wolf but
larger and originating from the Andes Mountains
outside the animal’s range (lowlands farther
to the east).
Present status: A 2000 attempt at DNA analysis
of the remaining pelt at Munich’s zoological
museum proved unsatisfactory because it was
contaminated with human, dog, wolf, and pig
DNA. The pelt had also been chemically treated.
Possible explanation: The accidental pairing of
a Maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) skull with
a German shepherd (Canis familiaris) pelt.
Sources: Ingo Krumbiegel, “Der Andenwolf:
Ein neuentdecktes Grosstier,” Umschau 49
(1949): 590–591; Ingo Krumbiegel, “Der
‘Andenwolf,’ Dasycyon hagenbecki (Krumbiegel,
1949),” Säugetierkundliche Mitteilungen 1
18 ANFISH
(1953): 97–104; Fritz Dieterlen, “Über den
Haarbau des Andenwolfes, Dasycyon hagenbecki
(Krumbiegel, 1949),” Säugetierkundliche
Mitteilungen 2 (1954): 26–31; Angel Cabrera,
“Catalogo de los mamiferos de America del Sur,
1. (Metatheria—Unguiculata—Carnivora),”
Revista Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales
Rivadavia (Zoologia) 4 (1957): 1–307; Bernard
Heuvelmans, On the Track of Unknown
Animals (New York: Hill and Wang, 1958), pp.
68–69; Karl Shuker, “Pity about the Pelt,”
Fortean Times, no. 145 (May 2001): 23.
Anfish
FRESHWATER MONSTER of the Middle East.
Etymology: Madan (Marsh Arab) word.
Physical description: Hairy skin.
Distribution: Marshes at the mouth of the
Tigris River, Iraq.
Source: Wilfred Thesiger, The Marsh Arabs
(New York: Dutton, 1964), p. 115.