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Ameranthropoides loysi

The famous posed carcass photograph of the purported de Loys's Ape.

"Ameranthropoides loysi" (otherwise known as de Loys' Ape) is the unofficial name for a large primate supposedly encountered by François De Loys in South America. Apart from one photograph, no other evidence for the existence of this animal has ever been found. Controversy continues about the authenticity of the animal, with critics contending the de Loys' Ape is a hoax and that the photograph shows only a posed spider monkey carcass, though cryptozoology enthusiasts and a few others support the notion that Loys did indeed encounter an unknown primate.

Encounter

François de Loys, a Swiss oil geologist led an expedition from 1917 to 1920 to search for petroleum in an area along the border between Colombia and Venezuela, primarily near Lake Maracaibo. The expedition was unsuccessful, and furthermore suffered greatly due to disease and skirmishes with natives; of the 20 members of de Loys' group, only four survived.

According to de Loys' later report, in 1920, while camped near the Tarra River, two large creatures approached the group. Initially, de Loys thought they were bears, but then noted that they were monkey-like, holding onto shrubs and branches. The creatures—one male, one female—seemed angry, said de Loys, howling and gesturing, then defecating into their hands and flinging feces at the expedition. Fearing for their safety, the expedition shot and killed the female; the male then fled. De Loys and his companions recognized that they had encountered something unusual. The animal resembled a spider monkey, but was much larger: 1.57 meters tall (compared to the largest spider monkeys, which are just over a meter tall). De Loys counted 36 teeth (most new world monkeys have 32 teeth), and noted that the creature had no tail.

They posed the creature by seating it on a crate and propping a stick under its chin. After taking a single photograph, de Loys reported, they skinned the creature, intending to keep its hide and skull. Both items were later abandoned by the troubled expedition.

According to other reports, there were more photographs taken but were either lost in a flood or during the capsizing of the scientists' boat.

Detail of photo

Publication

After de Loys returned to Europe, he kept the story of the giant monkey to himself until 1929. That year, his friend, the anthropologist George Montandon, was perusing de Loys's files, seeking information about South America's native tribes. Montandon discovered the photograph, and thought it very important. De Loys finally related his account in the Illustrated London News of June 15, 1929, and three scientific articles regarding the creature were published in French journals. Montandon suggested a scientific name name for the creature: Ameranthropoides loysi.

Controversy

A spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), for comparison

After this publicity, Loys’ account was deemed unreliable by several critics, notably Sir Arthur Keith, a prominent anthropologist. Keith suggested de Loys was trying to pass off a normal spider monkey as something more exotic. The photograph did not clearly indicate the creature's size, and Keith also noted that by not photographing the creature’s posterior, de Loys had left open the question of whether or not it had a tail.

According to the highly notable cryptozoological researcher, Ivan T. Sanderson, the particular area of South America in which de Loys allegedly found the ape has no reports of oversized hominids. Sanderson believes it to be nothing more than a spider monkey. He says of the mystery surrounding the ape, "it is an outright hoax, and an obnoxious one at that, being a deliberate deception." [1]

Others have argued that de Loys could have encountered an unknown creature. The crate the creature was posed on was similar to ones commonly used for transporting gasoline, which measured just under 18 inches tall. Assuming this crate was the common type, its size would appear to support de Loys’ measurement of the creature, although, others say the crate is only 15 inches tall and the ape would measure under 4 feet - smaller than de Loys' claims. Researcher Michael Shoemaker, while noting some similarities to spider monkeys, argues that the creature has a few pronounced differences: its chest and hands are different; its face is much more oval than the spider monkey's distinctively triangular visage; it lacks the spider monkey’s pronounced underbite; and has a much higher forehead than spider monkeys.

Furthermore, it has been noted that occasional reports of similar creatures have been made from South America; such creatures have sometimes been dubbed Mono Grande or 'Large Monkey'.

Sources

  • Jerome Clark, Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena (Visible Ink Press, 1993).
  • Bernard Heuvelmans, On The Track Of Unknown Animals (Hill and Wang, 1958).
  • Michael Shoemaker, "The Mystery of Mono Grande", Strange Magazine, April 1991.
Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.