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The Mokèlé-mbèmbé, which means "the one who stops the flow of rivers" in the Lingala language, is a dinosaur-like cryptid that lives in the Congo. It is said to look like a sauropod, or a long-necked dinosaur, such as Apatosaurus or Diplodocus. The Mokèlé-mbèmbé was the focus of the children's book Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith. There have been many sightings in the Congo and Cameroon. Its meat is apparently poisonous, as a group of villagers once killed one and everybody who ate the meat died shortly afterwards. Besides the Sasquatch, Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra, and Mothman, this is one of the most well-known cryptids.

Description[]

Mokele-mbembe

In the jungles of the central African countries of Congo, Cameroon and Gabon there were reports of an animal with a long neck, a long tail, and rounded shape tracks with three claws. The closest known animal that has these characteristics is a sauropod dinosaur. When some of the local people of the Likouala region would draw in the dirt or sand a representation of Mokèlé-mbèmbé they drew the shape of a sauropod dinosaur. Then when they were shown a picture of a sauropod dinosaur they said that picture is Mokèlé-mbèmbé.

Mokèlé-mbèmbé means "One that stops the flow of rivers." A French priest in the region called it "monstrous animal". Mokèlé-mbèmbé is also used as a generic term to refer to other animals like Emela-ntouka, Mbielu-mbielu-mbielu, and Nguma-monene. Mokèlé-mbèmbé has been described as an animal with a long neck and tail which are characteristics of a sauropod dinosaur.

Mokele

Its body size is somewhere between the size of a hippopotamus and an elephant. Its length has been reported to be between 5 to 10 meters (16 to 32 feet). The length of the neck is between 1.6 to 3.3 meters (5 to 10 feet). The length of the tail is between 1.6 to 3.3 meters (5 to 10 feet). The reports out of Cameroon have reported Mokèlé-mbèmbé to be up to 75 feet in length. There have also been reports of a frill on the back of the head. The frill is like the comb found on a male chicken. There have also been reports of it having a horn on its head. It could be based on terrified locals who have found bones of prehistoric sauropods like Paralititan, Aegyptosaurus, Vulcanodon, or Massospondylus although they only grew up to 45 feet.

The color of the skin is predominately reddish-brown with a color range from gray to brown. There are no reports of hair on the animal.

Sightings[]

  • April 2000 - Cameroon, Boumba River, two Congolese security guards
  • 2001 - February/March - CryptoSafari, Cameroon
  • 2000 - November - Gibbons-Wetzel, Cameroon
  • 1992 - Operation Congo 2
  • 1992 - Japanese Expedition
Mokelefootprint1

Footprint believed to be of a Mokèlé-mbèmbé

Mokele-Mbembe-foot-prints

Footprints

The tracks are rounded in shape and between 30 to 90 centimeters (1 to 3 feet) in diameter with three claws. The distance between tracks is about 2.1 to 2.4 meters (7 to 8 feet). The basic belief is that Mokèlé-mbèmbé does not make any sounds though there have been come conflicting reports. This is probably due to the fact that Mokèlé-mbèmbé is used generically for other animals and the sound is being confused with Emela-ntouka which makes a sound like a snort, howl, roar, rumble, or growl. Mokèlé-mbèmbé lives in the pools and swamps adjacent to the rivers of the Likouala swamp region of the People's Republic of the Congo on the continent of Africa. It uses the lakes as a crossing path to go from one river to another river.

Glencomeragh carving, Brother Richard Hendrick

The Glencomeragh carving.

A west African carving of a strange animal, currently housed at Glencomeragh House in County Tipperary in Ireland, is believed by some cryptozoologists to represent the Mokèlé-mbèmbé. It depicts a scaly animal with a long neck, a small head, cloven feet, a long tail, and a finned structure below its tail. It is alongside a smaller animal with similar features but no neck, and its relationship with the smaller animal is unclear. Although it has been suggested that the carving may be a modern creation, it has apparently been at Glencomeragh House since at least the 1950s, decades before Western interest in the Mokèlé-mbèmbé.

Mokèlé-mbèmbé was featured as a Kaiju in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, though only its silhouette and name were shown.

Google Earth

There is a picture of the creature from Google Earth.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cryptozoology/comments/dskuu0/theory_about_the_origin_of_suwa_and_mokelembembe/

Habits[]

Mokele-mbembe_92_footage-0

Mokele-mbembe 92 footage-0

Mokèlé-mbèmbé sighting from the BBC's 2001 Congo 2: Spirits of the Forest

The pygmies of the Likouala swamp region report that the essential diet of Mokèlé-mbèmbé consists of the Malombo plant. Since it only eats plants then Mokèlé-mbèmbé is classified as a herbivore. The Malombo plant actually describes two plants: Landolphia mannii and Landolphia owariensis. Mokèlé-mbèmbé lives most of the time underwater except when it eats or travels to another part of the swamp. It has been reported that Mokèlé-mbèmbé does not like hippopotamuses and will kill them on sight, but it does not eat them. Hippopotamuses cannot be found where Mokèlé-mbèmbé lives. It has been reported that Mokèlé-mbèmbé will overturn boats and kill the people from the boats by biting them and hitting them with its tail, but it does not eat the people. If this was a living sauropod most scientists and paleontologists doubt it would become hostile or carnivorous due to the fact that there are over 1,000 kinds of plants in the Congo.

Hoax[]

Scientists usually agree that the creature is a hoax, but others believe it could be a species of bird or other animal. The evidence for it being a hoax tends to be the fossil record not showing the survival of sauropods past the Kpg. A counter is that the coelacanth was found even though it was thought to be extinct since the Kpg. This can fall apart due to the fact that the coelacanth was a deep water fish and fish fossils don't preserve as well as dinosaurs' fossils which should preserve better. The fact that coelacanth fossils have been found in Israel (although this one could be propaganda by a Muslim creationist) and Sweden after the Kpg is further evidence skeptics like Zoologist Darren Naish tend to use. The other evidence such as footprints tend to show up as faulty as they can have the wrong number of toes. The fact that a new algae was discovered during a trip to find the supposed living dinosaur and the red Clovis monkey was also thought to be extinct in the Congo for years can be used as a talking point, saying that "If they can be discovered then why can't a 32 foot dinosaur?" This has not stopped people looking for the animal.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Explanations[]

Some believe the creature could be a giant lizard with a long neck, a rhino, an elephant, or even a large pangolin.

In Popular Media[]

Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend is a 1985 American adventure fantasy film directed by Bill L. Norton and starring William Katt, Sean Young, Patrick McGoohan, and Julian Fellowes. The film follows paleontologist Susan Matthews-Loomis and her husband George, who stumble upon Brontosaurus on an expedition in central Africa while trying to track down a local monster. The two are pursued by the African military in an attempt to protect a baby dino and its parents.

Produced by Walt Disney Studios and released on its Touchstone Films label, it was first released on March 22, 1985. A recut version aired on American television in 1989 under the title Dinosaur...Secret of the Lost Legend as part of the Wonderful World of Disney.

Copied from first and second paragraph. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby:_Secret_of_the_Lost_Legend

The Mokèlé-mbèmbé made an appearance in the 2012 adventure movie The Dinosaur Project, though it had a more Plesiosaur-like appearance rather than the traditional sauropod appearance.

- In the movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters, there is a Titan located in Jebel Barkal, Sudan named after the Mokèlé-mbèmbé.

  • In the novelization, Mokèlé-mbèmbé is described as a grey quadruped with a pebbled reptilian back, with a head resembling an earless elephant, although his tusks point down instead of up. Each of his feet possesses five claws, and his front legs are slightly longer than his hind legs. The tail of Mokèlé-mbèmbé is twice as long as the rest of his body. His mouth opens like a crocodile to reveal sharp teeth. He also has a curved horn on the top of his head, which glows with a faint green color. The creature in the novel broke free and went on a rampage, killing and devouring the agents in the area (revealing that it could eat flesh) before heading to Boston.

Sources[]

  • Boxberger, Leo von "Ein Unentdecktes Grosstierart in Innerafrika," Die Umschau 42 (1938)
  • Sanderson, Ivan T. "There Could Be Dinosaurs," Saturday Evening Post 220 (3 January 1948)
  • Heuvelmans, Bernard (1955) On the Track of Unknown Animals, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138977525
  • Heuvelmans, Bernard (1978) Les Derniers Dragons d'Afrique, Plon, ISBN 978-2259003872
  • Mackal, Roy P. (1987) A Living Dinosaur? In Search of Mokele-Mbembe, Brill, ISBN 978-9004085435
  • Shuker, Karl P. N. (1995) In Search of Prehistoric Survivors: Do Giant 'Extinct' Creatures Still Exist?, Blandford, ISBN 9-780713-724691
  • Emmer, Rick (2010) Mokele-mbembe: Fact Or Fiction?
  • Gibbons, William J. (2010) Mokele-Mbembe: Mystery Beast of the Congo Basin, Coachwhip Publications, ISBN 978-1616460105
  • Shuker, Karl P. N. (2016) Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors - The Creatures That Time Forgot?, Coachwhip Publications, ISBN 978-1616463908

https://cryptomundo.com/cryptozoology/mokele-mbembe/

http://www.unknownexplorers.com/mokelembembe.php

http://www.science-rumors.com/10-evidences-proof-the-mokele-mbembe-still-alive/

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB930_3.html

Mokele Mbembe!." Skeptic 17.3 (2012): 63-73. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.

https://books.google.com/books?id=NmIOAAAAQAAJ&dq=j+pinkerton+1814&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Claims of Post-Cretaceous Ichthyosaurs Part 4

https://www.academia.edu/8293900/Claims_of_Post-Cretaceous_Ichthyosaurs_Part_4

https://www.skepticblog.org/2011/06/29/a-living-dinosaur-in-the-congo-part-2/

Gallery[]

Poll[]

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