Mapinguary Real or Legend

[Minimalists]

There are reports that the Mapinguary may still be roaming the rainforest of the Amazon around Boliva and Brazil....There are claims of this thing devouring whole herds of cattle! As far as records go they say there has never been a documented attack on a human. Descriptions given of the creature say it stands around nine feet tall, has nasty claws and backward facing feet. It's claimed to have an extra mouth in it's belly. And they say you can smell it coming!  Of course all this sounds like a Hollywood horror flick gone bad I know. But some researchers claim that a prehistoric creature maybe the Mapinguary.

Enter the Giant Ground Sloth. Its claimed they were big, smelly and fercious creatures. Could the Mapinguary be some form of the now extinct Giant Ground Sloth?  Megatherium was a species of sloth that lived thousands of years ago and scientists claim it could have existed up until the 16th Century. Of course some liken it to none other than Bigfoot! Surprise!

Photo of the Giant Ground Sloth.

https://exemplore.com/cryptids/Mapinguari-Sightings-Does-Mylodon-Still-Exist

The above link has a good article on this if you care to read it....Also over on Lon Stricklins site Phantoms and Monsters there is an article as well.

https://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2011/04/does-giant-ground-sloth-still-live.html

https://cryptozoology.fandom.com/wiki/Giant_Sloth

So what do you think? Could a distant relative of the Megatherium still be roaming the Amazon rain forest? Or could it be Megatherium itself....? I did not bother to try and locate witness accounts of this thing but if any one has any feel free to post a link.....

Edited March 24, 2019 by Alien Origins
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[Farmer77]

11 minutes ago, Alien Origins said:

So what do you think? Could a distant relative of the Megatherium still be roaming the Amazon rain forest? Or could it be Megatherium itself....? I did not bother to try and locate witness accounts of this thing but if any one has any feel free to post a link.....

I would never say never when it comes to things possibly hiding in the Amazon.

[Minimalists]

32 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

I would never say never when it comes to things possibly hiding in the Amazon.

You got that right...There are many an Urban Legend that comes out of that area Giant Anaconda etc...Some of the stuff would actually scare the hell out of devil.....

[Carnoferox]

David Oren is probably the best known mapinguari researcher and even published two papers on the subject.

• Oren, D.C. (1993). Did ground sloths survive to recent times in the Amazon region? Goeldiana Zoologia, 19, 1-11.
• Oren, D.C. (2001). Does the endangered xenarthran fauna of Amazonia include remnant ground sloths? Edentata, 4, 2-5.

[oldrover]

I don't think the mapinguary exists for a second, but it is an interesting interpretation of what's probably a very diverse set of local tales, or at least it's an interesting thought. 

There's also the part of the stories which claim that it's impervious to shotgun fire, and can only be killed by a rifle. This has been suggested by sone authors to be because the ground sloth mylodon had boney ossicles in its skin. 

If it was a ground sloth,  myodon rather than megatherium would be the best candidate. 

But the mouth in the stomach is a funny aspect, and while I don't take any of it seriously, I've often wondered that given it's also got a fearsone reputation why has no one ever interpreted this 'mouth' in its stomach as a pouch. If you do that, then there's another candidate for the mapinguary, even more unlikely than a living ground sloth, but at least as interesting, a Sparassadont. 

Much more distant than the ground sloths Sparassadonts were largeish Metatherian predators close to, but outside of, the Marsupials, which were South America's mammalian top predators. I'm not sure I'd prefer this, as much as I love all things Metatherian groubd sloths are my second favourite extinct animal. 

Edited March 24, 2019 by oldrover

[Carnoferox]

4 minutes ago, oldrover said:

But the mouth in the stomach is a funny aspect, and while I don't take any of it seriously, I've often wondered that given it's also got a fearsone reputation why has no one ever interpreted this 'mouth' in its stomach as a pouch. If you do that, then there's another candidate for the mapinguary, even more unlikely than a living ground sloth, but at least as interesting, a Sparassadont. 

I think it has been suggested before that the "mouth" on the stomach is just a difference in coloration that functions as a warning marking.

[oldrover]

1 minute ago, Carnoferox said:

I think it has been suggested before that the "mouth" on the stomach is just a difference in coloration that functions as a warning marking.

Also at least once as a scent gland. 

The backward facing feet is interesting too, as this idea keeps cropping up. And from many different parts of the world. 

[Carnoferox]

Just now, oldrover said:

Also at least once as a scent gland. 

The backward facing feet is interesting too, as this idea keeps cropping up. And from many different parts of the world. 

I could see it being possible to interpret ground sloth footprints as turned backwards.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaar7621

[oldrover]

27 minutes ago, Carnoferox said:

I could see it being possible to interpret ground sloth footprints as turned backwards.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaar7621

There is that. I see it though as some sort of universal idea of the trixter thing in the forest. You see it in S E Asua, Africa, and I think North America. 

[Piney]

2 minutes ago, oldrover said:

There is that. I see it though as some sort of universal idea of the trixter thing in the forest. You see it in S E Asua, Africa, and I think North America. 

Brother Rabbit, Coyote or the Little People ( Answer Mees). I don't remember anything "cryptid". 

[oldrover]

3 minutes ago, Piney said:

Brother Rabbit, Coyote or the Little People ( Answer Mees). I don't remember anything "cryptid". 

I mean the idea of the thing in the forest leaving backward facing foot prints, which I think relates to the idea of trickery and to being misleading. Now that I think more carefully though I can't think of a context where I'd have heard of it in N America. And you haven't? 

[Piney]

1 minute ago, oldrover said:

I mean the idea of the thing in the forest leaving backward facing foot prints, which I think relates to the idea of trickery and to being misleading. Now that I think more carefully though I can't think of a context where I'd have heard of it in N America. And you haven't? 

Answer Mees did that!  But they were dwarfs who some tribes actually described as a Homo-Floresiensis type creature. 

[oldrover]

Just now, Piney said:

Answer Mees did that!  But they were dwarfs who some tribes actually described as a Homo-Floresiensis type creature. 

Ah I see. Sorry, I'm with you now. Not at my sharpest today I'm afraid. 

So this is a really universal idea then. 

[Piney]

1 minute ago, oldrover said:

So this is a really universal idea then. 

Even in Europe. The Balto-Slavic Leshi was good for misleading hunters and the Basque Basejan. 

[Tatetopa]

14 minutes ago, Piney said:

Brother Rabbit, Coyote or the Little People ( Answer Mees). I don't remember anything "cryptid". 

In the Northwest, Stick Indians were said to lure people into the forest, confuse them and get them lost.   The elder that told me about them could not remember ever hearing that they hurt or killed anyone, at least in the Warm Springs tradition.

[oldrover]

15 minutes ago, Piney said:

Even in Europe. The Balto-Slavic Leshi was good for misleading hunters and the Basque Basejan. 

Trying to think if we've got anything like this. 

[Carnoferox]

6 minutes ago, oldrover said:

There is that. I see it though as some sort of universal idea of the trixter thing in the forest. You see it in S E Asua, Africa, and I think North America. 

Yes it's a common element in folklore and I think it's safer to say that it's just that and not based on ground sloths.

[oldrover]

Yeah it's a strangely consistent idea. Makes you wonder just how old it is. 

[Minimalists]

18 minutes ago, Carnoferox said:

Yes it's a common element in folklore and I think it's safer to say that it's just that and not based on ground sloths.

Folklore does at times have a bit of truth to it...But then agian look at how all these things start, word of mouth..I don't much believe the tale either especially not taking it at face value thats for sure. Now the theory of some prehistoric sloth hanging around the Amazon I think it is highly unlikely..

[Carnoferox]

7 minutes ago, Alien Origins said:

Folklore does at times have a bit of truth to it...But then agian look at how all these things start, word of mouth..I don't much believe the tale either especially not taking it at face value thats for sure. Now the theory of some prehistoric sloth hanging around the Amazon I think it is highly unlikely..

I agree with you there, if there were ground sloths still alive then there should be a ton of physical evidence like footprints, scat, fur/skin, etc.

[oldrover]

8 minutes ago, Alien Origins said:

Folklore does at times have a bit of truth to it...But then agian look at how all these things start, word of mouth..I don't much believe the tale either especially not taking it at face value thats for sure. Now the theory of some prehistoric sloth hanging around the Amazon I think it is highly unlikely..

I think the element of truth is as universal as the tales of backward feet -keep your wits about you in the forest. 

[oldrover]

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/42132822@N03/5542719992/

Mylodon hide. 

Edited March 24, 2019 by oldrover

[Farmer77]

Stories of untrackable creatures with backwards feet seems like it would also be a natural way to keep neighboring tribes from trying to hunt in your territory. 

Kinda like here in AZ when talking about a good fishing spot I always say "fishing's great but be careful there's lots of snakes"

[oldrover]

4 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

Stories of untrackable creatures with backwards feet seems like it would also be a natural way to keep neighboring tribes from trying to hunt in your territory. 

Kinda like here in AZ when talking about a good fishing spot I always say "fishing's great but be careful there's lots of snakes"

There are never any snakes in my fishing spots.

Just crabs and heckling seals. 

[Piney]

2 hours ago, oldrover said:

Just crabs and heckling seals. 

At least they don't try to bite your butt. Damn sea beagles are like blue healers in The North.