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Les Derniers Dragons d'Afrique (The Last Dragons of Africa[1]) is a cryptozoological book by Bernard Heuvelmans covering the neodinosaurs, neopterosaurs, and giant snakes of Africa, published in 1978 as part of the Bêtes Ignorées du Monde (Unknown Animals of the World) collection.
Summary[]
Les Derniers Dragons d'Afrique examines three kinds of African "dragon": giant snakes, amphibious dragons, and flying dragons, the latter two of which were subjects of chapters in On the Track of Unknown Animals (1955). After listing all the primary information on a geographical basis, Heuvelmans, utilising a method common in his later works, examines the accounts chronologically, establishing how they may have influenced one another. He explains most neodinosaur reports as large pythons and crocodiles or unknown mammals, with genuine neodinosaurs being restricted to the Zambezi, the north-western Congo, and the interior of Benin, the Congo being the only location with regular and apparently reliable reports. Heuvelmans concludes that there may be several main types of amphibious dragon: a a giant catfish, a sirenian, a sauropod dinosaur, and a sabre-toothed cat, the latter hypothesis being developed further in Les Félins Encore Inconnus d’Afrique (2007).
Reception[]
In a review published in Cryptozoology, herpetologist Jean-François Trape argued that many of Heuvelmans' conclusions could be challenged, and that he had placed too much faith in eyewitness testimony and second-hand accounts.[2] A copy of Les Derniers Dragons d'Afrique dedicated and presented to Michel Ballot by Heuvelmans in 1986 was partial inspiration for Ballot's current vocation as a field cryptozoologist in Central Africa.
Cryptids covered[]
Giant snakes[]
- Crowing crested cobra
- Grootslang
- Beast of Karoo
- 'Koo-be-eng
- Kou-teign-'koo-rou
- Giant pythons in Africa
- Taguerga
Amphibious dragons[]
- Amali
- Auli
- Badigui
- Lake Chad monster
- Chipekwe
- Coje ya menia
- Dagosta
- Dilali
- Dingonek
- Pygmy elephant
- Water elephant
- Gakula-gakula
- Great Brontosaurus Hoax
- Irizima
- Isiququmadevu
- Jago-nini
- "Kasai rex"
- Kipumbubu
- Lau
- Lipata
- Giant Ethiopian lizard
- Lukwata
- Mount Meru pond monster
- Mokele-mbembe
- Mourou-ngou
- Ndamathia
- Nsanga
- Ntambue ya maï
- N'yamala
- Lake Nyasa monsters
- Nzéfu-loï
- Freshwater octopuses in Africa
- Ol-umaina
- Lake Tanganyika monsters
- Rothschild tusk
- Umguza monster
- Vassoko
Flying dragons[]
- African vampire bats
- Kongamato
- Neopterosaurs in East Africa
- Neopterosaurs in Namibia
- Olitiau
- Sasabonsam
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Heuvelmans, Bernard (1995) On The Track Of Unknown Animals, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138977525
- ↑ Trape, Jean-François "Book Reviews," Cryptozoology, Vol. 1 (1982)