Makalala

Illustration of the makalala by Markus Bühler.

The makalala (Unknown: "noisy") was a cryptid giant bird reported from Tanzania, described as a long-legged raptor-like bird with horny tips on its wings.

Description

The makalala was described as a monstrous bird taller than the ostrich (2.1 – 2.8 metres), with very long legs, the head and beak of a bird of prey, and the ability to fly. Each of its wingtips was said to bear hard plates composed of "a horny, compact substance," which produces a very loud sound when the wings are struck together, earning the bird it's name.

Count Marschall, who first described it, claimed that it was said to be a very fierce animal, but Gustav A. Fischer described it as shy. It could be killed by hunters who pretended to be dead, allowing them to ambush it, and the skulls of makalala's were used by native chiefs as helmets. It was described by the Wasequa or Zigua people, who inhabit the land between the Iruvu and Wami Rivers, in what is now Tanzania, eight to nine days away from the coast opposite Zanzibar.

Sightings

Undated

Sometime before 1878, Gustav A. Fischer saw in Zanzibar a rib which seemed to have come from some type of gigantic bird. It narrows from one end to the other, was eight inches at its widest end, and was just under one inch at its narrowest. However, Fischer was reluctant to believe that the rib actually came from a bird.

Theories

A giant species of marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) would conform in some ways with the description of the makalala.

The terror bird Lavocatavis once roamed Africa. It may have resembled the South American genus Procariama, drawn here by Smokeybjb.

Karl Shuker suggests the makalala could have been a giant form of secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius).

There are a number of theories concerning the makalala's possible identity. The shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) is native to western Tanzania, but may occasionally travel eastward, and is very large and imposing-looking. However, it does not have horny tips on its wings, does not scavenge carcasses, and, as Karl Shuker notes "its overall appearance is so singular that it seems unlikely the Wasequa would confuse such an unmistakeable species with anything else".

The marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is native to Tanzania, is very large, and is fierce enough to fight off vultures, but Shuker notes that it is unlikely that such a familiar bird would have been converted by local myth into a mystery animal. However, Markus Bühler points out that, during the Pliocene era, there was a species of very large marabou, (Leptoptilos falconeri), which stood taller than a man. It had slightly smaller wings, suggesting it was more terrestrial than the modern marabou, but was still able to fly. It is believed to have gone extinct two and a half million years ago, but Shuker writes that, if it survived into historical times, "there is no doubt that it could have been a thought-provoking makalala candidate", although marabou's do not have the raptor-like beak reported on the makalala.

Another large prehistoric bird that once lived in Africa was Eremopezus, which lived during the Eocene, until around 33 million years ago. It's fossils suggest that it was very large, flightless, and possibly predatory. Shuker notes that, although the fossil record is famously incomplete, "it seems implausible that this species could have lingered on into the present day or given rise to modern-day descendants without some geographically intervening remains have been found somewhere between Egypt and Tanzania's portion of East Africa".

The description of the makalala somewhat recalls the phorusrhacids or terror birds, which are believed to have gone extinct around two and a half million years ago. Although the only confirmed terror bird fossils come from the Americas, a possible phorusrhacid, Lavocatavis africana, is known from Eocene Algeria, from a single femur bone. However, terror birds were definitely flightless.

The are of the flightless bird ancient ostrich long legged bird Asian ostrich (Struthio asiaticus) are extinct bird

Some zoologists have suggested that the secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) of East Africa could be a seriema relative, making it a modern-day terror bird descendant. The secretarybird also generally corresponds to the makalala's morphology - it has long legs, strong wings, the head and hooked beak of a bird of prey, and horny "claws" on it's wings - although it is not nearly so large. Shuker notes that there are very few bird species with claws, and, among them, the secretarybird is the only carnivorous species.

Karl Shuker speculates that the makalala may have been a species of giant secretarybird, not necessarily as tall as the Wasequas state, but much larger than a normal secretarybird. Alternatively, he also suggests that the makalala could have been a giant false secretarybird, a different raptorial species which had come to resemble the secretarybird by convergent evolution. One such "false secretarybird", Apatosagittarius terrenus, is known from Miocene North America.

Karl Shuker writes that, given the lack of sightings since the 1870's, if the makalala ever existed, it is now likely to be extinct. However, he notes that it's former existence may yet still be proven, given the fact that the Wasequas were said to use makalala skulls as helmets; some of these may still exist.