Neodinosaurs in New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago

Neodinodaurs in New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago Category Neodinosaur Proposed scientific names Other names Au angi-angi, kaiaimunu, Lake Murray monster, Murray, Papuan Iguanodon, rharhru. Country reported Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya. First reported 1999 Prominent investigators • Brian Irwin • Todd Jurasek

Neodinosaurs have been reported from New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, especially New Britain, in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. The main type reported is a bipedal, long-necked, ridge-backed amphibious (sometimes partially-marine) animal often compared to a kangaroo, which has allegedly been seen at least nine times since the 1990s. This type is sometimes called the kaiaimunu, after a similar creature from Papuan folklore. Giant monitor lizards have also been reported separately from New Guinea, including amphibious types, with which these bipedal neodinosaurs have sometimes been synonymised.

Physical evidence

Specimens

Josh Gates was shown bones alleged to be from something like the "Iguanodon" seen near Tinganavudu, but these were later identified as probable whale bones. A globster washed up and recorded on the coast of western New Britain has also been connected with this cryptid, as locals who saw it up close claimed that it was wallaby-like, with large hind limbs, small fore limbs, and a saw structure on its back; although other locals were adamant that the animal was unfamiliar to them. The "New Britain carcass," however, is generally identified as a decayed whale.

Sightings

1992

John Manlel claimed, some two decades after the fact, to have encountered what he called a "bright green dinosaur" in a mangrove forest on the shore of Aivet Island in 1992. He was canoeing offshore when, at around 4:00 PM, he came across the animal in open water, some twenty or so yards away. Startled by the man's appearance, the animal clumsily tried to submerge, but took around five minutes to do so because of its build.

Manlel described the "dinosaur" as about 12' in length, with a very thick (about 8'' wide) 5' to 6' tail used for lateral propulsion, and covered in rough skin. The hind limbs were much larger than the fore limbs, which had hand-like appendages. It had a system of ridges on its back; a small saw-like structure which became taller between the hind limbs and the tip of the tail, and possibly a pair of smaller, crocodile-like ridges on either side of the central saw.

1999

A dinosaur-like animal was allegedly reported from Lake Murray, in mainland New Guinea, in December 1999. On 11 December, local villagers claimed to have seen a large animal wading in the shallows near Boboa. The following day, a pastor and a church elder claimed to have seen the same animal nearby. It was described as a wide-bodied, crocodile-skinned, bipedal animal "as long as a dump trunk," with a long neck and tail, hind limbs "as thick as coconut palm tree trunks," and a cow-like head featuring large eyes and sharp teeth. It was said to have relatively large, triangular "scoops" on its back.

2004

In March 2004, it was reported that sightings of a "dinosaur," which had supposedly eaten three dogs, in New Britain had caused such concern in the village of Tinganavudu that armed police were deployed to search for it. Several people, including one Christine Samei, claimed to have seen a "three-metre tall, grey-coloured creature with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile" in a dense marsh near Kokopo.

Samei described it as "very huge and ugly looking" and "as fat as a 900-litre water tank," and, interviewed by Josh Gates, added that it had a body like an illustration of Iguanodon he presented, but with a dog-like head and red eyes. Another eyewitness, Leot, described its long neck and tail, and stressed its huge size.

2005 or 2006

Robert compared the animal he allegedly saw to Therizinosaurus, but only generally.

Two people, "Robert" and Tony Avil, claimed to have seen a dinosaur-like animal on Ambungi Island in either 2005 or 2006. Robert, who was interviewed by Brian Irwin in 2008, claimed to have observed the animal for some time during the late afternoon, from a distance of around 150', as it browsed on vegetation before moving into a body of water. Robert described it as a bipedal, wallaby-shaped animal standing "as high as a house," with smooth brown skin, a long tail, and a long neck tipped with a turtle-like head. Presented with pictures of various animals, Robert thought that Therizinosaurus looked most like what he saw, although the head and claws were different.

2015

The most recent "dinosaur" sighting collected by Irwin and Todd Jurasek allegedly occurred in July 2015 off Ambungi Island, and featured a marine animal. The eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed to have seen a long-necked brown animal with a saw-like ridge swimming in the open ocean.

Theories

Although one eyewitness identified what he saw with an image of the dinosaur Therizinosaurus, this cryptid does not have long claws like the dinosaur, and Karl Shuker notes that such an identification only provides an idea of what the cryptid looks like. It has also been compared to other, very different dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus and Iguanodon. Shuker observes that the saw-backed aquatic animals resemble large crocodiles, though he notes that local people ought to be familiar with crocodiles, and that the limb proportions are unusual for a crocodile. Dale A. Drinnon theorises that the animal described is likely a species of very large lizard, paralleling the Amazonian "Iguanodon", which he also considers to be a lizard.

Bernard Heuvelmans described a giant amphibious monitor lizard, au angi-angi ("snake above all other snakes"), from New Guinea, a name which George Eberhart uses to refer to the Lake Murray monster reported in 1999. Other synonyms listed by Eberhart are artrellia (an explicit monitor lizard), kaiaimunu, and rharhru.