Neopterosaurs in South America

J. Harrison's drawing of the "Manaus pterosaur".

Neopterosaurs have been reported from various parts of South America, most commonly the Brazilian Amazon, but also from Argentine Patagonia. All South American neopterosaur sightings have been established as cases of mistaken identitiy and hoaxes.

Confirmed cases of mistaken identity

In the 19^th Century, a pair of hunters named Milacsek and Shirdos allegedly shot down a pelican-like animal with leathery skin, as it flew away from a cave near Argentina's Lake Nahuel Huapi. The fate of the specimen, and its exact identification, is unclear. Ulrich Dunkel, who believed the animal was a pterosaur, wrote that it had been left with the National Museum of Natural History in Santiago, Chile, but was lost during one of the subsequent civil wars which Chile went through. One the other hand, Hans Krieg wrote that only the head was retrieved, and was discarded after three days, as it turned out to belong to a flying steamerduck (Tachyeres patachonicus), the version preferred by Karl Shuker.

Two South American storks, the jabiru (Jabiru mycteria) and the maguari (Ciconia maguari).

A J. A. Harrison of Liverpool claimed that around February 1947, he had seen, from an "estuary" of the Amazon near Manaus, five large birds flying in V-formation. According to Harrison, the birds had 12' wingspans, long necks and flat heads with beaks, and brown, ribbed, leathery wings without feathers.

“

The wingspan must have been at least twelve feet from tip to tip. They were brown in colour like brown leather, with no visible signs of feathers. The head was flat on top, with a long beak and a long neck. The wings were ribbed. [...] [They] were just like those large prehistoric birds [sic].

”

Nevertheless, a drawing which Harrison composed of the "large prehistoric birds" clearly identifies them as large storks such as jabirus (Jabiru mycteria), maguaris (Ciconia maguari), or wood storks (Mycteria americana).

Confirmed hoaxes

According to a report in a 1992 issue of the Australian tabloid People, a large pterosaur was observed flying alongside a plain trying to land in Brazil. A supposed anthropologist named George Biles described it as "a classic case of a white pterodactyl with a giant wingspan," of which he had previously heard rumours, and an air stewardess named Maya Cabon also gave a description. However, no record of either Biles or Cabon has ever been discovered outside of the People report and its reiterations.