De Loys's ape, given the proposed scientific name Ameranthropoides loysi, was an alleged large primate reported by Swiss geological explorer François de Loys in South America. The only evidence for the animal besides de Loys's testimony is one photograph. It was promoted by George Montandon as a previously unknown species, but is now considered a misidentification of a spider monkey species or a hoax.
Actualizări recente
François de Loysa publicat o actualizare
acum 4 ore
Encounter Swiss oil geologist de Loys led an expedition from 1917 to 1920 to search for petroleum in an area along the border between Colombia and Venezuela, primarily near Lake Maracaibo. The expedition was unsuccessful. De Loys's group suffered diseases and violent encounters with native populations; only four of the 20 members survived. According to de Loys's later report, in 1920, while camped on a bank of a tributary of the Tarra River, two large creatures approached the group. Initially, de Loys thought they were bears, but then noted that they were monkey-like. The creatures – one male, one female – seemed angry, said de Loys, and they advanced howling and gesturing, as well as breaking and holding some branches.They defecated into their hands,and flung feces at the expedition. Fearing for their safety, the expedition fired at the pair, killing the female and wounding the male. De Loys and his companions recognised that they had encountered something unusual. The animal resembled a spider monkey, but was much larger: 1.57 m tall (compared to the largest spider monkeys, which are just over a metre tall). De Loys counted 32 teeth (most New World monkeys have 36 teeth), and noted that the…
0 comentarii3 vizualizări0 reacții
François de Loysa publicat o actualizare
acum 4 ore
Publication After de Loys returned to Europe, the story was not reported until 1929, when his friend George Montandon discovered the photograph while perusing de Loys's files for information about South America's native tribes. At Montandon's urging, De Loys related his account in the Illustrated London News of June 15, 1929, and three articles regarding the creature were published in French journals. Montandon suggested the scientific name Ameranthropoides loysi, and proposed it as the ancestor of Native Americans in support of his "Hologenesis Hypothesis", which suggested different racial groups of Homo sapiens evolved independently from different non-human ape species rather than sharing a common human ancestor. This hypothesis was popular at the time, but now many regard it as nothing but the product of racist and discriminatory views Montandon held.
0 comentarii3 vizualizări0 reacții
François de Loysa publicat o actualizare
acum 4 ore
Controversy After this publicity, de Loys's account was deemed unreliable by many prominent critics, including primatologist Philip Hershkovitz and anthropologist Arthur Keith. Keith suggested de Loys was trying to pass off a normal spider monkey as something more exotic. The photograph did not clearly indicate the creature's size, and Keith also noted that by not photographing the creature’s posterior, de Loys had left open the question of whether or not it had a tail. Keith suggested the animal in the photo was simply a spider monkey.
0 comentarii3 vizualizări0 reacții
François de Loysa adăugat o fotografie
acum 4 ore
R.I.P François
De Loys's ape, given the proposed scientific name Ameranthropoides loysi, was an alleged large primate reported by Swiss geological explorer François de Loys in South America. The only evidence for the animal besides de Loys's testimony is one photograph. It was promoted by George Montandon as a previously unknown species, but is now considered a misidentification of a spider monkey species or a hoax.
0 comentarii3 vizualizări0 reacții
François de Loysa publicat o actualizare
acum 4 ore
Further reading Viloria, A. L.; Urbani, F.; Urbani, B. (1998). "François de Loys (1892-1935) y un hallazgo desdenado: La historia de una controversia antropologica". Intercienca (in Spanish). 32 (2): 94–100. Viloria, A. L.; Urbani, F.; McCook, S.; Urbani, B. (1999). "De Lausanne aux forêts vénézuéliennes. Mission géologique de François de Loys (1892-1935) et les origines d'une controverse anthropologique". Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles (in French). 86 (3): 157–174.
