 |
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
oldrover Great Old One Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Total posts: 2146 Location: Wales Gender: Male |
 Posted: 14-03-2012 20:18 Post subject: |
 |
|
|
| Well according to something I saw about this the other day, a policeman and a cryptozoologist looking for clues about it, they tracked an old museum catalouge or something which listed the specimen from Gevaudan as 'hyena'. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| Analis Great Old One Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Total posts: 851 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 23-03-2012 16:31 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| stuneville wrote: |
But again. this is pattern we see to this day in cryptozoology. I'm pushed for time right now, but briefly, bearing in mind that today, in the UK, a densely populated island, people tacitly accept the existence of wild big cats, and until recently the existence of wild boar in the Forest of Dean was officially denied (there are loads of them, which has now been officially acknowledged) whereas France was then far more sparsely populated than today, is contiguous with mainland Europe, and had vast tracts of woodland in which heaven knows what could hide. There was no internet, no local press even. Communities were often effectively isolated from the rest of the world. Everything was word of mouth, and no-one knows how much of that tradition has been lost. For all we know there could hav been a mountian of anecdotal evidence from elsewhere going back centuries, now lost altogether.
Again, I'm not saying this is what must have happened, but I am demonstrating there are plausible conditions in which large cryptids could thrive without official acknowledgement, and that those conditions are often still viable today. |
I believe you overestimate the isolation of rural communities in old France and Europe as a whole.
You are refering to a classic scenario put forward by cryptozoologists, the animal that gave birth to old tales and legends, but became extinct before modern zoology could identify it. There are at least two cases that are reasonably confirmed : the giant lemur propliothecus in Madagascar, present at least as late as the 15th century, and probably the source for the legendary tretretre ; and the Atlas bear.
But the latter doesn't really support your scenario : it was relatively well known by ancient scholars, and left many traces among Roman art. In the 19th century, its existence was acknowledged by a number of zooogists, who gave it a scientific name. A dead specimen was studied in the 1830s. It is true that some naturalist still kept doubts, but it is evidence not of lack of evidence, but of how stubborn scientists may be. The fact that the specimen was lost didn't help. Although some questions remain unanswered. It's unclear if it was a subspecies or whole species. And its exact date of extinction is also unclear. But the discovery of bones dated 4th century dispelled any doubts about its existence in Roman times.
If this bear, in a marginal region of the Roman Empire, was widely known at the time, it is difficult to understand how an unknown large mamal could have remained completely unknown in Western Europe. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| oldrover Great Old One Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Total posts: 2146 Location: Wales Gender: Male |
| Posted: 23-03-2012 17:05 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Agreed, I think our picture of historical settlement is most probably a bit romanticised. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| chumpanzie Yeti Joined: 25 May 2010 Total posts: 44 Location: Newcastle upon tyne, uk Gender: Male |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
