Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs sighted in PNG?
by Brian Irwin
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The author is an Australian who recently visited Papua New Guinea, meeting up with
residents of West New Britain who told him1
of two dinosaur-like creatures they have seen in the area. Here is his account.
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These are excerpts from the ‘PNG’ and ‘World Political’
Hema maps, <hemamaps.com>.
Theropod and sauropod dinosaurs have been reportedly sighted at small islands along
the south west coast of New Britain Island in West New Britain Province, Papua New
Guinea.
Therizinosaurus-like dinosaur sighting in West New Britain
Figure 1.
Four locals from Umbungi Island with myself. Robert (the most recent observer of
the reptilian creature) is the third from the left. The residents from Umbungi Island
were very helpful to me.
Since the 1990s, a large ‘reptilian’ creature has been sighted occasionally
on Umbungi Island in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Umbungi Island is located
on the south coast of West New Britain between Kandrian and Gasmata. The creature
has also been sighted on Alage Island,2
about 1km to the south of Ambungi Island.
I interviewed a young man on Umbungi Island, Robert (see figures 1 and 2), who sighted
the creature around 2005/2006. The creature was also sighted at the same time by
Tony Avil, who was not on Umbungi Island when I was there. Robert does not speak
English, so an interpreter was used to translate Pidgin to English.
The creature was described as having a long tail and a long neck and was 10–15
metres in length, with an appearance like a ‘very large wallaby’ and
having a head like a turtle’s head.
Photo by Brian Irwin
Figure 2. Some locals from Umbungi Island show where the Therizinosaurus-like
creature entered the island from the sea. The person third from the left is Robert,
who described the creature in detail.
It walked slowly on two legs and had smooth, shiny brown skin. The top of the head
was estimated to be as high as a house and the underbelly of the creature was as
high as an adult.
The creature was described as being fearful-looking, with the sighting being made
from a distance of about 50 metres. The sighting was made in the late afternoon and was observed for a considerable
length of time (not sure of the exact duration of time) and the creature was eating
vegetation. Robert and Tony followed the creature from a distance and watched it
go into the water after it finished eating.
When shown the handbook by Hazel Richardson, Dinosaurs And Prehistoric Life3 (cover shown in figure 3, Robert identified a picture of a Therizinosaurus as closely matching
the animal he observed, with the exception of one feature, i.e. the creature’s
head.
Figure 3. The dinosaur handbook shown to the Umbungi Island residents
who reported seeing a dinosaur-like creature on and around their island.
Figure 4. Artist’s reconstruction of a Therizinosaurus on
p. 114 of the dinosaur handbook shown to the people of West New Britain who witnessed
a large ‘reptilian’ creature in recent years.
The animal that Robert saw had a head looking more like a turtle’s head as
opposed to the horse-like head shown in the theropod dinosaur reconstruction on
page 114 in the book. (See figure 4.) Should one wonder at this? Actually, paleontologists
are reported as acknowledging that the fossil remains of Therizinosaurus
are incomplete. So incomplete in fact that:
‘The feeding habits of Therizinosaurus are unknown, since no
skull material has ever been found that could indicate its diet.’4 [Emphasis added.]
So it doesn’t surprise me that the artist’s reconstruction of the head
of a Therizonosaurus doesn’t fit with the ‘like a turtle’s
head’ observation of Robert and Tony. (For a creature that appears to spend
much time in the water, I would think that a turtle-like head makes good design
sense, too!)
Photo by Brian Irwin
Figure 5. The photo above was taken on the south side of Umbungi
Island where two women observed the dinosaur-like creature from a boat. The creature
was on the rocks near the cliff.
Nine people have seen the ‘reptile’ since the early 1990s, with sightings
occurring every 4–5 years, usually around Christmas time. Perhaps the creature
is primarily nocturnal, which might account for the small number of sightings. Two
women from Umbungi Island observed the creature from a boat on the south (unpopulated)
side of the island as it was standing on some rocks at the bottom of a cliff. (See
figure 5)
The animal has also been sighted swimming between Umbungi Island and Alage Island
with its head above the water. I drew the outline of a three-toed foot
of a dinosaur in the sand and Robert said that this was similar to the foot of the
creature, with the feet being similar to that of a duck. About 90 people live on
Umbungi Island, and 2-3 families live on Alage Island. The reptilian creature must
be a good climber because Robert showed me the steep rock entrance from the sea
to the land on the south side of Umbungi Island that the creature used when he sighted
it. (See figure 2.)
I did not have the opportunity to travel to Alage Island to interview the local
people there about the ‘reptilian’ creature, however I met a guy named
Michael Atung from a logging company on the New Britain mainland near Abungi Island
who was from Alage Island. Michael had heard that it had been sighted on Alage Island,
but had not sighted the animal himself.
Sauropod sighting near Gasmata
Photo by Brian Irwin
Figure 6. The photo above was taken on the south side of Dililo
Island close to where the reptilian creature was observed in the water one afternoon
late in 2005.
One afternoon late in 2005, three people from Awirin Island, near Gasmata in West
New Britain, Papua New Guinea, were on the beach on the south side of the adjacent
unpopulated Dililo Island5
(figure 6) when they observed an amazing creature moving in the water.
Simon Patolkit (lay preacher for the Catholic Church on Awirin Island) and his wife
Margaret (figures 7, 8) described their sighting of the reptilian creature to me
through an interpreter who translated from Pidgin to English.
The creature had a long neck and a long tail and had a total length of about 20
metres and a width of about 2 metres. The head was described as being ‘like
a dinosaur’ with an ‘oval-like face’.
Photo by Brian Irwin
Figure 7. Margaret and Simon Patolkit outside their home on Awirin
Island. The author, Brian Irwin, did not get to interview the third person (Fabian)
who sighted the reptilian creature on Dililo Island, as he was not on Awirin Island
during Brian’s visit.
Photo by Brian Irwin
Figure 8.
Simon standing out the front of his church on Awirin Island. Simon is the lay preacher
in this church.
The top of the legs of the animal were visible above the water, with the water being
used to support the weight of the animal’s body. The skin of the animal was
described as being ‘like a crocodile’ and was khaki green in colour.
Dermal frills (possibly indicating the animal is a male?) could be seen on the creature’s
back, extending to the back of the head. Something was observed protruding from
the back of the creature’s head. The creature’s neck was almost horizontal
during the sighting. Details of the creature’s eye and mouth could not be
determined, as the observers were about 30 to 40 metres from the animal.
The sighting occurred for less than 30 seconds, until the reptile sunk into the
water. No sound could be heard from the creature by the observers. The creature
has not been observed since this sighting in 2005.
The only known animal that fits the description of this animal is a sauropod dinosaur,
such as an apatosaurus.
Concluding Remarks
This is not the first time that dinosaur-like creatures have reportedly been sighted
in Papua New Guinea—see e.g.,
A living dinosaur? If ever a ‘living dinosaur’ is found and
confirmed to the satisfaction of the scientific fraternity, many people would be
astonished, given the prevailing evolutionary view that dinosaurs died out 65 million
years ago. Christians, however, should not be surprised, as the Bible teaches that
God created the dinosaurs only around 6,000 years ago. (See also
The ‘Lazarus effect’ : Rodent ‘resurrection’! and
‘Coelacanth’ yes;
‘Ancient’ no.) So we needn’t be too taken aback if a theropod
or sauropod dinosaur is ever confirmed to be living in the world today.
Related articles
Further reading
References
- The author acknowledges the help of local interpreters. For
the Umbungi Island sighting, the interpreter was a man named Thomas, and for the
Dililo Island sighting, it was a woman named Helen. Return to text.
- Alage Island is also known as Aiu Island.
Return to text.
- Richardson, H., Dinosaurs and prehistoric life, Dorling Kindersley
Ltd, London, UK, 2003. Return to text.
- Wikipedia,
Therizinosaurus, acc. 24 June 2008. Return to text.
- Also known by the locals as Apulu Island.
Return to text.
Published: 1 July 2008(GMT+10)
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