François De Loys
Encyclopedia
Louis François Fernand Hector de Loys (1892-1935) was a Swiss
oil geologist
who allegedly discovered a hitherto-unknown primate
in 1920 during an oil survey expedition in Venezuela
.
n - Colombia
n border in South America (Heuvelmans, 1959). This mountainous region, the Sierra de Perijaa, was heavily forested, and that time was inhabited by the 'dangerous' Motilone Indians.
One day, while de Loys and his crew were resting near the Tarra River deep in the jungle, two monkeys suddenly stepped out of the woods, screaming and shaking branches. They were holding onto bushes, walked upright then broke off several branches, waving them like weapons. When the monkeys threw their own excrement at the terrified de Loys and his exhausted companions, they grabbed their guns and fired at the more aggressive-looking male, but killed the female. The male stepped aside, though wounded, but disappeared in the forest.
Since de Loys and his people had never seen such large monkeys, he wanted to preserve the carcass. When finally de Loys returned home with the only remaining evidence, the picture, which he had placed into his travel-notebook, he basically forgot about his encounter with the unknown monkeys. Years later his friend, French anthropologist Georges Montandon flipped the pages of de Loys' notebook, and discovered the photo. Montandon got an idea.
Although Professor Montandon was familiar with most of the monkeys discovered to that date, he had never seen one like that in de Loys' picture. Montandon speculated that the large monkey on the picture was a very human-like creature. It had no tail. Its size according to de Loys was 4 feet 5 inches. It had 32 teeth. It had all the features like the anthropoids in the Old World have and, therefore must be an anthropoid Ape. Not just any Ape, but an 'American' Ape—a 'Missing Link!' He asked de Loys for more details, calculated some measurements by estimating and comparing the size of the box with the body on the picture, and in 1929, convinced de Loys to tell the story to the Illustrated London News
(Loys, 1929 op. cit.: Keith, 1929; Heuvelmans, 1959; Hill, 1962) Shortly thereafter, Montandon published his statement in the Journal de la Societe des Americanistes
(Montandon, 1929a); then wrote another note which he presented at the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. (Montandon, 1929b). 'Montandon went so far as to create a new genus Amer-anthropoides for the reception of the new animal, giving it the specific name loysi in honour of its discoverer.' (Hill, 1962).
At the meeting of the French Academy of Sciences
Montadon tried to present some convincing 'evidence' about his major discovery of the American Ape, a so far unknown 'American version' of the African chimpanzee and gorilla, and the Asian orangutan. He and de Loys, - who under Montandon's pressure also tried to support the new discovery hypothesis, - had to face with numerous questions at the Academy. Naturalists and anthropologists questioned them very suspiciously. They raised many questions about the photograph: the size of the monkey sitting on the box, about her 'missing' tail, her set of only 32 teeth, her spider-monkey-like face (Joleaud, 1929), her female sex organ - that resembled that of a male spider monkey. (Female spider monkey
s have a long, bulbous clitoris, that people, even today often mistaken for the male sex organ).
The skepticism and some of the criticisms resulted in heated debates, often ridiculing Montandon's alleged hypothesis as a fraud (Keith, 1929 op. cit.; Heuvelmans, 1959). When Montandon ran out of more convincing arguments in order to support his fancy hypothesis, he tried to bring up some anecdotes based on stories of Indian tribes like about the guayazi, the di-di, and the vasitri or 'big-devil' that believed to attack women.
These stories were similar in nature, to those, that people were attributing to gorillas in Africa
(Heuvelmans, 1959). A. de Humboldt, who did not believe any of these stories, attributed these alleged attacks to the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and Marquis de Wavrin mentions these creatures as 'marimunda' which were later also identified as spider monkeys: Ateles belzebuth (Wendt, 1956; Heuvelmans, 1959; Hill, 1962).
Montandon was defeated in scientific circles, but the story created some ambiguity, which led into more investigations for years to come, and in the mind of some, even today, that there are still some large, yet mysterious creatures of several kind, like Bigfoot
, Yeti
and Snowman still roaming the wilderness.
There is also a drawing of a creature by the naturalist George Edwards in "A STUDY OF ANTHROPOID LIFE" on page 19. This primate bears an uncanny resemblance to the one shot by de Loys. The text under the drawing says, "The painter-naturalist Edwards (1758-64) stands as a somewhat notable figure in the history of anthropoid knowledge because in addition to writing a readable popular description of the 'man of the woods' he illustrated it with a figure entitled 'The Satier, Sauage, Wild-man, Pigmy, Orang-outang, Chimp-anzee, A.D. 1757, Geo. Edwards, Delin.et Sculp.,' in which he so skilfully mingled the structural characters of oran-outan, chimpanzee, and gibbon that one cannot more exactly name the figure than by the synonyms which the artist himself used...It is but natural then that we should find it difficult to think of him as an anthropoid authority."
This primate is almost certainly the same species that was later encountered by de Loys.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
oil geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
who allegedly discovered a hitherto-unknown primate
Ameranthropoides loysi
"Ameranthropoides loysi" is allegedly a large primate encountered by François De Loys in South America. Apart from testimony of claimed eyewitnesses, the only evidence of the animal is one ....
in 1920 during an oil survey expedition in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.
History
Between 1917-1920, de Loys and his men were searching for oil around the River Tarra and Rio Catatumbo at the VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n - Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n border in South America (Heuvelmans, 1959). This mountainous region, the Sierra de Perijaa, was heavily forested, and that time was inhabited by the 'dangerous' Motilone Indians.
One day, while de Loys and his crew were resting near the Tarra River deep in the jungle, two monkeys suddenly stepped out of the woods, screaming and shaking branches. They were holding onto bushes, walked upright then broke off several branches, waving them like weapons. When the monkeys threw their own excrement at the terrified de Loys and his exhausted companions, they grabbed their guns and fired at the more aggressive-looking male, but killed the female. The male stepped aside, though wounded, but disappeared in the forest.
Since de Loys and his people had never seen such large monkeys, he wanted to preserve the carcass. When finally de Loys returned home with the only remaining evidence, the picture, which he had placed into his travel-notebook, he basically forgot about his encounter with the unknown monkeys. Years later his friend, French anthropologist Georges Montandon flipped the pages of de Loys' notebook, and discovered the photo. Montandon got an idea.
Although Professor Montandon was familiar with most of the monkeys discovered to that date, he had never seen one like that in de Loys' picture. Montandon speculated that the large monkey on the picture was a very human-like creature. It had no tail. Its size according to de Loys was 4 feet 5 inches. It had 32 teeth. It had all the features like the anthropoids in the Old World have and, therefore must be an anthropoid Ape. Not just any Ape, but an 'American' Ape—a 'Missing Link!' He asked de Loys for more details, calculated some measurements by estimating and comparing the size of the box with the body on the picture, and in 1929, convinced de Loys to tell the story to the Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
(Loys, 1929 op. cit.: Keith, 1929; Heuvelmans, 1959; Hill, 1962) Shortly thereafter, Montandon published his statement in the Journal de la Societe des Americanistes
Journal de la Société des Américanistes
Journal de la Société des Américanistes is an academic journal devoted to the archaeology and cultural anthropology of the Americas....
(Montandon, 1929a); then wrote another note which he presented at the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. (Montandon, 1929b). 'Montandon went so far as to create a new genus Amer-anthropoides for the reception of the new animal, giving it the specific name loysi in honour of its discoverer.' (Hill, 1962).
At the meeting of the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
Montadon tried to present some convincing 'evidence' about his major discovery of the American Ape, a so far unknown 'American version' of the African chimpanzee and gorilla, and the Asian orangutan. He and de Loys, - who under Montandon's pressure also tried to support the new discovery hypothesis, - had to face with numerous questions at the Academy. Naturalists and anthropologists questioned them very suspiciously. They raised many questions about the photograph: the size of the monkey sitting on the box, about her 'missing' tail, her set of only 32 teeth, her spider-monkey-like face (Joleaud, 1929), her female sex organ - that resembled that of a male spider monkey. (Female spider monkey
Spider monkey
Spider monkeys of the genus Ateles are New World monkeys in the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil...
s have a long, bulbous clitoris, that people, even today often mistaken for the male sex organ).
The skepticism and some of the criticisms resulted in heated debates, often ridiculing Montandon's alleged hypothesis as a fraud (Keith, 1929 op. cit.; Heuvelmans, 1959). When Montandon ran out of more convincing arguments in order to support his fancy hypothesis, he tried to bring up some anecdotes based on stories of Indian tribes like about the guayazi, the di-di, and the vasitri or 'big-devil' that believed to attack women.
These stories were similar in nature, to those, that people were attributing to gorillas in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(Heuvelmans, 1959). A. de Humboldt, who did not believe any of these stories, attributed these alleged attacks to the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and Marquis de Wavrin mentions these creatures as 'marimunda' which were later also identified as spider monkeys: Ateles belzebuth (Wendt, 1956; Heuvelmans, 1959; Hill, 1962).
Montandon was defeated in scientific circles, but the story created some ambiguity, which led into more investigations for years to come, and in the mind of some, even today, that there are still some large, yet mysterious creatures of several kind, like Bigfoot
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
, Yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
and Snowman still roaming the wilderness.
There is also a drawing of a creature by the naturalist George Edwards in "A STUDY OF ANTHROPOID LIFE" on page 19. This primate bears an uncanny resemblance to the one shot by de Loys. The text under the drawing says, "The painter-naturalist Edwards (1758-64) stands as a somewhat notable figure in the history of anthropoid knowledge because in addition to writing a readable popular description of the 'man of the woods' he illustrated it with a figure entitled 'The Satier, Sauage, Wild-man, Pigmy, Orang-outang, Chimp-anzee, A.D. 1757, Geo. Edwards, Delin.et Sculp.,' in which he so skilfully mingled the structural characters of oran-outan, chimpanzee, and gibbon that one cannot more exactly name the figure than by the synonyms which the artist himself used...It is but natural then that we should find it difficult to think of him as an anthropoid authority."
This primate is almost certainly the same species that was later encountered by de Loys.
Further reading
- George M. Eberhart, Mysterious Creatures: A Guide To Cryptozoology, Volume 1, pages 123-125 (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2002). ISBN 1-57607-283-5
- Michael Newton, Hidden Animals: A Field Guide To Batsquatch, Chupacabra, and other Elusive Creatures, page 64 (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2009). ISBN 978-0-313-35906-4
- Brian Regal, Human Evolution: A Guide To The Debates, pages 63-64 (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2004). ISBN 1-85109-423-7
- Robert SilverbergRobert SilverbergRobert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
, Scientists and Scoundrels: A Book of Hoaxes, pages 178-187 (New York: Crowell, 1965). ISBN 978-0-8032-5989-8 - Simon Welfare, John Fairley, Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, pages 210-213 (Fontana Paperbacks, 1982).