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Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaurs

Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur

By the nonfiction cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb

UPDATE: “https” has been added to the links on this post (about long-tailed modern pterosaurs). This demonstrates that those posts and pages are safe (internet security).

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For many years, many scientists have assumed that the Rhamphorhynchoidea suborder of pterosaurs was an early “primitive” type, ancestral to the Pterodactyloidea (the shorter tailed ones depicted in movies). Yet modern sightings of long-tailed featherless flying creatures suggests many older ideas need to be examined in a new light. Remember that real science allows progress in discoveries, allowing new interpretations as well.

The point comes from the many eyewitness sighting reports from around the world.

sketch of the two pterosaurs observed by Eskin Kuhn in Cuba

Two apparent “pterodactyls” observed in Cuba, in 1971, by Eskin Kuhn, who drew the sketch

From nonfiction book Searching for Ropens and Finding God (4th edition)

“Before scientists created words like Rhamphorhynchoid for long-tailed pterosaurs, common folk used the word dragon for large destructive creatures, including those with long tails and wings but no feathers.” (page 8)

“Maybe some stories of fire-breathing flying dragons were mostly based on giant bioluminescent Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs. That’s what I believe.” (page 9)

“Prior to September of 2004, I had assumed what other ropen investigators had assumed regarding two pterosaur types: Rhamphorhynchoids, small and long-tailed, rarely have head crests; Pterodactyloids, large and short-tailed, commonly have head crests. But this perspective, based on standard knowledge of pterosaur fossils, by the end of 2004 we found was too simplistic. [regarding modern sightings]” (page 26)

“The interviews revealed many details about the ropen and gave us hope that future investigators may videotape and photograph a ropen by camping near Lake Pung. I believe these testimonies suggest this creature is a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur, in spite of the giant size.” (page 82)

“Guessman estimated the distance: nose-to-tail length was eleven feet. From thirty-four silhouettes of bats, birds, and pterosaurs, Ragu chose the Sordes pilosus, a Rhamphorhynchoid (“basal”) pterosaur.” (page 96)

“What about the tail? When asked about its movement, villagers said that it never bends; Dickson, however, added a critical detail: The tail is stiff except where it connects to the body. . . . Guessman was thrilled, for pterosaur fossils indicate that the tail could not bend much except at a few vertebrae near where it connected to the body. Guessman took this as strong evidence that the ropen is a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.” (page 98)

“I analyzed data from the late-2012 compilation of more-credible sightings and learned that 41% of eyewitnesses saw a long tail and only 2% noticed the absence of one. I know that leaves 57% of the 128 reports in doubt regarding that one evidence for Rhamphorhynchoids, but a twenty-to-one ratio leaves no doubt: Long tails dominate.” page 178)

Apparent Sordes Pilosus of Umboi Island

Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur

Silhouette chosen by two native eyewitnesses on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea

In the second ropen expedition of 2004 (led by David Woetzel and Garth Guessman), several natives were interviewed, eyewitnesses who could have seen the creature well enough to choose from among 34 silhouettes shown to them by the two Americans. Yet when I examined the reports brought back to the United States by Guessman, it appeared to me that only two of the native eyewitnesses had good-enough views to reliably choose which image was closest to what was observed. Those 34 silhouettes, by the way, were of birds, bats, and pterosaurs.

Jonah Jim and Jonathan Ragu both choose the image of a Sordes pilosus, which is a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur. That appears to relate to the three eyewitness reports from my own expedition on Umboi, a bit earlier in 2004, when both a long tail and “diamond” were mentioned (Gideon Koro, Wesley Koro, and Mesa Augustin).

Those interviews in Papua New Guinea in 2004 do not scientifically prove the ropen is very closely related to the Sordes pilosus, but it gives strong cryptozoological evidence that it may be related to that pterosaur known from fossils.

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End of tail on Rhamphorhynchoid

. . . a reference to what I have long presented as evidence for a Rhamphorhynchoid tail in featherless flying creatures that are observed worldwide: a structure at the end of a long tail, sometimes called a “diamond.”

South Carolina Pterosaur

The strange creature flew gracefully over the highway, right in front of the car Susan Wooten was driving to Florence, South Carolina. Other drivers stopped their cars on the side of the road (in the general area of Bishopville) but Susan drove on . . .

Tail Vane Orientation

According to at least a couple of key eyewitnesses, it is horizontal. Patty Carson was sure of this in [creature] she had observed in Cuba in 1965; an anonymous eyewitness in Lakewood, California, was sure of this in the “dragon” she had observed on June 19, 2012, at mid-day. Both of these persons had a close encounter in clear daylight.

Ropen Still Living

How often we’ve been taught that all dinosaurs  and pterosaurs became extinct millions of years  ago, as if that were proven! But what if some are  still living? Before you dismiss the concept of a  modern pterosaur (in particular, of a long-tailed  featherless Rhamphorhynchoid), consider the many  eyewitness testimonies of those flying creatures.

Nonfiction Books Mentioning Non-Extinct Pterosaurs

. . . the ground was difficult to be passed over, because of the multitude of serpents . . . some of which ascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so come upon men at unawares . . . [Moses led an army from Egypt before he became a prophet]

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3rd edition of "Live Pterosaurs in America"Live Pterosaurs in America – true-nonfiction by Jonathan Whitcomb

This cryptozoology book about extant pterosaurs is probably both the most popular and highest rated nonfiction, on this subject, on Amazon. One critic mentioned its weakness: It gives limited space to disproving extinction ideas; it simply reveals to the readers what Americans have encountered. Here’s an example of part of one eyewitness report:

In July of 2008, I received a phone call from a man who reported a very large flying creature, seen one year earlier, in Orange County, less than one mile north of the University of California at Irvine. He described the dark gray or black animal as 30 feet long, with 15-16 feet of that being a tail. He saw the creature fly “at low altitude,” in front of his car, over the road (Campus Drive), into the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, in daylight.

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Rhamphorhynchoid Tail Flange

I’ll reveal a few details about a new sighting report, since this blog is more for eyewitnesses rather than researchers; more details will probably be forthcoming in the next few days, but let’s take a sneak preview of this encounter. It includes a reference to what I have long presented as evidence for a Rhamphorhynchoid tail in featherless flying creatures that are observed worldwide: a structure at the end of a long tail, sometimes called a “diamond.”

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tail-end-476

Sketch by the eyewitness of the flying creature seen in Lakewood, CA, in mid-2012

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Another Pterosaur Sighting in Lakewood, California

The following is subject to corrections, in case I have misunderstood initial remarks by the anonymous eyewitness.

I was sitting in the backyard facing East at about 11 pm. Looking up over the riverbed [a storm channel in Lakewood, California] . . . I saw what I took as a large bird with a wing span of around 4-6 feet that had an erratic gate to its flying. I watched it fly from North to South . . .

She then saw what looked like a prey animal that was being carried by the flying creature.

This isn’t a regular sight in Lakewood and I looked on with interest [and noticed] what looked like a long tail with a barbed object at the end . . . My first impression was that maybe it was the [prey] animal [that had a long tail]. . . . but the animal in its talons [the talons of the large flying creature, the captor] was clearly not attached to the tail that protruded from its captor. . . . descriptions of a dragon [went through my mind]. . . . the tail and the way it flew [appeared] like it was too heavy. I dismissed the whole thing thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me with the silhouette of the flying animal.

I am continuing to question this eyewitness. I believe that she saw a ropen and that it was having difficulty carrying the large prey animal. I was impressed that the prey was large enough that the eyewitness at first thought the long tail was from the prey rather than from the predator. If the eyewitness is patient enough, I will get around to asking her how large the prey was, compared with the predator.

Long Tail with “Triangle” at the end

The three “dragons” observed flying over a freeway near Griffith Park (Los Angeles, CA), in March of 2013 is an example. The eyewitness said, “their tails had  triangular points.” Another eyewitness, in 1989 in Orange County, said that the “pterosaur” he saw had a long tail and “the end of its tail was triangular.” Other eyewitnesses use similar words for that tail-end structure. Take the mid-2007 sighting near California State University at Irvine (Orange County, CA). The tail was estimated at 15-16 feet long and the eyewitness said that a “triangle-shaped” structure was near the end  of that tail.   Sketch of the end of the tail, drawn by the eyewitness in Lakewood

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Critic of Reports of Modern Pterosaurs With Long Tails One critic has made some strange suggestions about misidentifications. One comment he made was that a bird had a tail feather fluffed up, causing the end of the tail to look like the end of the tail of a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur. We have some strong refutations to that careless conjecture. Bulges at the end of long tails, on featherless flying creatures—those have been reported often and from around the world. In addition, many of those reports include other descriptions that pull the flying creatures out of any reasonable misidentification of any bird. For example, the ropen seen flying over Lake Pung, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, around early 1994 or late 1993, had a “diamond” at the end of the tail. This was not some blunder by seven native boys, some misidentification of some bird, for the tail was estimated at seven meters long, well over twenty feet. And why would eyewitnesses from around the world send me emails, many of the reports including reference to some structure at the end of a long tail? No. Let’s be realistic. When people from around the world report Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur tail flanges, the existence of a living “basal” pterosaur must be considered, regardless of how long Westerner scientists have depended on the universal-extinction axiom for those flying creatures.

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Marfa Lights in Texas

Remember your worst nightmare? Were you glad to wake up? Be grateful. In the early morning hours of February 23, 2010, a few miles or so southwest of Marfa, Texas, the victims were terrified by what awakened them. I am not the eyewitness, but a few days after this event, I interviewed my friend James, who had been driving through Southern Texas; he had stopped at the Marfa Lights viewing platform to see whatever he could.

. Jonathan Whitcomb, pterosaur expert

I agree, at least somewhat, with the critics’ idea that I am not a pterosaur fossil expert; compared with a typical paleontologist (I am neither typical anything nor a paleontologist), I am not an expert on fossils. . . . [but] . . .

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Horizontal Tail Vane

An eyewitness recently made it clear that the flying creature she had recently observed had a long tail and a horizontal tail vane at tail’s end. I have interviewed this lady several times, face-to-face, during the past two weeks. She appears highly credible.

I brought up the subject of tail-vane orientation, and she was positive that it was held horizontally. This is an obscure subject, yet she quickly answered my questions about that detail. It seems unlikely to me that she had read anything online about any pterosaur eyewitness describing how the tail “diamond” or flange was oriented. I know of over a thousand web pages and blog posts about sightings of living pterosaurs and the meaning of modern pterosaurs. I recall only one page that mentioned the tail appendage orientation. I have full confidence that she was honestly describing her perception of what she had personally observed, without any influence from anybody else’s description of that detail.

When she first noticed the creature sitting on a telephone line over her head, the ropen (I concluded it was a ropen) was faced away from her, with the end of the tail perhaps eighteen feet away from the lady’s forehead: She had a good view of the end of the tail.

storm channel in Lakewood, California, near ropen sighting in 2012

The sighting was in Lakewood, California, on June 19, 2012, at about noon

"triangle" on the end of the tail of the creature seen in Lakewood, California

She estimated the tail was at least four feet long and the structure at the end she called a “triangle” (the anonymous eyewitness drew the above sketch)

Pterodactyl Fairy Tail?

Paleontologists generally do not take pterosaur sightings seriously, for they specialize in fossils, not cryptozoology. Most of them, at least in recent years, have taken the view that the tail vane of basal pterosaurs was vertical.

Pterosaur Tail Vane Orientation

According to at least a couple of key eyewitnesses, it is horizontal. Patty Carson was sure of this in the “dinosaur” or “pterodactyl” she had observed in Cuba in 1965; an anonymous eyewitness in Lakewood, California, was sure of this in the “dragon” she had observed on June 19, 2012, at mid-day.