Was the 1856 living pterodactyl report really a hoax?
Was the “living pterodactyl” report a hoax?
There have been strong claims that the Illustrated London News report about the discovery of a living pterodactyl in the 1800s was a hoax. The newspaper said workmen in France disturbed a living pterodactyl as they were blasting a tunnel at Culmont, in Haute Marne.
We have consulted the original report, and we believe the article was a newspaper hoax. It came at a time when hoaxes were common.
In Dr. Karl Shuker's book, From flying toads to snakes with wings, published in 1997 by Llewellyn, St. Paul (Minnesota), the author says there is no such species as Pterodactylus anas.
Shuker points out that anas is Latin for “duck”. The French word for duck is canard, which in English is a word used for an unfounded or invented story.
The Illustrated London News report put a heading on its story that said: “Very like a whale”. This expression appears in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, and gives a further clue that the story is false.
In Hamlet, Act III, Scene ii, Polonius has this short conversation with Hamlet:
Hamlet. Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape
of a camel?
Polonius. By the mass, and 'tis like a camel,
indeed.
Hamlet. Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius. It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet. Or like a whale?
Polonius. Very like a whale.
People see whatever they want to in cloud shapes — the shape suggests an object from their imagination. Likewise, we are sure, the headline writer of the Illustrated London News was giving us a clue about the imaginative story of the living pterodactyl.
In any case, we have been unable to find any truth to the story, and the arguments presented above are convincing. And as one of the authors of the original The Last Pterodactyl story said he now regards the Illustrated London News report as bogus, we also accept that the story was a hoax.
It just goes to show you can't believe everything you read in newspapers.
More bogus stuff:
- Extinct pteranodon filmed over African waterhole. Amazing photo!
- Dinosaur trundles through jungle village. Child's life in danger.
- Beach shock! Cameraman snaps plesiosaur carcass as it washes up on beach.
- Photographer's flash captures photo of extinct Archaeopteryx.
- Loch Ness monster faker confesses to hoax on his deathbed.
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