by Cole Herrold
Our planet has countless areas that are
covered in dense rainforests. These areas, aside from mountains and the ocean,
are perhaps the last unexplored areas of the world. It is not surprising that
then whenever people do enter these unchallenged areas that they encounter a
menagerie of bizarre beasts from living dinosaurs in the congo to hairy ape-men
in the Himalayas to sea serpents in the most remote sections of the ocean.
Scientists have often closed their minds to the idea of such creatures, namely
because of the reported animal's size, often following the logic and shadow of
Cuvier's dictum. However, one would be hard-pressed to find a scientist who
wouldn't claim there are countless species as yet undiscovered, just that they
would be smaller in stature than most reported cryptozoological beasts.
However, some of the most interesting and unique cryptids ever reported are of
a smaller size and, in many ways, are more realistic in this skeptical
scientific thinking; such creatures as the flashlight frog or the Mongolian
death worm, for example, are very much plausible and of a smaller stature that
would help in making them undiscovered.
When looking at smaller cryptids, one
group that always to me personally that stood out were those of hominids.
Cryptids like the Orang Pendek of Sumatra, for example, have had some of the
most consistent and intriguing evidence ever recorded. Around the world, other
diminutive humanoids have been reported, such as the Agogwe of East Africa, the
Kakamora of the Solomon Islands, the Didi of South America, the Alux of Mexico,
and if the reports are to be believed, the Elves of Iceland and Leprechauns of
Ireland. While the latter creatures are often believed to be linked to fairy
tales and folktales, there are some extremely interesting accounts that do seem
to indicate the possibility of a biological species. Many of their behaviors,
even in folklore, are universal when you look at other diminutive humanoids.
The abduction of children, for example, is something that we see in Irish
faerie stories as well as in tales of the Ebu Gogo, a small hominid from
Flores. Similar tales are seen in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina with El
Pombero, who kidnaps sleeping children. These collective accounts from entirely
different continents and islands seem to indicate a phenomenon more global than
just geographical isolated folktales, as is often viewed when the discussion of
such things is brought up.
