It’s not that I have nothing original to say today. There now seems to be so much written, online, about reports of living pterosaurs, that another quote seems in order. This one is from another page with the title “Modern Pterosaur.”
The eyewitnesses come from a number of countries and they have various beliefs and backgrounds, yet most of them have seen at least somewhat similar creatures. Common descriptions include a large or giant size, featherlessness, and long tail, and a head crest. It matters not whether the eyewitness is a supposedly superstitious native of Papua New Guinea or an airplane pilot, the creatures observed are described like pterosaurs, not any bird or bat.
. . . over a period of years, circular reasoning has become involved in discrediting the cryptozoologists who have investigated sightings of apparent living pterosaurs: Investigators are criticized by rejecting popular ideas about extinction, and those investigators are then dismissed by ridiculing their intelligence or integrity, thereby causing others to disregard the possibility of modern living pterosaurs because of the “reputation” of those who promote the idea. Let’s dispense with personal attacks and communicate through reasoning, please.
On the subject of “not any bird or bat,” I refer to another page: Flying Foxes of the Southwest Pacific. Part of it is an overview about this large fruit bat, but there is also reference to sightings of apparent pterosaurs in that part of the world:
For many years, reports of “pterodactyls” in Papua New Guinea were dismissed as misidentifications of Flying Fox fruit bats. Recent investigations on Umboi Island, however, bring to light an astonishing possibility: The creature called “ropen” does not hang upside down from a branch but holds itself upright on tree trunks. In addition, the ropen does not eat fruit but fish that it catches on reefs by using a bioluminescent glow as it flies at night, over the water.
