![]() ![]() An argument can also be made that Neill’s 1956 crocodile article (which didn’t even mention Lake Dakataua) has no connection at all with the events discussed in the remainder of this thread, but the literature is what it is. If, however, you want to be argumentative, you could say that any such proposal is romantic, overtly speculative and, indeed, runs contrary to Occam’s razor, since it adds complexity to a less complex conclusion (namely, that the crocodiles that Neill saw were New Guinea crocodiles). ![]() This determination makes – arguably! – the ‘New Britain upland crocodile’ a cryptid: an organism known from anecdotal evidence but not yet convincingly identified to species. Neill wasn’t sure what species they were, but they piqued his interest, and he suggested that they might either be New Guinea crocodiles Crocodylus novaeguineae or – more remotely – “an undescribed relative” of that species. ![]() Neill had witnessed the crocodiles himself – “around the margins of upland lakes” – while flying over the island in a plane during WWII he also mentioned a sighting made by another American serviceman (Neil 1956). Neill (best known for his 1971 book The Last of the Ruling Reptiles) published a brief paper in which he alluded to the presence of crocodiles on New Britain (Neil 1956). The story (as known to westerners) essentially starts in 1956, when American herpetologist Wilfred T. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |