Some Speculations on the Freshwater Monkey Anatomy

After several behind-the-scenes and Online discussions with Tyer Stone on the matter, I have a few suggestions on what the skeletal anatomy of the Freshwater Monkeys are like. They are basically large macaques on a par with the bigger macaques such as the bear monkeys o Southeast Asia, and there are big males which are about normal human size seen commonly in the USA. This may be a geographical variation or it may be a new development triggered in response to environmental disturbances by humans. Traditionally, the creatures are usually small (3-5 feet tall being a common general range of estimations) they are very powerful swimmers and divers relying primarily upon their very developed hind legs and large flipperlike feet, either of which are often compared to the legs and feet of frogs. It would seem that their feet are disproportionately large in conparison with most human beings and even bigfoot: whereas a human being's height might commonly be seven times the length of the foot and a Bigfoot's height more like a sixth, in the case of the Freshwater monkeys it is probably more like a fifth of the height or even larger. The crreatures are also possessed of very large, bulging, glassy and reflective eyes, usually heavily lidded in daylight, which also remind witnesses of frogs or lizards. The head is surrounded by a prominent ruff or mane of hair all around, but coming out in all directions from the center of the top of the head, which therefore has something which looks like a depression or a bald spot.

 These are the skulls of South American owl mokeys which I chose as most likely representing the proportionate size of the eye sockets. The owl monkeys are New World monkeys and the Freshwater monkeys areOld World monkeys and so there are some differences between them, including the number of teeth. The Freshwater monkeys also seem to have cheek-pouches which they use to store food, which is one of the characteristics of the Old World Monkeys.

                        (Images of Macaques taking to Water)

 Here is my initial diagram comparing the track of Momo (one of the "Frogfoot" series of tracks common in the midwest: some of these are also counted as "Devil Monkey" sightings) to a large macaque monkey. It was in this diagram I first pointed out what looked to me like the stump of the hallux (big toe) on the inside. Further examoination of depictions of Japanese Kappas made it seem more likely that the first and fifth toes were vestigial but variably expressed in the living animals, but that even if a fairly obvious stub of a big toe was seen by witnesses, it was situated in such a way that it did not imprint upon the track. Therefore I made up a hypothetical diagram for the bone structure of the webbed "Flipper" foot and it is reproduced below. In this case it is the other foot from the original diagram shown above, in both cases the reduced hallux is on the medial side of the track.

I would imagine that the weight of a FW monkey that left a humansized track would be less than half the weight of the human, the actual weightbearing part of the foot is quite small in comparison. So if you had a 12 inch FW monkey track it would go with a five foot tall FW Monkey and it would weigh less than a chimpanzee at the same height, perhaps 75 to 85 pounds. The usual FW Monkeys  would be smaller than that and range usually 15 to 30 kg or 30 to 60 pounds approx.

BTW, if I am correct in my re-assessment of the proportions, "Momo" would be closer to five feet tall rather than the reported seven feet or more. In discussing  similar reports, Loren Coleman also noticed that the common run of NAPES sightings were less than human size but some sightings said seven feet or more. He then quoted Heuvelmans as saying 'A hair-covered creature always seems larger than it really is' in regards a report of a 7-foot-tall monster that had left a 10-inch track: we are dealing with exactly that situation again in the case of Momo and the Fouke Monster. In other words, the North American variant of Freshwater Monkeys might not actually be outsized as compared to other populations, only reported as being so.

Water-Monkey

..And just because I had it handy, a cast of one of those lopsided coyote tracks I was talking about.

PS, for convenience I have concocted the Latin genus name "Hydromacaca" to refer to the FW Monkey. It is only provisional and only time can tell if it shall become an accepted genus in the official Taxonomic catalogues.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

New Mouse Lemur Species Discovered

Microcebus gerpi. Photo by Blanchard Randrianambinina
Photo: Tiny lemur discovered in Madagascar forest
wildmadagascar.org
January 08, 2012
A new species of mouse lemur has been discovered in eastern Madagascar, report researchers from Germany. The species is described in a recent issue of the journal Primates.
The diminutive primate is named Gerp's mouse lemur (Microcebus gerpi) after a GERP (Groupe d'Étude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar), a local lemur research group. It was discovered during surveys in 2008 and 2009 in Sahafina Forest, a fragment of rainforest just 50 km away from the well-known Mantadia National Park, which lies east of Madagascar's capital city of Antananarivo. The lemur was confirmed as a "new species" after genetic analysis of small biopsies collected during the surveys. Lemurs were not killed to make the determination that it was an undescribed species.
At 68 grams (2.4 ounces), Gerp's mouse lemur is "a giant" relative to Goodman's mouse lemur, a species found in nearby Mantadia, according to a press release from Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover, the German institution that supported the research.
The conservation status of the new species is presently unknown, but due to fragmentation of habitat in the region, it is likely at risk from further deforestation.
More than 40 species of lemur have been described in the past decade. There are more than 100 lemur species Madagascar, the only place lemurs occur naturally in the wild.
Mouse lemurs are the smallest lemurs and among the tiniest primates in the world. They are found in virtually all of Madagascar's forests where they feed on insects, fruit, and plant sap. Mouse lemurs are nocturnal and betray their presence with high-pitched chirps.

CITATION: Ute Radespiel, Jonah H. Ratsimbazafy, Solofonirina Rasoloharijaona, Herimalala Raveloson, Nicole Andriaholinirina, Romule Rakotondravony, Rose M. Randrianarison, Blanchard Randrianambinina. First indications of a highland specialist among mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) and evidence for a new mouse lemur species from eastern Madagascar. Primates, 2011; DOI: 10.1007/s10329-011-0290-2