Species Place names have been used to reconstruct the past frequency and distribution of the wolf and beaver in Great Britain, where such species are no longer present.C. Aybes, and D.W. Yalden(2008)Place-name evidence for the former distribution and status of Wolves and Beavers in Britain. Mammal Review 25(4):201-226. Māori legends of a man-eating bird, known variously as the Pouakai, Hokioi, or Hakawai are commonly believed to recount Haast's eagle, a giant predatory bird that became extinct with the moa only 600 years ago. Opposing claims have been made that associate the Hokioi and Hakawai with the extirpated Coenocorypha snipe. Mapinguari legends of a giant sloth-like creature that corresponds with the Megatherium, which has been extinct for 10,000 years.Oren, David C. "Did Ground Sloths Survive to Recent Times in the Amazon Region?," Edentata (1993) p. 1-11 Legends of the bunyip within Australian Aboriginal mythology have been associated with extinct marsupial megafauna such as Zygomaturus or Palorchestes.Robert Holden(2001) p.90 When shown fossil remains, Aborigines identify them as those of the bunyip.P.Vikers-Rich, J.M.Monaghan, R.F.Baird and T.H.Rich (eds) (1991)Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia. p.2. Pioneer Design Studio and Monash University. . Descriptions of the mihirung paringmal among Western Victorian Aborigines correspond to the extinct giant birds the Dromornithidae. A Noongar Aboriginal story from Perth, Western Australia, has been interpreted as referring to the extinct giant monitor lizard Megalania. Legends throughout Eurasia describing creatures such as the unicorn may have been based upon Elasmotherium, a rhinoceros-like creature believed to have been extinct for up to 50,000 years. The Ebu Gogo myths of the people of Flores have been hypothesised to represent Homo floresiensis, which perhaps became extinct around 10,000 BCE (although the Flores Islanders hold that the Ebu Gogo remained alive 400 years ago).Gregory Forth (2005), "Hominids, hairy hominoids and the science of humanity", Anthropology Today 21 no. 3, 13–17. An Inuit string figure representing a large creature is identified with the extinct woolly mammothT. T. Paterson (1949), "Eskimo String Figures and Their Origin", Acta Arctica 3:1-98. Legends from dozens of Native American tribes have been interpreted by some as indicative of Woolly Mammoth.Records of the Past Exploration Society, “Pre-Indian Inhabitants of North America, Part II, Man and the Elephant and Mastodon”, Records of the Past, (Washington D.C.: Records of the Past Exploration Society, 1907), 164, retrieved online October 2008 at books.google.com/books?id=7_HzBYM-7X4C One example is from the Kaska tribe from northern British Columbia; in 1917 an ethnologist recorded their tradition of: “A very large kind of animal which roamed the country a long time ago. It corresponded somewhat to white men's pictures of elephants. It was of huge size, in build like an elephant, had tusks, and was hairy. These animals were seen not so very long ago, it is said, generally singly, but none have been seen now for several generations. Indians come across their bones occasionally. The narrator said he and some others, a few years ago, came on a shoulder-blade... as wide as a table (about three feet).” However, the animal in this story was predatory and carnivorous, suggesting the memory of the proboscideans had become conflated with that of other megafauna, such as bears and sabertooths.Examples of British Columbia Folklore: Bladder-Head Boy (A Kaska Woolly-Mammoth Legend) , (The British Columbia Folklore Society, 2003). Even more so than is ordinary for the study of history, the plausible historical connections listed above could be inaccurate due to the difficulty of piecing together prehistoric or preliterate fragments of evidence into a meaningful understanding. They must rely on more speculation to fill in evidence gaps than would be acceptable in another context that provided more rigorous verifiability of the records available.
Species Place names have been used to reconstruct the past frequency and distribution of the wolf and beaver in Great Britain, where such species are no longer present.C. Aybes, and D.W. Yalden(2008)Place-name evidence for the former distribution and status of Wolves and Beavers in Britain. Mammal Review 25(4):201-226. Māori legends of a man-eating bird, known variously as the Pouakai, Hokioi, or Hakawai are commonly believed to recount Haast's eagle, a giant predatory bird that became extinct with the moa only 600 years ago. Opposing claims have been made that associate the Hokioi and Hakawai with the extirpated Coenocorypha snipe. Mapinguari legends of a giant sloth-like creature that corresponds with the Megatherium, which has been extinct for 10,000 years.Oren, David C. "Did Ground Sloths Survive to Recent Times in the Amazon Region?," Edentata (1993) p. 1-11 Legends of the bunyip within Australian Aboriginal mythology have been associated with extinct marsupial megafauna such as Zygomaturus or Palorchestes.Robert Holden(2001) p.90 When shown fossil remains, some Aborigines identified them as those of the bunyip.P.Vikers-Rich, J.M.Monaghan, R.F.Baird and T.H.Rich (eds) (1991)Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia. p.2. Pioneer Design Studio and Monash University. . Descriptions of the mihirung paringmal among Western Victorian Aborigines correspond to the extinct giant birds the Dromornithidae. A Noongar Aboriginal story from Perth, Western Australia, has been interpreted as referring to the extinct giant monitor lizard Megalania. Legends throughout Eurasia describing creatures such as the unicorn may have been based upon Elasmotherium, a rhinoceros-like creature believed to have been extinct for up to 50,000 years. The Ebu Gogo myths of the people of Flores have been hypothesised to represent Homo floresiensis, which perhaps became extinct around 10,000 BCE (although the Flores Islanders hold that the Ebu Gogo remained alive 400 years ago).Gregory Forth (2005), "Hominids, hairy hominoids and the science of humanity", Anthropology Today 21 no. 3, 13–17. An Inuit string figure representing a large creature is identified with the extinct woolly mammothT. T. Paterson (1949), "Eskimo String Figures and Their Origin", Acta Arctica 3:1-98. Legends from dozens of Native American tribes have been interpreted by some as indicative of Woolly Mammoth.Records of the Past Exploration Society, “Pre-Indian Inhabitants of North America, Part II, Man and the Elephant and Mastodon”, Records of the Past, (Washington D.C.: Records of the Past Exploration Society, 1907), 164, retrieved online October 2008 at books.google.com/books?id=7_HzBYM-7X4C One example is from the Kaska tribe from northern British Columbia; in 1917 an ethnologist recorded their tradition of: “A very large kind of animal which roamed the country a long time ago. It corresponded somewhat to white men's pictures of elephants. It was of huge size, in build like an elephant, had tusks, and was hairy. These animals were seen not so very long ago, it is said, generally singly, but none have been seen now for several generations. Indians come across their bones occasionally. The narrator said he and some others, a few years ago, came on a shoulder-blade... as wide as a table (about three feet).” However, the animal in this story was predatory and carnivorous, suggesting the memory of the proboscideans had become conflated with that of other megafauna, such as bears and sabertooths.Examples of British Columbia Folklore: Bladder-Head Boy (A Kaska Woolly-Mammoth Legend) , (The British Columbia Folklore Society, 2003). Even more so than is ordinary for the study of history, the plausible historical connections listed above could be inaccurate due to the difficulty of piecing together prehistoric or preliterate fragments of evidence into a meaningful understanding. They must rely on more speculation to fill in evidence gaps than would be acceptable in another context that provided more rigorous verifiability of the records available.
R
Aborigines identify
some Aborigines identified