Mapinguari

The mapinguari is a creature from Amazonian folklore, feared by hunters and rubber tappers. It is said to be hairy, enormous and foul-smelling, with backward feet and a terrifying scream.

In folklore

The name comes from a Tupi-Guarani phrase for a thing with a twisted or backward foot, according to Câmara Cascudo. Stories differ. Some give the beast one eye and a mouth in its belly. The Karitiana tell of a similar being called Kida harara. A 1928 tapper story records a man finding his companion being eaten, and links the attack to breaking the Sabbath.

A scientific suggestion

David C. Oren of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi proposed in 1993 that stories might be based on surviving ground sloths. In 2001 he reported seven hunters who said they killed one and more than 80 who said they had seen one. No remains survive and Oren himself noted points that do not fit a sloth.

Why it is doubted

Ground sloths went extinct on the mainland about 12,000 years ago. The last known island sloths died about 4,800 years ago. There is no later fossil, bone or photograph, and critics such as Paul S. Martin reject the idea. The mapinguari is best treated as folklore.

Sources

• Mapinguari (Wikipedia) - folklore, name origin, indigenous names, Oren’s hypothesis and critics
• Does the Endangered Xenarthran Fauna of Amazonia Include Remnant Ground Sloths? (David C. Oren, Edentata, 2001) - Oren’s own account of his informants and the hunters’ claims
• Ground sloth (Wikipedia) - extinction dates and sizes of ground sloths