Mokélè-Mbembe: Surviving African Sauropod?

In the dense jungles of east Africa largely unexplored by Western science, mostly in the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Cameroon, there are many myths of huge creatures known in the West as Mokélè-Mbembe ("one who stops the flow of rivers" in the Lingala language, although there are many more native names). All reports describe it as semiaquatic with a extremely long neck and massive barrel-shaped body, 

spending most of its time in rivers or lakes but coming out to feed on vegetation (it is described as totally herbivorous). Many think it is a surviving dinosaur, a sauropod. 

Sauropods ("lizard foot") were the largest animals ever to set foot on this planet. There are hundreds of described genera known today, but with very great similarity and difference. 

They were very similar to the description of the cryptid, but they also had a very long tail, which served as a counterweight and defensive weapon (used like a whip). They varied greatly, from 13-190 feet long (these are estimated measurements from poor fossil evidence, from Ohmdenosaurus and Amphicoelias, respectively) and possibly around 60 feet tall (Sauroposeidon, but known only from 4 neck vertebrae) and weighing in at maybe up to 220 tons. The largest land mammal alive today is the African savannah elephant, which is a comparatively measly 11 tons. These were very remarkable but stupid animals, the survival strategy being simple: being just too big to kill, but they couldn't really do more than the basic survival stuff. 

So could one of these behemoths really have survived? It doesn't seem very likely at all, yet there is a large amount of compelling evidence that such a creature really does exist. Basically, there are two big bodies of contradicting evidence on both sides. The mass extinction 65.5 mya (million years ago) apparently spared no non-avian dinosaur, as no fossils above the K-T boundary (Cretaceous-Teitary, in the fossil records higher is usually younger, but erosion may move fossils up or down) have been found without erosion interference. The event that caused the K-T mass extinction is likely not to have left any surviving non-avian dinosaurs. 

But nonetheless, there is evidence of a cryptid which is very similar to sauropods. It has a rounded three-clawed (definitely claws, not toenails) print about a yard in diameter, distinct from other large animals in the area. The only other semiaquatic large animal is the hippo, but it is certainly not a hippo- one common reported trait is that it is very territorial and kills hippos but does not eat them. It also attacks canoes that venture too close, again killing but not eating the crew- for this reason the locals fear it more than any other creature. But in some villages, it is not seen as a flesh and blood creature but a mystical spirit. 

Over 50 years, several reports collected by cryptozoologists from local people said the animal's favorite food was a kind of flowering liana. It lives in river bends, specifically natural caves, some quite deep. But the contradictory parts are here: on the first discovery of sauropods, scientists believed they spent much of their time in water, using their long necks like snorkels, but this has been refuted. Mokélè-Mbembe apparently does not have any spines, a common feature in sauropods. Believers argue that the creature could have evolved, which is more than likely. But the most confusing evidence and reports is simply that it exists. It is veritably impossible for it to have survived, and nothing closer in shape than a giraffe has been found in the fossil record, yet the evidence that it exists is still overwhelming. The head is still described as quite small, so it is not very smart, probably not even having enough intelligence to be territorial. However, the cryptid is reported to be very territorial, attacking and killing hippopotami on sight.

Adult hippopotami can make almost invincible adversaries for any predator on the planet, if healthy. A lion pride can't get wound it, a ten-foot shark couldn't even get its jaws around it, crocodiles avoid it, hyenas know to keep far away, elephants give it distance, and it is considered the most dangerous big animal in Africa. They are the third-largest land mammal (and terrestrial animal overall) in the world after elephants 

 

and white rhinos. They are extremely aggressive with huge canine teeth and a very powerful set of jaws to match. Males are on average around 3,700 lb., but occasionally reach around 9,300 lb. The bite force of an adult female was measured at around 1,800 lbf, and adult males probably have a much more powerful bite force. The canines grow up to 20 in. long. The body is usually 11-17 feet long. So the news that any creature can kill a hippo- and does regularly- is significant indeed. 

How is a sauropod-like creature supposed to kill hippos? Several dead hippos have been shown to Westerners as the work of Mokélè-Mbembe, so this is fairly good evidence that it does exist. The whiplike tail would do significant damage to a predatory theropod like Allosaurus, but probably not more than pain to the heavyset thick-skinned hippo. The teeth are in a tiny head and designed to strip plants, so it wouldn't actually bite anything. Scientists know sauropods could stand on their back legs. Their purpose was to fell trees (or, in the Jurassic period, giant ferns in the same niche) to get at the tasty ferns underneath. So if they reared up and crashed down, placing the front feet on the hippo, the sheer force from the animal's weight would crush the hippo's skull. Another possibility is that it uses its weight in a different way: it pins the hippo on the riverbed and waits to drown it. This would not take too long, as hippopotami need to resurface for air every 3-5 minutes after submerging. But you'd think that this aggression would take intelligence, right? Well, it actually may have evolved an instinct for this, as modern hippopotami (and closely related extinct species) have been in Africa for around 15 million years. They would probably be in constant contact, living in the same environment. Another possibility is the aggression is on the hippo's side, and the Mokélè-Mbembe is defending itself, albeit quite effectively. But this doesn't seem very likely, as it attacks canoes, which could be mistaken for hippos. 

That's most of the data I can gather, but this cryptid is not a known species, if it exists: the description can only be compared to a crazy mix of various parts from various known animals: dimensions of a whale; neck, head, and some habits of perhaps a giraffe; body, limbs, and other habits of a hippo; and the tail of a Komodo dragon. It is almost impossible for a sauropod to have survived the mass extinction 65.5 mya, but the evidence is pretty convincing that it exists and it is a modern sauropod. So two large bodies of evidence have been built up, although both are a little unsure: one is 65.5 million years old, some of it much older, and the other is recent, but from an extremely remote region of Africa. What do you think? Give your opinion in the comments below.