Many cryptozoologists believe that flying dinosaurs may still be alive on Earth.
Pterodactyls, or more accurately pterosaurs, were flying dinosaurs that lived during the age of dinosaurs, with their reign spanning from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous period, approximately 66 million years ago. Since then, they have been extinct, leaving only fossil records to tell of their existence. Despite this, stories and rumors occasionally surface about living pterodactyls in remote parts of the world, including Papua New Guinea. These tales are often steeped in cryptozoology and local folklore rather than scientific evidence.
Ropen
In Papua New Guinea, there have been reports and legends of a creature known as the Ropen, described by locals as a large, flying creature with leathery wings, which some outsiders have speculated could be a surviving pterosaur. Sightings are typically concentrated in the coastal, mountainous, and densely forested areas of the island, where the geography can be as mysterious as the legends themselves.
Cryptozoologists, who study and search for creatures reported in folklore but not confirmed by science, have taken a keen interest in these reports. They suggest that the isolated and relatively unexplored environments of Papua New Guinea could potentially harbor species that are unknown to science, including, theoretically, a relic population of pterosaurs.
Pterosaurs
Pterosaurs were a diverse group of flying dinosaurs that lived alongside the dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era, which spanned from about 252 to 66 million years ago. They were the first vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight, and their existence covered a significant time span, from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous period.
Pterosaurs first appeared in the late Triassic period, with early species like Eudimorphodon. Over millions of years, these creatures evolved into an array of forms, ranging from the size of small birds to the largest known flying creatures of all time.
Pterosaurs thrived until the end of the Cretaceous period, when the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event led to their disappearance, along with all non-avian dinosaurs and many other species. This mass extinction is generally attributed to a combination of volcanic activity, climate change, and the impact of a large asteroid or comet.
Papua New Guinea
Despite the supposed extinction, there have been long-standing accounts of extant pterosaurs from Papua New Guinea and its neighboring islands in modern times.
Encircled by stunning beaches and coral reefs, Papua New Guinea was formed by volcanic activity and is situated between Australia and the Philippines. The nation is made up of a number of smaller islands as well as the eastern portion of New Guinea, the second-largest island in the world. Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries, with an estimated 8.7 million people living within its 178,704 square mile territory. Researchers think the interior’s undeveloped and immensely diversified rainforests may include a multitude of undiscovered plant and animal species in addition to several uncontacted people groups.
The Island of New Britain and the mainland of Papua New Guinea are separated by Umboi Island. Many residents have reported seeing the Ropen lights flying to and from the larger mountains from this location. According to some, the illumination lasted for roughly five seconds.
A creature that is rumored to reside on Umboi Island, which is close to the mainland coast, is of particular interest. Reports of seeing a creature they refer to as Duwas or Ropen have come from the locals. The dark-gray flyer has two leathery, bat-like wings and a long tail with a diamond-shaped tip. Its wingspan is estimated to reach up to 29 feet. A head crest and dermal bulge, a beak full of teeth, and razor-sharp claws are also noticeable.
Compared to both of these prehistoric pterosaurs, the Ropen is much larger. It is believed to glow bioluminescently and to be nocturnal. The light is known locally as Indava, which translates to “Bird that flies at night and brings death,” according to information on Paul Nation’s Indava Bird Project website.
Investigations
One of the cryptozoologists working on the pterosaur research in Papua New Guinea is Johnathan Whitcomb. In addition to being a forensic court videographer and private investigative journalist, he has spent over 10,000 hours looking into the Ropen and speaking with witnesses. Whitcomb observed that the Ropen migrated early in the night toward the coast and afterward returned inland. This was consistent with local stories that the Ropens fly out to the reef at night to feed before making their way back to the mountains, where they rest.
Eyewitness Garth Guessman, a Ropen investigator and explorer, interviewed Duane Hodgkinson in 2005. Hodgkinson discusses his unanticipated 1944 sighting of Ropen in the video. Hodgkinson was attached to the US military and stationed at Finschhafen, New Guinea. While he was there, he frequently traveled with a friend and a local guide into some of the nearby native villages.
During the interview, Hodgkinson stated that on a clear day, they had been strolling along a trail at around noon. The gang stumbled onto a sizable grass clearing that was roughly two feet tall. From one edge of the clearing, there was a thrashing sound in the brush. A massive thing “ran to their left, taking six to ten steps” while the guys paused, and then it began to ascend at an angle of roughly thirty degrees. It vanished into the thick undergrowth, but it reappeared quickly and passed over the clearing, giving a clean side view of its features before vanishing from view.
The wingspan measured roughly 29 feet, while the tail measured between ten and fifteen feet. Its neck was elongated, and it had a large protrusion coming from its head. According to Hodgkinson, he was too preoccupied with the head crest to pay attention to any details on the tail. Hodgkinson, a licensed flight instructor with more than 13,000 hours of flight experience, compared the bird’s wingspan to his Piper Tri-Pacer.
Locals told missionaries tales about the Ropen, which caught the attention of researchers like Paul Nation, Jonathan Whitcomb, and Garth Guessman. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, these men oversaw multiple expeditions and conducted dozens of interviews. Numerous locals claimed to have seen lights in the night sky and enormous, featherless birds.
One of these interviews took place in 2004 when pterosaur investigator Johnathan Whitcomb visited a village in the west central part of Umboi Island. Gideon and two other witnesses told Whitcomb that they and others had climbed up a mountain to a volcanic crater lake nearby. They reported seeing the Ropen soar above the lake and noted its long tail, which ended in a diamond form.
Additionally, field researchers Peter Beach and Milt Marcy oversaw an expedition to Umboi Island in 2015. Elders in the village where they stayed told tales of their earlier experiences with pterosaurs. One story described how a missionary’s gun was used to shoot a pterosaur, and the meat from the animal, cooked in three big pots, fed the entire hamlet.
Analysis
Scientifically, there is extreme skepticism regarding the possibility of pterosaurs surviving into the modern era. The fossil record shows a clear extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period, which wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs. The idea of any of these creatures surviving unnoticed for 66 million years, especially a creature as large and distinctive as a pterosaur, is highly implausible to paleontologists and biologists.
The environment has changed dramatically since the time of the pterosaurs, with shifts in climate, flora, and the rise of birds, which would be in direct competition with any flying dinosaurs. The ecosystem of today is vastly different from the one pterosaurs were adapted to, making their survival highly unlikely from an evolutionary standpoint.
There are several hypotheses to explain the persistent legends of the Ropen and supposed pterosaur sightings in Papua New Guinea.
The region is home to a rich diversity of wildlife, including large bats like the flying fox, which could be mistaken for something more prehistoric by those unfamiliar with the local fauna.
The Ropen could be a part of cultural stories and traditional beliefs, similar to other mythical creatures around the world that serve symbolic or moral purposes within their cultures.
As with many cryptids, there is always the potential for hoaxes or the enthusiastic misinterpretation of evidence by those hoping to find something extraordinary.
Conclusion
While the idea of living pterodactyls in Papua New Guinea makes for an intriguing story, it remains a piece of modern mythology rather than a scientific reality. The sightings and stories are fascinating from a cultural and psychological perspective, reflecting the human fondness for mysteries and the unknown. However, until concrete evidence is brought forward, the scientific community maintains that pterosaurs, including the pterodactyls, have been extinct for millions of years.
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