The Orang Pendek or Orang Pendak is a cryptid that is supposedly an unclassified species of primate similar to the orangutan that inhabits remote regions of the island of Sumatra. The Orang Pendak has been estimated to be only two and a half to five feet in height; its name means "little man" or "short person."
According to accounts, this species differs from the orangutan only in that it is fully bipedal and diminutive. The only evidence to be found so far have been foot prints, unidentified primate hairs, and dubious tissue samples. The foot prints are different from all other bigfoot-like tracks in that they are more primate-like, with splayed and elongated digits, as with typical orangutans. However, the footprints are distinctly different from those of orangutans. Unlike the case of other cryptid hominids, some credible scientists are convinced of the possible existence of this alleged species.
As is the case with the Yeti, expeditions to find the Orang Pendek turned up no conclusive evidence, save hairs which do not belong to an orang-utan, chimpanzee, gorilla, sun bear, monkey, macaque, tapir, gibbon, langur, or human. Alleged photographs of the creature were either proven to be conclusively fake or of too low a quality to be useful. Alleged eye-witness renderings look remarkably like Paranthropus, a bipedal primate that was a relative to the precursor to the genus Homo.
Recently, Henry Gee, editor of the prestigious
Nature, writes of an unexpected discovery that:
"The discovery that Homo floresiensis survived until so very recently, in geological terms, makes it more likely that stories of other mythical, human-like creatures such as Yetis are founded on grains of truth....Now, cryptozoology, the study of such fabulous creatures, can come in from the cold." [1]
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Last updated: 05-07-2005 08:04:41
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04
