Pterodactyls and giant pandas - Letter to the Editor - Brief Article

Massimo Polidoro made several mistakes in his first "Notes on a Strange World" column, "A Pterodactyl in the Civil War"(May/June 2002). First, he wrongly stated that the giant panda was discovered in the twentieth century. Pandas have been described in Chinese writings going back more than 2,000 years. It would be chauvinistically dishonest to claim that an animal is only discovered after a European first stumbles upon one. That would be especially so if one were to dismiss the written history of the Chinese who gave the world gunpowder, fireworks, paper, ink and books, silk, the magnetic compass, spaghetti, and many other technological and cultural advances.

Even if one were to date the discovery of the giant panda from when the first European described it, Polidoro would still be wrong. It was in 1869, when the French Jesuit missionary and zoologist Armand David realized that a panda skin brought to him by a hunter belonged to an animal unknown to Western science.

Polidoro also appears to make the common mistake of including pterodactyls among dinosaurs. Based on widely accepted criteria, pterodactyls and other pterosaurs are not dinosaurs. The only flying dinosaurs were--and are--birds. This is why I would also quibble with the author's statement that dinosaurs "are long gone.

Finally, Polidoro referred to the pterodactyl in the hoax as "the holy grail" of cryptozoologists. There is no cryptozoologist "holy grail." Even if a flock of living pterodactyls were to be discovered tomorrow, it would not provide evidence for the existence of goat suckers, the Loch Ness monster, or any other legendary creature. Each claim must be supported by its own evidence. Scientists at first were skeptical about the existence of duckbilled platypuses. Nevertheless, proof of the existence of platypuses did not prove the existence of unicorns, abominable snowmen, or Pigasus, the flying pig.

Andrew A. Skolnick Forest Park, Illinois

Any photo that is odd, bizarre, and unusual we should automatically think might be a fake. I'm glad photo experts/Civil War historians were able to pick apart the pterodactyl and Union soldier picture the way they did. Knowing the profiles of your average Union soldier and then observing their wear was a great way to detect some kind of forgery. Some people have plenty of time on their hands to create such a fraudulent picture.

Irene Ayala Vallejo, California

COPYRIGHT 2002 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
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