Mapinguari

In Brazilian folklore, the mapinguari or mapinguary, also called the juma, is a monstrous entity said to live in the Amazon rainforest.

For the orchid genus, see Mapinguari (plant).
Mapinguari statue, Parque Ambiental Chico Mendes, Rio Branco, Brazil

Description

Depictions of the mapinguari vary. Sometimes it is described as a hairy humanoid cyclops, while others claim it to be similar to the giant ground sloth, an animal extinct for thousands of years, but which some believe the mapinguari to be a cultural memory of. The creature is often said to have a gaping mouth on its abdomen (a feature of course not shared by ground sloths or other real mammals).[1]

Terminology

According to Felipe Ferreira Vander Velden, its name is a contraction of the Tupi-Guarani words "mbaé", "pi", and "guari", meaning "a thing that has a bent [or] crooked foot [or] paw"[2]. Other names which have been said to apply to the same being include the Karitiana kida harara,[2] and the Machiguenga segamai.[1][3]

gollark: ++delete the strategy
gollark: I expect it'll come out as a nasty gray.
gollark: No.
gollark: Just use this.
gollark: What do you WANT me to make?

See also
  • List of legendary creatures
  • Mylodon

References
  1. Rohter, Larry (2007-07-08). "A Huge Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  2. Felipe Ferreira Vander Velden "Sobre caes e indios: domesticidade, classificacao zoologica e relacao humano-animal entre os Karitiana", Revista de Antropología 15 (2009) p. 125-143
  3. Oren, David C. "Does the Endangered Xenarthran Fauna of Amazonia Include Remnant Ground Sloths?", Edentata (June 2001) p. 2-5

Sources
  • Martin, Paul S.. 2007. Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520252431
  • Shepard, G. H. 2002. "Primates and the Matsigenka" in Agustín Fuentes & Linda D. Wolfe. Primates Face to Face: The Conservation Implications of Human-nonhuman Primate Interconnections. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139441476
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