Chapter 12 Are we tracking an animal that doesn't actually exist?

--Records of the investigation of the "savages" in Shennongjia In recent years, it has been rumored that there is a kind of long-haired humanoid animal that can walk upright in the Shennongjia area of ​​Hubei, my country. They are called "savages" or "hair people".For this reason, since 1974, relevant departments have carried out many investigation activities in this area.The author of this article introduced the experience of participating in the investigation, combined with the international research status of "savages", and put forward the following opinions: the possibility of humanoid animals that have yet to be clarified in science cannot be ruled out in some primitive forest areas; they belong to The possibility of "human" is extremely small, and it is likely to be the descendants of large apes, such as "giant ape"."Savages" around the world may have a common origin.

① Originally contained in "Mysteries to Be Revealed", Henan People's Publishing House, 1980 edition. what did they see In the early morning of May 14, 1976, six cadres of the Party Committee of Shennongjia Forest District encountered a strange animal at the junction of Fang County, Hubei Province and Shennongjia Forest District.They surrounded it at a distance of one or two meters, but because they didn't know how powerful it was, they didn't dare to move it, and finally it escaped.Afterwards, based on the recollections of the six of them, they agreed that the animal was definitely not a bear.

The following is the narrative of these six comrades: The thing is like this: We had a meeting at the Yunyang Prefectural Committee. After the meeting, because the daughter of Ren Qiyou (a member of the Forest District Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Revolutionary Committee) fell ill, we decided to rush to Songxiangping, the forest district that night.Departed at 6:00 pm on May 13th, and at 1:00 am on the 14th, the car drove through the toon tree at the junction of Fangxian County and the forest area. Between the milestone 144 and 145 kilometers, I saw an animal on the road. .Cai Xinzhi (the car driver) was fond of hunting and wanted to get this animal, so he immediately accelerated the speed of the car, turned on the big headlights, and honked the horn.When the animal saw this huge creature, it got up and climbed up the cliff, but because the cliff was so high and steep, it slipped down instead of climbing up.At this time, the car almost crushed it. As soon as it turned around, it landed on its front and rear limbs, raised its head and looked at the headlights, forming a posture with a high back and a low front, similar to a person lying down, with big hips and thick thighs.At this time, except for the driver who honked the horn in the car and turned on the lights, the other five people got out of the car.Two people from this side of the road, and three people from the other side of the road, surrounded it. The distance was only one or two meters away, and they didn't dare to get too close.Ren Qiyou said: "I am in front, and I can grab its legs with my hand." Shu Jiaguo, a member of the Forest District Party Committee and deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee, said: "I have been hunting since I was a child, and I have seen many animals, but I have never seen such a full body. The red-haired animal doesn’t know how powerful it is, so I dare not touch it.” Later, Zhou Zhongyi (director of the Bureau of Agriculture) picked up a stone and hit it on the buttocks. Go over the head, follow the ditch down, then turn left and climb the slope into the forest.

All six agreed that the animal had the following characteristics: 1.The hair is soft, brownish red (a bit like the color of camel hair).When the forelegs are on the ground, the arm hair hangs down about 13 cm long, there is a dark maroon hair on the back, the face is numb, and the foot hair is black.Never seen such an animal. 2.The legs are thick and long, the thighs are as thick as rice bowls, the calves are thin, the forelimbs are short, the feet have soft palms, they walk silently, the buttocks are fat, the body is very fat, the waist is about 1 meter thick, and they move slowly and walk clumsily.

3.The eyes are like human eyes, and unlike other animals, there is no night reflection.The face is long, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, much like a horse's head. The nose is above the mouth, the mouth is slightly protruding, the ears are larger than those of a human, and the forehead has hair hanging down. 4.No tail, about 1.66 meters in length.Driver Cai estimated that the strange animal weighed no more than 100 kilograms. Not long after, another surprising thing happened: On the morning of June 19, Gong Yulan, a member of the No. 6 Qunli Team of Qiaoshang Commune in Fangxian County, took her 4-year-old boy up the mountain to hunt pigweed.When she climbed over the mountain pass, she suddenly found a brown-red animal about five or six meters away from her, standing and leaning against a tree to rub itches.When the animal saw someone, it quickly chased after Gong Yulan, scaring her so much that she picked up the child and hurried down the mountain...

According to Gong Yulan's recollection, the animal was taller than a human, about 1.8 meters, reddish-black in color, with long hair, hairy hands and feet, and walked on two legs like a human.She told the interviewer: "It was really scary at that time! I ran away with the baby in my arms. I ran about 500 meters and turned around to see, but it was gone. I ran down the mountain in a hurry, and only let go when I reached the door of the captain's house." Tone." Ask: "How does that guy rub his itch?" Gong: "Standing on two feet is the same as standing up and rubbing an itch." (Gong stands up and rubs his left shoulder up and down to show that this is how he rubs it.)

Ask: "How many legs does it force you on?" Gong: "It uses two legs, chasing it like a human. It has a relatively large stride." (Gong Yulan stood up and took a few steps, as if walking forward.) Ask: "How tall is it and what is its coat color?" Gong: "It's taller than a human (about 1.8 meters), red and black, with long hair and hairy hands and feet. Its face is scary, especially its mouth." The visitor showed her the picture, and she shook her head after seeing the picture of the bear.When she saw a picture of a standing orangutan, she exclaimed, "That's what it looks like. But the hair isn't as long as the one I saw."

Q: "Is it male? Or female?" Gong: "Male! Male! That (referring to the genitals) can see clearly. Its two round eyes are big and deep, and it looks a little scared." The wife of the production team leader narrated to the interviewer the scene of Gong Yulan seeing the "savage" that day.She said: "Gong Yulan came to my door, the sweat on her head was as big as beans, and she said out of breath: Savage... Savage..." What animal did Ren Qiyou and Gong Yulan see?Are there really "savages"?These important news quickly spread to the relevant units.

The records and legends about "savage" and "hair man" have a long history In Fangxian and Shennongjia forest areas, it has been said that "hair people" (or "savages") have been active since ancient times.According to the textual research of Li Zhongjun of Wuhan Institute of Geology, Wang Yangong re-edited the "Yunyang Fuzhi" Miscellaneous Records in the ninth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1871). Forty miles, high and dangerous, remote, surrounded by stone caves like houses, hairy people, more than ten feet long, covered with hair, go out from time to time to bite people, chickens and dogs, those who refuse will be snapped, shot with cannons, lead When it falls to the ground, it cannot be hurt. According to legend, when you see it, you clap your hands together, and it is said to build the Great Wall, and when the Great Wall is built, the Mao people rush away. The old saying: "When the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall, people hid in the mountains and lived for a long time, so it became a strange thing. See People will ask whether the city has been repaired or not? Because of this, I know what I am afraid of. Yuan Jianzhai of Qiantang said: "I will still be afraid of Qin City after thousands of years, and I can imagine the power of the first emperor." There are also records of the Mao people in Fang County in Volume 2 of "Ji Ji".From this point of view, it can be known from Fangxian county annals that at least 200 years ago there were rumors of "hair people" activities here.

Not long ago, archaeologists discovered a fragment of a copper-cast money tree Jiuzi lantern from the Han tombs of the Gaobei Brigade of Hongta Commune in Fangxian County. There was an image of a "hair man" on it. The brow ridge is a bit ape-like.This "hair man" image left by the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago is believed to be the shadow of humanoid animals in real life. Going back further, Qu Yuan, the great poet of Chu State in the Warring States Period, wrote a poem about "Mountain Ghost" in "Chu Songs Nine Songs": If someone likes the mountain,

She was taken by Xue Lixi. It's both eye-catching and laughable, Zi Muyu is good at slimming. Fang Duruo, a native of the mountains, Drinking stone springs and shady pines and cypresses, You think about me, but I doubt it. Qu Yuan is from Zigui, Hubei, which is near the Shennongjia area.Qu Yuan described the "mountain ghost" with beautiful brushstrokes, and some people think it is the portrayal of "savage".Although there is no clear evidence to prove this, the inscription may reflect the legend of the humanoid animal known as "mountain ghost" popular in this area. In other ancient documents of our country, there are also very rich records about "savages".From the Warring States period to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zai, "Erya", "Huainanzi", "Erya Yi", "Youyang Zazu", "Taiping Yulan", "Zhu Fan", "Ancient and Modern Book Collection" and other 30 It is mentioned in various ancient texts.There are also many names related to "savages": such as "Jiang Giant", "Buddha", "Shan (犭喿)", "Shanjing", "Shangui", "Shanzhang", "Hanba", "Shandu". "Wait.Interestingly, according to ancient literature, a kind of "hairy man" called "Fufu" would laugh and pass out after grabbing people's arms, and drink human blood and eat human flesh after waking up.In order to prevent being harmed by it, villagers in the mountainous area often bring a pair of hollowed out bamboo tubes. When they see "Fufu" when entering the mountain, they put their arms in the bamboo tube, and when "Fufu" grabs the bamboo tube, they laugh and pass out. When the time comes, you can take the opportunity to escape by withdrawing your arms from the bamboo tube.Stories like this are also circulated in the Shennongjia area. From this point of view, from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, there are records of "Mao Ren" or similar "Mao Ren" in ancient Chinese documents and archaeological materials. In addition to these, there are a large number of modern rumors, such as two memories of seeing "savages", which are worth introducing. One: Huang Xinhe (63 years old), branch secretary of the Malan Brigade of Hongta Commune in Fangxian County, and Huang Xinmin (84 years old) and Huang Xinkui (74 years old), fellow members of the team, met the "savage" in 1922. They recalled: Huang Xinhe: I was less than 10 years old at that time.One day, when I heard that the security team had chased the "savages" down, I watched through the crack of the door.I saw a "wild man" approaching with dozens of guns from the security team, his upper body was tied with thick iron chains, and a long iron chain was dragging behind him.There were a lot of people who watched it together at the time, and Huang Xinmin and Huang Xinkui are still on the team now.This "savage" is about 1.6 to 2.0 meters high, covered with hair, the hair is brown, and the root is red.The hands and feet are longer than humans, and the fingers and toes are also longer than humans.There is also long hair on the hands and feet, and the hair on the body is also long.The hair is up in the middle and down in the back.The body is quite thick, with eyes and nose like orangutan.I have seen orangutans in the Wuhan Zoo, and the "savages" are different from orangutans.The orangutan's hands and feet are not as long as it is, and the root of the orangutan's hair is not red. Its face is wider than that of the orangutan.Orangutans usually crawl on all fours, and only sometimes walk on two legs, while "savages" completely walk on two legs. Huang Xinmin: I was in my 20s at the time.At that time, the security team in the county took the "savages" with guns and chains to escort them down.There is a restaurant below, they rested in the restaurant, and then took the "savage" away.The feet of this "savage" are more than 30 centimeters long. They said that this is not a big size, but a size two. "Savage" has a whole body of hair, red and black.It sometimes walks on two legs, sometimes on four.The hands are like human hands, but they are all hair.The feet are like human feet, but larger than human feet.The fur on the feet is lighter, and the palms and soles of the feet are hairless.It is said that they were caught in Shennongjia. Huang Xinkui: I was seventeen or eighteen years old.This "savage" has red hair, maroon, and black in some places.The security team brought the "savage" down with guns.There were four people carrying a wooden cage half the height of a person. The "savage" walks on two legs, half-bending when walking.If it doesn't leave, it will be locked in a wooden cage and carried away by people.The face is like a monkey, with a big face, protruding mouth, and hair on the head and face, but the hair on the face is shorter.Standing up as tall as a person, he is thicker than a person.When they were resting, they tied the "savage" to a tree.Only the upper body of the "savage" was bound, but his hands were not tied. "Savages" are different from bears, with different heads and hands.I heard that the "savage" was going to Xiangyang and passed by Malan. Second: Pang Gensheng, captain of the Sixth Production Team of the Fifth Union Brigade of Cuifeng Commune in Zhouzhi County, talked about his encounter with the "hair man" in early June 1977: I went to the bottom of the ditch in Dadi (place name) on the 20th day of the lunar calendar this year to cut shaft logs. From 11 am to 12 am, I met the "hair man" on the slope of the forest at the bottom of the ditch as soon as I got up from the shack. The "hairy man" gradually approached me, and I was afraid, so I kept shrinking back until I could no longer retreat with my back against the stone wall. The "hair man" gradually approached from 2.5 meters to about 2 meters and stopped. I held an ax in my right hand and prepared to fight. After about an hour of stalemate, I touched a stone with a diameter of about 11 cm in my right hand and held an ax in my left hand. The right hand picked up the stone and threw it vigorously at the "hairy man", hitting the "hairy man" on the chest. The "hairy man" yelled a few times, stroked the place where he was hit with his left forelimb, turned to the left, and rode to a diameter of about 11 centimeters. On the small tree, he rode over the small tree, walked slowly to the bottom of the ditch, and kept making gurgling sounds. When the "hair man" approached me, his two forelimbs kept swinging back and forth, and when he was holding on to me, his two forelimbs swung up and down on his chest, his head tilted back from time to time, and his mouth opened and shook constantly, making a "tsk tsk" sound. the sound of.Sometimes the face showed a happy expression, and when I finished smashing, the face changed from a happy expression to a fierce one, and made a "squeaky lala" sound like pulling a pig. Before the encounter, I was walking along the bottom of the ditch, and somewhere near the encounter there were crowing sounds like frightened chickens, barks like dogs, and cries like babies.During the march, without much effort, I met the "hair man" at the place where the sound was made. The sound of a chicken is like "clack", the sound of a dog is like "woof woof", and the sound of a baby is "wah wah". The "hair man" is about 2.1 meters tall, with shoulders wider than a human, and well-developed chest muscles.The head is square, the upper forehead is not protruding, the eye sockets are deeply concave, the nostrils are slightly upturned, the nose is like a tennis ball, and the cheeks are sunken.The ears are similar to human ears but larger, and the eyes are round and larger than human eyes.The mandible is protruding, the upper and lower lips are everted, square, and the incisors are as wide as horse teeth, yellow and plate-shaped.The kernels of the eyes are black, and the whites of the eyes are red.The hair is dark brown, more than 30 centimeters long, scattered over the shoulders, short hair (shorter than body hair) on the face except the nose and ears, the body hair has curly tips, and the back hair is longer than the chest hair.The head is slightly larger than that of an adult, the hair rests on the brow bone on the forehead, the sides of the cheeks are covered by the hair, and the ears are exposed. There are countless examples like this. The two cases of encountering "savages" in 1976 introduced at the beginning of this article are just the continuation of many past cases. An Unprecedented Scale of Scientific Expedition in the History of "Savage" Research The news of mountainous people encountering "savages" continued to come from the Shennongjia area, which attracted the attention of relevant departments.Since June 1974, several small-scale investigations have been organized successively. Due to the lack of reliable evidence, many people are skeptical or even negative about this rumored humanoid animal. From May to June 1976, there were two cases where many people encountered the animal at close range at the same time, which had to attract the attention of the scientific community.In September of that year, a small scientific expedition team organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences came to the site, conducted an investigation for nearly two months, and obtained a lot of important information.They came to the scene where Gong Yulan met the "wild man". Surprisingly, the scientific investigators found a lot of hair on the tree where the animal rubbed itches!It was found that the hair was about 1.3 meters above the ground. On September 26, when another expedition team came to investigate, researchers found the same type of hair in the same tree 1.8 meters above the ground. After preliminary identification, these hairs do not seem to come from ordinary animals, but may belong to primates. During the investigation by the expedition team, another encounter with the "savage" happened. On the morning of October 18, He Qicui, a primary school teacher from Anyang Commune in Fang County, led more than a dozen primary school students to Tianziping to have a small autumn harvest.At around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I suddenly saw a red and yellow bipedal animal in the northwest direction, walking up the slope from east to west among the grass.At that time, some younger students ran down the mountain in fright.Teacher He Qicui and four or five older students did not run away, and watched the strange animal walk for dozens of meters until it turned over the slope and disappeared. According to eyewitnesses, after the first few steps, the animal stopped, turned in a clockwise circle, wiped its face with its right arm, lifted its long hair with its hands, and looked at them. Teachers and students, and then walked towards the hillside.After hearing the news, the investigation team went to the scene to conduct an investigation, which proved that He Qicui and others had indeed seen a "hairy man". The 1976 scientific expedition led to a larger expedition.In January of the following year, under the direct leadership of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, a collaborative meeting on the scientific investigation of exotic animals in Northwest Hubei was held.The meeting decided to organize a large-scale expedition in 1977. The scientific investigation will focus on exotic animals as the main object, and observe the ecological conditions such as climate, terrain, caves, flora and fauna on which exotic animals depend on this topic.Once the collaboration meeting has been held, it's time to start building the team. In the end, more than 100 members formally participated in the expedition team, including geologists, anthropologists, zoologists, professionals from museums and zoos, as well as experienced hunters, warriors and Local cadres familiar with local conditions.Nearly ten investigation groups and two interspersed investigation detachments were established by the main investigators.The task of the investigation team is to plan and conduct in-depth investigations in key areas, mobilize and organize the masses extensively, actively look for clues to the activities of strange animals, and do everything possible to track, observe and organize roundups, and strive to obtain reliable information. direct evidence.The task of the interspersed detachment is to go deep into the closed and semi-enclosed virgin forests, to find out whether there are environmental conditions suitable for the life and reproduction of strange animal groups in inaccessible areas, and hope that during the interspersed inspection process, they can be lucky enough to encounter Hunt exotic animals, track and capture them.The author of this article participated in this scientific expedition with a strong interest and doubts about the existence of such strange humanoid animals in the area. As the leader of the interspersed detachment, he led the second intersected detachment deep into the primeval forest To track exotic animals, and after the field trip, presided over the research and summary of all the data obtained in this trip. The 1977 scientific expedition team went to the mountain for investigation in late March, and ended the field investigation by the end of November. It lasted 8 months on the mountain, and finally the relevant professionals spent another month to conduct a summary of the scientific investigation for the whole year . During this investigation, the survey route was about 5,000 kilometers, and the survey area was 1,500 square kilometers; more information about strange animals was collected during the investigation, such as footprints, feces and hair specimens that may be left by the animal; Materials and clues were selected for analysis, research and review, and several arrests were also organized.In addition, a large amount of data related to the ecological environment of exotic animals has been collected, which is helpful for in-depth understanding of the flora, geology, landform, climate, and environmental changes in the Shennongjia area, the activities of ancient humans, and the analysis of the possible environmental conditions for exotic animals. , provides a variety of important information. In 1977, the scientific investigation of exotic animals in Northwest Hubei, no matter in terms of the number of participants, the number of professionals, the length of time spent on the investigation, the wide area of ​​the investigation, or the number of investigation projects, the world's "savage" research It is unprecedented in history. Complex natural environment in Shennongjia area Scientifically, we are no stranger to wells in the Shennongjia area. Through the investigation in 1977, we have a deeper understanding of the area. Where is the Shennongjia area?Open the map book and turn to Hubei Province. In its northwest, between 110-111 degrees east longitude and 31-32 degrees north latitude, there is a mountainous area, which belongs to the eastern section of the Daba Mountain system, including the Shennongjia forest area and Fangxian County. Nanshan District covers an area of ​​more than 4,000 square kilometers. This is the Shennongjia area we need to understand.It borders the northeast of Sichuan in the west, the west section of Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in the south, Jingshan Mountain in the east, and Wudang Mountain in the north. In terms of geological structure, Shennongjia is an anticline with an axis near east and west. The Shennongjia mountain system connects with the Qinling Mountains through the Daba Mountains, and is a watershed between the Yangtze River and the upper reaches of the Han River.The average altitude of this area is about 2,000 meters, and the main peak, Dashennongjia, is 3,054 meters above sea level, known as "the first peak in central China".The mountains here are high and steep, with many mountains and mountains, especially because the rock strata are quite disordered, the joints are developed, coupled with the long-term erosion and cutting of the water flow and the intermittent rise of the stratum, many areas have formed complex terrains with interlaced mountains and rivers, deep valleys and steep walls.We once inspected the line from the main peak of Shennongjia to the Lianghekou at the confluence of Jiuchong River and Sandui River. The straight-line distance is limited, but the altitude difference is about 2500 meters. Notable deep canyons. In the limestone area, under the strong action of erosion and cutting, karst terrain is widely developed, with many rock walls and many caves.In addition, on both sides of the main peak of Shennongjia, there are still many relics of Quaternary glacial activities, mainly including ancient ice cirques, ice-eroded troughs, moraine mud and large boulders.Geologist Yuan Zhenxin and others believe that this area can be divided into at least two glacial periods and one interglacial period. The ages of the two glacial periods are preliminarily determined as the middle and late Pleistocene, but the scope and scale of glaciation in these two glacial periods are not large. The action time is not long, and most of them belong to the cirque glacier type and the cirque-valley glacier type. In terms of terrain, the Shennongjia area is the transition zone from the alpine belt in southwest my country to the middle mountain belt in central China; in terms of plant cover and climate zone, it is also a transition zone from subtropical zone to temperate zone. It is complex, resulting in many small terrains and microclimates, so the vegetation types and climate conditions are both intricate and have obvious vertical zoning characteristics. During the investigation in 1977, more than 6,800 plant specimens were collected. After the research of biologist Liu Minzhuang and others, according to the appearance and species composition of the vegetation, it was found that the vegetation in this area is quite wide and can be divided into ten types: evergreen broad-leaved forest, evergreen and deciduous mixed forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, Huashan pine forest, fir forest, arrow bamboo bush, subalpine shrub, alpine meadow, floodplain shrub meadow, swamp meadow, etc., and some in between transitional type. From the perspective of the vertical distribution of vegetation and climate, we can clearly see along the inspection route: the altitude above 2200 meters belongs to the alpine belt, the climate is cold, the vegetation is mainly dark coniferous forest belt, and there are large alpine meadows and arrow bamboo bushes .The coniferous forests are dominated by western Hubei fir forests, and alpine meadows develop in large areas here, and sometimes go deep into the woodland, dividing the fir forests into pieces.The meadow plants include bupleurum, goose intestines, Potentilla, safflower orchid stork, willow orchid, purple flower broken michelia and gentian, etc.There are sometimes clustered shrubs on the meadow, such as Longdong crabapple, Hubei mountain plant, rhododendron, wild cherry and Emei rose. From 2200 meters to 1700 meters above sea level, it belongs to the Zhongshan belt, which is a bright coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved forest belt.From above 1800 meters, it is often cloudy and foggy, the humidity is very high, and it is sunny and rainy from time to time, which is erratic. At an altitude of 1700-1000 meters, it is the lower part of the Zhongshan belt, mainly composed of evergreen broad-leaved and deciduous broad-leaved forest belts.In recent years, with the development of forestry in this area, many large trees have been cut down and replaced by secondary forests and shrubs and grasses. Only large areas of closed and semi-closed virgin forests remain in inaccessible places. Among the main species of vegetation in the Zhongshan Belt, coniferous forests are dominated by Huashan pine and fir; , Paulownia, cork oak, chestnut, sharp-toothed oak, oak and arrow bamboo. The altitude below 1000 meters belongs to the low mountain belt, and the vegetation is evergreen broad-leaved and deciduous mixed forest, but it is mainly broad-leaved secondary forest belt, and most of them are artificially planted economic forests.Among the evergreen tree species are Quercus japonica, camphor tree, Lithocarpus chinensis, and Xinmu Jiangzi; the deciduous trees include birch, Schima superba, tung tree, eucommia, walnut tree, goat horn tree and raspberry, etc.; at the same time, there are sporadic horsetail Loose distribution.In addition, there is a large area of ​​arable land on the hillside, the crops are mainly corn, and the climate is humid. In the canyon area, you can see wild plantains and palm trees with subtropical colors. From the above, it can be seen that there are obvious subtropical climate conditions in the northwestern Hubei region and the low mountain and valley regions, while from the middle mountain to the high mountain region, there is a tendency to transition to the temperate zone and even the alpine zone. Generally speaking, the flora of this area is part of the flora of Central China, and is greatly influenced by the Nanling flora and the Southwest alpine flora, reflecting the characteristics of east-west interlacing and north-south transition.Because of this, the plant species in the Shennongjia area in Northwest Hubei are particularly rich, and there are many economic tree species with high-quality materials, and the accumulation of wood is also large, especially in the vast forest sea, there are still a large number of ancient tertiary tree species; Davidia involucrata , Lingchunmu, Lianxiangshu, Shuiqingshu and Scherichia hemanthus, etc., which show that the original forest here is ancient and not affected much by Quaternary glaciers.In many parts of the Shennongjia area, there are still closed and semi-closed primeval forests. During the investigation in 1977, No. 100 mammal specimens and No. 200 bird specimens were collected. According to the research of biologists Li Guihui and Jiang Ting'an, there are 43 species of the former, which can be classified into 7 orders and 22 families.The latter, according to research by biologist Yu Kuai et al., has a total of 132 species (including subspecies), including 16 orders and 38 families.Although the collected specimens are not all of the Shennongjia area, the characteristics of the fauna in this area can still be seen from the analysis of the composition of these existing animals.The fauna of our country is bounded by the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi, the Palearctic to the north, mostly northern species, and the Oriental to the south, mainly South China species.According to the results of the survey in 1977, in terms of mammals in this area, the representative species of the Palearctic accounted for 50%, the representative species of the Oriental accounted for 25%, and the widespread species accounted for 25%; in terms of birds, 103 locally bred species Among the birds, 46.1% are from the Orient, 37.2% from the Palearctic, and 16.7% from the widespread species.It can be seen from this that although the fauna in this area is dominated by southern species, it also has the characteristics of mixed and obvious transition between northern and southern species. Just as the vertical distribution of climate and vegetation in this area is unusually obvious, animals in this area also have obvious zoning.For example, the oriental species of birds are mostly distributed in the low and middle mountain belts, while the Palaearctic species are mostly distributed in the middle and high mountain belts. The complex environment, changeable climatic conditions, wide range of vegetation types, and rich wildlife resources are the obvious features here. According to the survey in 1977, in the Shennongjia area, it has been confirmed that the first-class protected animals that belong to my country's special products or are rare in the world include golden monkeys and gray golden monkeys; The protected animals include musk deer, serow, macaque, macaque, golden rooster, long-tailed pheasant and so on.Primates in this area have been basically investigated, and there are four types in total: golden monkeys, red-faced monkeys, macaques and macaques (Tibetan monkeys). Among them, the discovery of golden monkeys in Hubei is the first record.In addition, there is a kind of white bear, there are quite a few, and whether it can be assigned a new genus or a new species remains to be further studied. In short, the Shennongjia area has complex natural conditions, rich wild animals and plant resources, and is a veritable "natural zoo and botanical garden".It is possible that some rarer or even previously recorded animals appeared in this environment. Analysis of eyewitnesses In addition to the records in historical documents, there are also a large number of modern rumors about the strange animals in Shennongjia area. Now we have more than a hundred sightings and rumors, not only written records, but also many interview recordings. In 1977, we classified and studied these eyewitness accounts, among which key cases were repeatedly investigated and reviewed on the spot.In the process of analysis, we found that the "savages" seen, heard, and rumored by the masses are not a single object.According to the investigation, there are several situations: Some witnesses are in a state of mental tension or fear, or are separated by a long distance, and mistakenly regard certain animals as "savages", such as monkeys (multi-lineage golden monkeys, Sichuan macaques), suman antelopes (serows), bears, etc. They are regarded as or legends are "savages". Part of it is exaggerated and distorted in the process of dissemination, and even misrepresented something, that is to say, it is "made out of nothing". There is another part, after repeated verification, it seems that a strange animal was indeed seen.They generally have the following characteristics: about 2 meters tall; covered with fur, brown-red fur, disheveled hair, long hair; no tail; male genitals are large, female breasts are prominent; they can walk upright...the appearance is neither like a bear Not like a monkey. However, judging from the reflections of witnesses, the height and coat color of this strange animal have great variations. We have selected 38 cases from numerous cases and conducted further analysis. These 38 cases are all first-hand materials narrated by the eyewitnesses involved in the incident, and those that were indirectly reported or the witnesses were unclear were not included. Among the 38 cases, in addition to Hubei, several cases in Gansu and Shaanxi were also selected.Among these 38 cases, 4 cases have been denied after investigation, and almost all of them talk about beating "savages" to death. In fact, all of them were bears.That is to say, so far, apart from rumors, there is no real evidence that a "savage" was actually killed or captured alive in Northwest Hubei. There are also some cases, which are obviously doubtful. The two most famous cases are: On May 1, 1974, Yin Hongfa, deputy director of the "Revolutionary Committee" of the "Revolutionary Committee" of Qingxigou Brigade, Qiaoshang Commune, Fangxian County, walked with a white-haired man walking like a human. animal encounters.When it stretched out both hands to catch Yin, Yin chopped off its right arm with a kudzu machete and grabbed its hair with his left hand. The animal broke free and fled, and Yin grabbed a bunch of hair.According to Yin, the animal is about 1.6 meters tall, unlike a monkey, with a head about the size of a human head and hair about 20 centimeters long.Since Yin saw it alone, there was no other witness.The hair brought back was identified by the Beijing Institute of Zoology and believed to belong to the long hair on the back of the serow's neck. Therefore, it cannot prove that Yin really encountered a "savage", so he has to doubt it.Another example is that on June 16, 1974, Zhu Guoqiang, a breeder of the 19th brigade of the Hongwei Commune in Huilong District, Fangxian County, claimed that he encountered a brown-haired human-like animal in Longdonggou, and had a fight in the well. The other witnesses did not find any reliable traces of fighting at the scene, so they were questioned and could not be established. There are quite a few cases like this where there is only one party involved and lack of other witnesses and physical evidence, although some of them are vivid and seem to be very realistic and true. In addition, there is another type of case where multiple people encounter strange animals at close range at the same time. This cannot be placed in a non-committal position like the witnesses of a single party, but should be taken seriously.Some of the most famous cases have been introduced earlier, so I won't repeat them here.It should be pointed out that I basically reviewed all these cases: For example, on November 18, 1977, I went to Tianziping, Anyang Commune, Fang County, to review the fact that He Qicui's teachers and students encountered "savages". At the scene, He Qicui and He Xiangquan, one of the eyewitnesses at the time, gave a detailed introduction, performed the process of encountering the "savage", and inspected the scene, measuring the distance between the witnesses and the "savage" and how the "savage" stood upright. walking distance.There are various signs that the teacher and student He Qicui did see a strange bipedal animal. Due to the distance, about 150 meters, the specific image of the "savage" cannot be seen clearly. It walked over the mountain ridge in the northwest direction Going there, the distance to walk upright is equivalent to about 30 steps for ordinary people. There were no big trees on the hillside, and the grass was still overgrown at that time. It seemed impossible to mix with the mangrove leaves. I took a group of photos at the scene, showing the scene where more than ten teachers and students of He Qicui met the "savages". There is no doubt that the rumors of the masses, especially the eyewitness accounts, are clues and research references for our further investigation. It can also be seen from these materials that there are great similarities between them, but also diverse complexities.Judging from the coat colors of this kind of animals reflected by witnesses, there are brown-red long-haired, red-haired long-haired, white-haired long-haired, hemp-haired long-haired and gray-brown short-haired, and there are differences in height, size, face and body shape.Some people think that this is the different morphological types of savages, and they can even be divided into different castes, while others think that it may be gender differences or age differences. It seems that the eyewitness accounts in modern times should be treated with caution just like the relevant records in ancient documents.The final scientific verification can only be made after obtaining conclusive evidence, which requires us to carry out hard work with a scientific attitude, rather than just guessing out of thin air. Hair, Footprints and Feces--Indirect Evidence for the Existence of "Savages" Since the investigation of strange animals in the Shennongjia area in 1974, footprints and hairs rumored to be left by "savages" have been obtained many times. Regarding the hair, some of it has been denied. For example, the hair of the "white-haired savage" obtained by Yin Hongfa was identified as the mane of the Sumon antelope; According to the microscopic observation of the hair, the tissue structure is similar to the long hair on the back of the golden monkey. According to the observation of the microscope and the electron microscope, there are no red pigment particles, so it is inferred that the red color is caused by artificial dyeing. However, it is not clear what is dyed and why it does not fade after treatment .However, according to the guidance of Gong Yulan, the hair obtained at the scene, after identification and research by geologist Huang Wanbo, provided important information: the hairs collected are divided into two types, one is fine hair, slightly curved, soft, Black in color, cylindrical in shape, a few with yellow tips, generally about 50 mm long, and the longest ones reach 200 mm, which looks like human hair in appearance.But there is another kind of fluff, which is soft, curved in the shape of a rope, light gray, generally 30-40 mm long, and the longest is no more than 60 mm.In addition, film prints and tissue sections were made, and comparative studies were made with the hairs of brown bears, black bears, golden monkeys, orangutans and humans.From the film prints and tissue sections, the scale structure on the hair surface and the internal structures such as cortex and medullary cavity can be seen.After observation, the surface scales of these strange animal hairs are in the shape of compound tiles, with sparse to medium intervals, and the horizontal stripes are tortuous and the medullary cavity is narrow. Closer to primate hair.初步鉴定至少否定了龚玉兰看到的是熊。 1977年在考察过程中，也征集到不少传闻是"野人"毛的毛发标本，其中部分已被否定，如在秭归县龙江公社向启洪家征集到的"野人"皮和毛，经检视，毛发不是附生在皮上的，而是捆扎在一起的，不仅毛色红，连皮也呈红色。拆开捆扎的线，发现被扎处呈白色，很明显这份"野人"毛系利用动物毛而人工染色的。 此外，在房县九道梁红吾大队及竹山县洪坪等地，也征集到一些红毛，细长柔软，长达200毫米。提供者声称是在山上拣到的，这些标本作过褪色试验，未曾能褪掉红色。到目前为止，由于分析手段的欠缺，从毛发上还不能作出更进一步的确切的种属鉴别。故龚玉兰所遇到的到底是灵长类中的哪种动物，还有待今后进一步的工作。 有关神农架地区奇异动物的间接证据，除毛发外，还有脚印，从1976年起开始注意收集脚印的资料。 1976年鄂西北奇异动物的脚印，是在房县桥上公社境内发现的。据黄万波等同志的研究，其中有两个较清晰，但因林密，地上落叶多，脚印保存不好，仅拍了照，没有制作模型。脚印长28～32厘米，前端宽约12厘米，后端宽5～7厘米；趾印呈卵圆形，有三到四个最清楚，约3.5厘米宽，7厘米长，趾端平行排列，互相紧靠，在趾印前端还有粗钝而浅的爪痕隐约可见。足印的排列呈单行，可达1米或1米多。黄认为从总的方面考虑，这个脚印的性质似乎更接近人类。 1977年考察过程中，曾经根据群众报告的线索进行了两次大规模的围捕活动。5月25日，16岁的学生蔡国良跟他父亲在鲁家坡大龙洞沟，发现一个1米高的麻色奇异动物。得此线索后，考察队在此进行了大规模的围捕活动，可惜未能捕获到，在现场发现几个脚印，长约30厘米，脚趾并拢，可惜未浇制模型。 8月31日青年工人肖兴扬在泮水公社铁炉大队龙洞沟后侧的树林中伐木，碰上奇异动物。据他反映，当时他听到前方沟边小梁子有树枝响。"我就朝响声处张望，突然在距我约15米处的树丛里探出一个圆圆的脑袋，接着看见它的肩膀和伸向前方抓握树枝的手，它握住树枝后，向前伸出一条腿，蹬稳之后，就冒出了一个高约一米五六的毛人来。它硬是个人样，浑身长毛，像个干瘦的老人。它浑身的毛有三四厘米长，贴身长着，毛色呈深棕色，头发只有五六厘米长，是向后背起的。我是从它的右侧看它的，它向上走了五六米远，突然转过脸来盯着看我，这样我也就看清了它的面相，就像一个很瘦的人的脸，只是嘴有点像门牙往前龇开的人的嘴那样鼓鼓的，眼窝和鼻梁凹陷，窄小的鼻孔有点往上翘……看了一会儿，我心里感到害怕了，就转身跑回去，告诉另外两个同伴。" 以后我们又找到另外两个青年工人，其中钱海林谈到："当时小肖跑回来时，脸色都变了，神色紧张地告诉我：那边不知有个什么东西……我问是什么样子，小肖说：站着走路，浑身是毛，一人多高，硬是个人样。这时毛长福也来了，就在这时候，我们三人同时听到呜-！呜-！的叫声，前一声粗些，后一声尖些，听得出离我们不远，大约有40米的光景。小毛学着叫了一声，它就不叫了，我们有点害怕，没跟上去看。中午下山报告了队里的领导。" 目击者近距离亲眼看到了"毛人"，同时多人听到它的叫声，这件事很快就反映到了考察办公室。第二天，考察办公室一方面派人奔赴现场深入调查，另一方面调动考察队伍进行围捕。调查组在现场看到了三个脚印，其中一个比较清楚。 9月2日，鄂西北奇异动物科学考察队的一个支队从神农架林区的密林中赶到了龙洞沟，和当地有经验的猎手在外围布置了包围圈，并在发现区域约25平方千米的范围内进行了仔细的搜索。他们在密林中又发现了不少脚印，形状与最初发现的相似，并呈单行排列，两脚印之间的距离约65厘米。此外还发现可能是该动物吃剩的植物，在距肖兴扬发现奇异动物不远处，还找到了两堆疑是该动物的粪便，在粪便的周围都有相同类型的脚印。 最初，穿插支队的搜索没有能成功，以后又集结了7个考察组，共同配合，从9月25日起进一步展开搜索和考察，直到10月26日止，终因考察区内山体过大，地形复杂，沟深林密，没有找到该动物。 根据这次发现脚印的石膏模型、照片，结合现场观察记录，我试作如下复原：脚印全长24.5厘米，前宽11.4厘米，中腰宽6.5厘米，后跟宽6厘米，大趾与第二趾端部距2.5厘米，大趾与脚印中轴呈30度夹角。 这个脚印的特点是，脚掌长，前宽后窄，大趾叉开，大趾与第二、五趾印痕较清楚，没有明显的足弓。这种脚印显然不是熊的，在那个地区熊的脚印是不少的，极易分辨，虽然熊的前后掌有时叠印起来也能造成"大脚印"，但与"奇异动物"的脚印对比，其差别是一目了然的。 根据现场观察，脚印间距65厘米，成单行排列，说明是两足站立行走的。但从整个脚印微向内侧弯曲，趾长可能占全脚长的1。"4，大拇趾位置低于其余4趾，且叉开一边，与其余4趾有较大的夹角这几点看来，表明这种脚还有一定程度的抓握能力，这是较为接近猿类的特点。后跟相对的窄小，又缺乏足弓，说明其直立是不够稳定的。从脚型总的显示，它的直立性比人类差，而比已知的现代猿类要进步，看来这种脚印似乎混合了人和猿的双重特点，但接近猿的程度显然要大得多。 此外，1977年10月下旬，考察队一个小组刘民壮等同志在神农架林区阴峪河地区台子上（地名）调查时，据林业工人反映，当年6月在修公路的时候曾经发现奇异动物。考察人员在目击者的带领下到达五尺沟现场，也发现了20多个脚印，怀疑是奇异动物留下来的，并浇铸了石膏模型。本文作者也在该现场进行了观察，因为这些脚印是4个月前留下的，日晒雨淋为时过久，变形太大，只能作为可能出现奇异动物的线索而已。 前面提及，在追踪过程中，在两处地点还找到一些粪便，粪便四周都有奇异动物脚印，且离肖兴扬发现该动物处不远。据袁振新观察，粪便呈筒状、条状，横切面呈圆形，直径2～2.5厘米，估计500克左右。食物残渣较细，成分有植物根、茎、叶纤维、小果皮碎片，并有多量昆虫小甲壳，很可能这两处粪便是奇异动物留下的。 疑是奇异动物留下的这些毛发、粪便和脚印，都是有关奇异动物可能存在的间接证据。不过众多的标本经过分析后，真正有科学价值的并不多，而且研究还很不深入，因此要从中得到比较确切的结论，还有很大困难。"传说，目击者的报告，脚印的照片以及浇铸的石膏模型等资料与日俱增，造成一片混乱的消息，并且似乎漫无止境。"这是世界"野人"研究中面临的处境，如果我们对国内"野人"的研究，不持以积极和慎重的科学态度，也将会陷于这种窘境。 是捕风捉影，还是待揭之谜？ 目前，自然界有几个待揭之谜在勾起人们莫大的兴趣：天上飞的"飞碟"（"飞行的未知物体"），有些人认为它是"球外文明的使者"；尼斯湖中的怪兽--是否是亿万年前的蛇颈龙的残存后代？Opinions vary.还有就是本文着重谈的"野人"，正因为它与我们人本身有关，更激起人们的好奇心理和探究的欲望，也正因为它是个引人入胜的题材，不免会被渲染上神奇的色彩，甚至牵强附会地加上种种虚妄的内容，正如有人曾指出："野人使人幻想--同时也给了胡说的机会……"更有甚者，会被一些别有用心的人利用来招摇撞骗，这就败坏了"野人"这一严肃的科研课题的声誉。大量的目击记和传闻中，真正有科学价值的寥若晨星，许多科学家对此抱有怀疑，甚至被偏见和囿于现有的观念而持以否定态度，这是不奇怪的。 事情也真凑巧，1969年"沙斯夸支"（"美国大脚野人"）被摄入电影镜头，1972年"雪人"就在克罗宁的帐篷边漫步，而1976年神农架林区6位干部遇到奇异动物，可以说这几个事例都是人与人形奇异动物近在咫尺、唾手可获的情况下，竟被逃脱了！否则就一举揭谜了，难怪有人感叹道："说不定我们的科学只善于发展宇宙飞船和微生物学，但是一种庞大的人猿和我们同居在一个拥挤的星球上，我们却不能找到它！" 难道我们只是在捕风捉影？在神农架的崇山峻岭中，在茫茫的原始林海里，我们攀悬崖，涉急流，迎暴风，穿密林……难道是在追踪一个根本不存在的生物？ 我是怀着对这种人形动物是否存在的将信将疑的心理来到神农架的，但我从未相信它就是人类范畴的动物。正像克罗宁是怀着对雪人是否存在的将信将疑的心情，来到尼泊尔东部荒僻的阿安谷进行考察，在亲眼目睹了雪人新鲜脚印后，对它的存在确信不疑一样。经过在神农架地区的考察活动，特别在原始林区里穿插，现在我已不怀疑世界上可能存在这种所谓"野人"的奇异动物。通过考察研究，也进一步坚定了我原先的看法：它们不可能是人。因为从目前已有的材料看，它们不会制作和使用工具，没有语言，也缺乏社会组织。在穿插考察中，我们没有发现任何有关它们群体生活的明显迹象。甚至对"沙斯夸支"这种外形上更接近人的奇异动物，我也持如此看法。 我感到它们有可能存在，这首先是由于各地区有关"野人"的传说如此长时期存在，决非偶然，这是有客观实体存在的影子。不然，为什么这种传说、目击记局限在有限地区，而非到处都有呢？其次，确实有些事例，需要作出科学的解释，不能漠视或轻率地否定。 在地史上的第四纪，我国华南地区广泛生存着"大熊猫-巨猿-剑齿象"动物群，包括着若干典型的哺乳动物，如：大熊猫、猩猩（褐猿）、金丝猴、犀牛、貘、马等。随着地史的变化，这个动物群中不少种类在我国境内已灭绝，但有一些种类仍然生存在局部地区。其中最有名的如：大熊猫，在四川西北部，甘肃和青海毗连的地区仍有生存。这个动物群中是否还有另一些成员仍保存在诸如鄂西北的原始林区呢？这也是很难说的。 世界"野人"，从目击者反映，它的外形颇似大型的猿类，所以曾有不少学者推测，所谓"野人"可否是巨猿？关于神农架地区的奇异动物也有巨猿后代一说的，当然还有拉玛猿后代之说，还有大猿（大猩猩）之说，甚至有"南猿"残存代表之说。我是倾向"巨猿"说的。关于"沙斯夸支"，如果美洲存在猿类，这确实是个值得探讨的问题。因为在古老地层中从未找到确实的猿类化石，所以我在《"野人"之谜》①一文中曾推测，"雪人"、神农架地区奇异动物与"沙斯夸支"是否有共同起源的可能性。如果它们是灵长类，很可能都是巨猿的后代，其中一支在地史上某个时期，通过白令陆桥到达美洲而成为"沙斯夸支"。这些巨猿后代体质形态上的差异，可能是地区性的差别，也可能是进化程度的差异。当然，这不过是一种推测而已。 ①载1978年10月号《科学实验》。 在神农架地区要搞清奇异动物，一方面固然要下工夫去捕获它，能找到血肉之躯最好，至少也要搞到骨骼，特别是牙齿，才能解决问题；另一方面，还要搞清楚一些可能引起"野人"或"毛人"错觉的其他生物。 这里应特别提出的是，有两种动物尚未搞清楚，它们可能与部分传说中的"野人"有关。 一是"大青猴"，群众又叫"偷食猴"或"马力猴"（麻栗猴）。据群众的反映和我们有的同志在野外观察到，它可能是四川断尾猴的一种，即藏酋猴。据称它在此地单独或成对活动，个体相当大，最高可达150厘米，如同十三四岁男孩那么高（林区来的考察队员曾有人反映过去亲眼见到过）。如真能捕获到，这确是猴类中巨大个体的新纪录和动物学上的新发现。从它的生态习性看，说不定部分的"野人"事例与它的活动有关。 一是"人熊"（棕熊）。这里究竟有没有棕熊还没有搞清楚，群众反映说有，但我们尚未捕获到。在我国东北，棕熊能直立，脚印既大又像人脚印，故被称为"人熊"。神农架林区也有"人熊"之说，群众曾反映"人熊"能站着走，能站着掰包谷，包谷秆不断。不过经过部分事例的查证，证明这乃是黑熊所为。所谓"野人"掰包谷，包谷秆不断，基本也搞清，亦为熊所干。是不是这里有棕熊之类的"人熊"？部分群众反映，有种棕红色的动物在树上活动，能站起来，看不出尾巴，脑袋像"马脑壳"，大脚板，喜欢吃蜂蜜，还抱着蜂桶走好远……根据这些特点看，很像是棕熊的形态和习性。正是据此，有人就认为1976年林区6位干部看到的奇异动物就是"棕熊"。如果搞清楚这里确实有棕熊存在，不排除部分"野人"事例与它有关。 撤除这些之外，我看在鄂西北神农架地区的原始密林中，可能存在一种科学上有待搞清楚的人形动物。这是一个自然界之大谜，只要我们进一步深入考察，踏实调查，这个谜终究会揭晓的。