In our country, there have been legends about "savages" for a long time. From the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the north and south of the Yangtze River, from centenarians to cowherd dolls, almost everyone can tell a "savage" story. The general idea is: In the deep mountains and old forests, there is a kind of "savage" (called a human bear in some places). It is covered with hair and walks on two "feet". Once caught by it, it will be difficult to escape. In order to defend themselves, people wear bamboo tubes on their elbows. If they encounter "savages", they will let the "savages" catch them with their elbows covered with bamboo tubes. At this time, the "savage" was so happy that he fainted from laughter. At this moment, the captured person dropped the bamboo tube and ran away immediately. When the "savage" woke up, all that was left in its hands was an empty bamboo tube.

The story of the "savage" is not limited to our country. There are also similar legends from Asia to America. Such as "snowman", "weirdo", etc., all of which are similar to the "savage" in our country's legend.

So, are there any "savages" in the world?

According to the point of view of evolution, the so-called savages do not refer to modern humans, because except for a few atavistic phenomena (such as hairy people), normal people do not have hair all over their bodies and their faces are not Monkey-like. Even if modern people live in deep mountains and old forests all year round, do not eat salt, do not eat cooked food, and do not wear clothes, except for the hair, beard and other hair that may grow longer, the whole body will not be able to grow such dense long hair, let alone It is said that the face will turn into a monkey shape. If this inference has some truth, then the so-called savage must be considered from another perspective, that is, to see what animal shapes are related to the legendary "savage".

As far as is known, among the large mammals in the world, only great apes and some higher monkeys in the order of primates can stand upright and move forward on two feet alone when necessary; and Some bears in the order Carnivora can also stand. This raises the question: Could the legendary "savages" be apes, monkeys or bears? Of course, this does not exclude the fact that in the process of evolution from "ancient people" to "new people", due to various internal and external factors, a small number of "ancient people" have retained their original form and have survived to this day, becoming what people call " Savage". However, this possibility is extremely limited, and the most likely scenarios are the first two.

First, let’s start with bears.

The Ursidae family includes six genera: white bears, brown bears, American black bears, Asian black bears, sun bears and sloth bears. White bears and brown bears are the largest bears in the world. White bears are limited to the Arctic region; brown bears are found throughout Asia, the United States, and Europe; and black bears are also widely distributed.

In addition to brown bears (also called horse bears in some places), there are also black bears and a variant of black bears - white bears in China. These types of bears, especially black bears, are the most widely distributed and can be found almost all over the country. The brown bear’s living area is mainly in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains and Changbai Mountains in the northeast. It is said. There are also their footprints at the western end of the Qinling Mountains.

Brown bears are very large and can weigh over a thousand kilograms. Its fur color ranges from dark to light, mainly brown. Sexual loneliness, never in a group.

Black bears are smaller but weigh several hundred kilograms. Its coat color is black except for a piece of white hair under its neck. Its living habits are similar to those of a brown bear. But its eyesight is not as good as that of the brown bear, so it has a nickname, "Black Blind Man".

Both brown bears (horse bears) and black bears can stand. If tamed, they can also "walk" a few steps or make some endearing movements.

Because bears can stand, it is easy to give people the illusion that bears are "savages" in nature. In particular, its footprints are often mistaken for human footprints if not observed carefully or if the prints are altered. To illustrate the problem. Here we might as well talk about the long-standing rumors about the "Snowman".

Since the 19th century, many explorers and expedition teams have investigated "Snowmen" in the Himalayas. This investigation continues today. Many scholars believe that the so-called snowman does not exist at all, but is a kind of bear. However, some people object or are dubious, believing that the Yeti is not a bear, but a large ape, or some remnants of the "ancient man" stage.

Some scholars have made the following interesting descriptions of the "snowman":

(1) The "snowman" lives in the upper part of the forest 4 to 5 kilometers below the snow line.

(2) Plants are the main food. Also eats some insects and small mammals.

(3) Body height 1.7~1.8 meters. "Walking" fully upright.

(4) The whole body is covered with long hair, and the hair is gray or brown.

(5) Unsociable and likes to act alone.

(6) The footprints of the "Snowman" are 25 to 30 centimeters long, wider than human feet, and the big toe and second toe are thick, similar to Neanderthals, but more primitive.

After reading this description, the existence of the "snowman" seems certain. However, it has never been caught in recent years, and not even a photo or skeleton of it has been found. No one is sure whether there is a "snowman" or not.

Similarly, "Savages" also have similar problems to "Snowmen". It can be said bluntly that there is no convincing evidence about "savages" yet. After all, it is difficult to make a definite conclusion about its existence based only on sightings, legends, hair, and footprints.

What we talked about above is the relationship between bears and "savages" and "snowmen". Now, let’s see if the “savages” may be some types of large higher primates.

There are many species of primates. According to the current classification, it contains several suborders. What will be discussed here is limited to several large higher primates. Such as Sichuan monkeys and Guangxi monkeys in the monkey suborder; gibbons, orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas in the anthropoid suborder. These species, in addition to orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, Sichuan monkeys, Guangxi monkeys, and gibbons are also found in China.

The height of the orangutan is between that of the chimpanzee and the gorilla, about 1.3 to 1.4 meters, and the male is taller than the female. The weight is generally between 50 and 100 kilograms. Orangutans have brown-red hair, short legs, long arms, and big bellies. They look particularly bulky, far less agile than chimpanzees, and their reactions are slower. But they are very strong and are said to be able to fight a giant python.

They have the habit of building nests, but they are temporary. They are thrown away after two or three uses and then moved to another place. Orangutans do not like to live in groups and prefer to live alone. Older male orangutans are more lonely. In their hometown in Nanyang, they feed on various wild fruits, buds, and leaves. Sometimes they also eat bird eggs, small birds, and other animals, as well as insects. Chimpanzees are found in western and central Africa and live in dense tropical forests. They are not big, about 1 meter tall when standing upright, and weigh about 100 kilograms. They are all black, move quickly and are good at imitating human movements. Although it is not tall, its arms are very strong, and three strong men may not be able to catch it.

Chimpanzees like to live in groups, often with 10 to 30 chimpanzees foraging together in the jungle. Their food is mainly plants, such as wild fruits, twigs, leaves, and wild vegetables. They also eat locusts, bird eggs, and certain species. Mammals such as wild boars and baboons.

Gorillas live in the moist dense forests and high mountains of tropical Africa. There are two kinds: one belongs to the gorilla in the lowlands of West Africa; the other belongs to the gorilla in the mountains of Central Africa. The two kinds of gorillas have different shapes and coat colors. The forelimbs of the lowland gorillas are slightly longer than those on the mountains. The hair of the lowland gorillas is sparse and not as thick as the alpine ones.

Gorillas are taller than other great apes. A medium-sized gorilla is over 1.5 meters tall and weighs 200 kilograms. Therefore, a gorilla is physically strong enough to rival a male lion or a tiger. It is a gregarious animal, often living in groups of three or five, living together. They are highly mobile and have no fixed residence. Their diet is similar to that of orangutans and chimpanzees, living on wild fruits, twigs, and leaves.

The gorilla has a special ability. When it is discovered or encounters a natural enemy (tiger, leopard, etc.), it will stand up and beat its "chest" hard with its "fist". It opens its big mouth, exposes its canine teeth, and roars repeatedly to demonstrate and scare its opponents.

Gibbons live in tropical or subtropical virgin forests, and their distribution range is limited to Southeast Asia. Gibbons have also been discovered in Xishuangbanna and southern Guangxi in Yunnan, China, as well as in Hainan Island and other places. It is the smaller of the above-mentioned great apes, standing only about 1 meter tall. One of its most prominent features is that its forelimbs are quite long, followed by its timidity, coldness, and agility. Gibbons follow a certain route of activity, eating wild fruits, leaves, buds, insects, bird eggs, etc.

The Sichuan monkey is a relatively large monkey that lives in the mountains of western and northern Sichuan and the Hengduan Mountains in China. It is larger than ordinary monkeys and can stand over 1 meter tall. The body hair is thick and dense, able to withstand cold, and the coat color is brown or bluish gray (hence it is also called the Big Green Monkey). Elderly monkeys often have quite long whiskers and hairs on their cheeks and under their chin. The food habits of Sichuan monkeys are similar to those of the above-mentioned great apes, and they mainly eat plant foods.

There are many types of monkeys in China, such as Guangxi monkeys, Taiwanese monkeys, black leaf monkeys, etc. In addition, there is one of the most precious golden monkeys. This monkey has a long tail and beautiful coat. It is a unique species in the world. It is distributed in Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi and Shennongjia in Hubei and other places in China.

The species listed above are all important representatives among primates, especially orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. They have many similarities with humans, and they can also use their feet when necessary. Walking, you can also stand up and "walk" for a few steps.

So, before people know the true nature of certain large primates, it is easier to regard them as "monsters" or "savages". For example, orangutans, whose home is near the equator, live on the two islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia. The indigenous people call it "Olan Udan", that is, the "savage" in the forest.

In our country, there have been examples similar to the orangutans mentioned above. From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, it was said that "savages" were discovered in the dense forests of Xishuangbanna. But after repeated inspections, there was no result. Later it was speculated that it might be a kind of great ape (such as a gibbon).

There is also a similar spread in the Mongolian People's Republic of China. That was back in the 1950s. Gobi residents who have seen "Almas" (i.e. "savage") said: "Almas" is very human-like, with a thin layer of reddish-brown hair all over his body. It is about the same height as a Mongolian, but is a bit hunched, and its knees are partially bent when walking. Its jaws were large, its forehead was low, and its brow arch was as prominent as that of a Mongolian, perfectly consistent with that of a Neanderthal.

In addition, a monster called "Saskatchewan" has been discovered in America. Some people claim that it can walk upright, has hair on its body, looks like a human, is about 2 meters tall, and has big feet. Some During the expedition, the explorers not only discovered the fur, footprints, and handprints of the "Sasquatch" and heard its cry, but also reportedly took precious footage.

Even in the wild. Today, some amazing animals are still hidden in some remote corners. One of the most important discoveries in zoology in recent years is the discovery of two "monsters" in Vietnam in 1994: one is the Vietnamese muntjac; An antelope spends most of its time in the water, with a strangely shaped head and nostrils above its mouth. Another "monster" is a bull with spindle-shaped horns that lives in the jungle. The existence of these unknown animals is also unknown. It is easy to cause people to misunderstand the "savage"

Although, whether it is "Almas" or "Saskatchewan", its fate is exactly the same as the "Snowman" mentioned above. No convincing real evidence has been obtained, but people's exploration of the "Savage" has never stopped. Following the search for the "Snowman" in the Himalayas, in 1994, American scientist Richard Greenwell led a Chinese team. The U.S. joint expedition team began an arduous journey to search for "savages" in China. They collected some hairs from the places where "savages" are said to be most common. These samples were sent to a nuclear physics laboratory at a university in Shanghai. They concluded that the metal content in the samples indicated that the hairs belonged to a species that had not yet been discovered.

Looking at these examples, one might say that there is no such thing as "savage". There is no such thing. There are no orangutans in China, let alone gorillas and chimpanzees. Maybe they are bears or monkeys.

But the problem cannot be simplified. In other words, the "savages" recorded in our country's historical materials and popular among the people, apart from bears and monkeys, are there any other animals that are regarded as "savages". What about examples of "savages"? For example, animals like great apes. Of course, from a modern zoological point of view, except for gibbons, no orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees currently living in China have ever been discovered. However, according to According to paleontology, archeology and related historical data, some animals have survived twice in our country, such as orangutans and great apes.

To explain the problem thoroughly, let us take a look at the "giant panda-great ape". The history of the rise and fall of the "fauna".

People know much more about giant pandas than about giant apes. Why? This is because there are living representatives of giant pandas, plus their strange appearance and provocative movements. People love it, making it a precious exhibit in zoos all over the world. But what about the giant ape? All people can see are fossils. Except for a few paleontologists who are familiar with it, most people may not understand it. Apes can also have their remaining living representatives, which are probably much more prestigious than pandas.

Since the 20th century, a considerable number of giant pandas and giant pandas have been discovered in limestone caves widely distributed in the south of the Yangtze River in my country. Fossils of apes and other vertebrate animals have their footprints since the Quaternary period of geological history. For example, the Gigantopithecus Cave in Liucheng, Guangxi that dates back 2 million years ago. After many excavations, dozens of mammal fossils have been collected. The largest number of them is Gigantopithecus, with thousands of individual teeth, which are relatively intact. The mandible has three bones. In addition, there are also ancient animals such as orangutans, pandas, rhinoceros, tapirs, horses, elephants, and a large number of carnivores and artiodactyls. The giant panda-gigantopithecus fauna of this period was in its primary stage and was limited in number, so not many fossils have been preserved. As far as is known, only a few locations have been discovered, and the Giant Ape Cave in Liucheng, Guangxi is a typical example.

In the middle of the Quaternary Period (about 1 million years ago), in addition to existing in the Jiangnan provinces of China and the northern slopes of the Qinling Mountains, traces of this fauna can also be found in my country's southwestern neighboring countries. The animal group during this period was very prosperous in terms of both species and quantity. It can be said that it was a period of prosperity for them.

In the late Quaternary Period (100,000 years ago), human development and activity range continued to expand, and the distribution range and number of individuals of the giant panda-gigantopithecus fauna gradually shrank and decreased. With the advent of the Holocene (10,000 years ago), due to the emergence and development of primitive agriculture, people cut down trees and bamboo forests and reclaimed farmland, especially hunting, leaving most members of the giant panda-gigantopithecus fauna. Going extinct, with very few survivors. Knowledge Points The Quaternary Period

The Quaternary Period is the last era of the Cenozoic Era (the Cenozoic Era is the latest stage of Earth’s history), including the Pleistocene and the Holocene. The lower limit of age is usually 2.6 million years ago.

Since the Quaternary Period, the global climate has shown an obvious pattern of alternating glacial and interglacial periods. In the Quaternary Period, the biological world was very close to modern times. The evolution of mammals is most obvious at this stage, and the emergence and evolution of humans is one of the most important events in the Quaternary Period. However, the fossils of rhinos, tapirs, elephants, giant pandas, etc. discovered in archaeological excavations in recent years show that these elements disappeared in China, or that they shrank from 36 degrees north latitude to the so-called "Indo-Malaysian fauna" near the equator today. ”, its age is not that far away, just a few thousand years old.

Furthermore, in ancient Chinese history books, there are not only detailed records of the place and time of appearance of orangutans, tapirs, rhinoceros, elephants and other animals, but also morphological descriptions. For example:

Tapir was discovered in Baoshan, Sichuan and Yunnan around 400 BC. The more recent record is that in 1865, 138 years ago, it was also found in Zhushan County, Hubei Province. However, whether the relevant records are true remains to be proven.

Rhinos were discovered in Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province, Zhang County, Gansu Province, and Xinjiang County, Shanxi Province around 800 BC.

Elephants, in 1077, 926 years ago, there were elephant herds 40 kilometers south of Zhangpu County, Fujian.

As for orangutans, in 400 BC, there were records of their activities in Baoshan County, Yunnan, Fengchuan County, Guangdong, and Fangxian, Hubei. As Luo Yi's "Erya Wings" says, orangutans are like "women with their hair covered", "with bare feet and no knees", "walking in groups and covering their faces with their hands when meeting people", which is called "savages" ".

The above historical data further confirms that the extinction time of the giant panda-gigantopithecus fauna in China was further delayed than we originally understood.

The question now is, are the rhinoceros, tapir, orangutan, and giant ape listed above really gone without a trace in China? This is indeed worth discussing.

Take the giant panda, which appeared in the Early Pleistocene 2 million years ago. It was distributed in a strip at first, and later expanded into a patchy distribution (at this time, it had expanded from southern China to the north of the Qinling Mountains ), eventually became extinct in some areas, and survived in some areas. Now, it is only distributed in the deep mountains and old forests in the northwest of Sichuan Province in China and adjacent to Gansu and Qinghai. Since the giant panda can survive, does it mean that animals belonging to the same group as the giant ape also have living representatives in some of China's existing primeval forests? Examples of this can be found in the history of the rise and fall of the giant panda-gigantopithecus fauna. Isn’t the giant panda an empirical example?

Let’s take another botanical example to see this possibility.

Metasequoia, the oldest plant in the world, has long been known to people. It first appeared in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic Era 100 million years ago. Only 11 species of this kind of plant have been found in the world. It turns out that due to the changes in the earth's crust, they gradually became extinct. Only the metasequoia in Wanxian County, Sichuan Province and Lichuan County, Hubei Province in China have lived in obscurity. After a long period of time, it has survived to this day. It has gone through many ups and downs and is still standing out. When Chinese botanists discovered Metasequoia, it was considered one of the biggest discoveries in the botanical community that shocked the world in the 20th century.

It is not difficult to see from the discovery of the living plant fossil - Metasequoia. Since plants can live from 100 million years ago to today, and were not recognized until the 20th century, then similar In areas and similar environments, it is not unimaginable that higher primates such as great apes and orangutans can survive in the vast forest sea.