An ape between the real and the fantastic

 The strange case of the koolakamba

    When we think about mysterious apes we always look for myths and legends such as Bigfoot, The Yeti or even the Ucumar, We always think of large and fearsome apes from cryptozoological theories, but we do not see that there may be smaller but still very interesting species out there, like the case that we will see today about the koolakamba, a mysterious African ape, come with me to see this, thank you for reading, I hope you share and support, let's start.

The enigmatic ape of Gabon 

   It is a strange type of ape, similar to the chimpanzee or a relative of these, supposedly native to central Africa., Specifically from Gabon's Ashankolo Mountains, this was first known by explorer Paul du Chaillu, who shot one of these during April 1858.

Initially the explorer believed that it was a chimpanzee, but later after analysis it was seen that its head was rounded, Like his bare black face, his eyes were large and wide apart, He had well-developed eyebrows, a flat nose, and high, prominent cheekbones, which are all more typical characteristics of a gorilla, so it was believed that it was a hybrid between a gorilla and a chimpanzee, having more strange characteristics in apes such as more bipedal behaviors than anything, a flatter skull, a short and wide pelvic structure, a large supraorbital ridge, high zygomatic ridges, a less prominent "snout", dentition in which the upper and lower incisors meet completely, forming a grinding surface and a cranial capacity greater than that of the common chimpanzee.

Consequently, du Chaillu stated that he considered his specimen to be completely separate from both the chimpanzee and the gorilla, so did the local natives, who claimed that this strange type of 'intermediate' ape lived exclusively in the mountains, and never inhabited the lowland regions.

Thus, over the years, there have been other known specimens, hunted and captured in Gabon and other regions of central Africa.

Identity and mystery 

     Thus, due to the evidence, a classification was given to this animal in 1860, being formally named Troglodytes koolokamba, the first of several different scientific names and identities that would be applied to this ambiguous ape, but have never been proven.

   Although there have been a handful of captive koolakambas in zoos around the world, nothing has been proven, here we have a photo of a mysterious chimpanzee at the younde zoo, que se cree es un koolakamba, As we see, the ape in the image had features that seemed to belong to both the gorilla and the chimpanzee, This being a supposed specimen of koolakamba in Cameroon, but this has not been proven, but the question still remains, what are these animals?

There have been multiple theories since their discovery in the 19th century, with some saying that these were just an unusual chimpanzee, others that one was a type of pygmy gorilla and some more, that it was a third type of ape, the hybrid hypothesis is now obsolete.

Genetic uncertainty 

    But the fundamental problem in the koolookamba's true identity dilemma is the extraordinary diversity in cranial and external morphology exhibited by the chimpanzee throughout its wide geographical distribution, Let us remember that by 1919, at least 20 different species of chimpanzees had been distinguished and accepted as valid by some zoologists, these included forms with such distinctive names as the soko, a supposed variety native to the jungles west of Lake Tanganyika, and the nschego mbouvé native to Gabon, such as the koolookamba.

In the end, everything about these is still being discussed to this day, Because there are no currently recognized living specimens and therefore DNA studies cannot be carried out, So this will remain a mystery for a long time, yet it is neither the first nor the last mysterious species of chimpanzee that we will meet.

[Reading links]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koolakamba

https://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2013/01/going-ape-about-koolookamba.html?m=1