Compare these two photographs and make up your own mind: 1. Hyrax basking 2. Dartmoor Beast
No, the eye-witnesses who saw it moving said that it definitely WASN'T a dog. Some very intriguing photos of an unidentified ambling creature on DartmoorIt's a freakin' dog!
Martin, however, is adamant that the animal was not a dog: "I have worked with dogs all my life and it was definitely not canine. I have also seen a collie-sized black cat in the area, about 10 years ago, and it was not that – this was a lot bigger.
Here's the Daily Mail article of same event Demon of Dartmoor: Mystery beast seen at hell hound's haunt.Hmm...the link says that I have to register. ._.
The founder of the national research network Big Cats in Britain, Mark Fraser, said: "It looks like a wolverine or a bear in some shots and a big wild dog in others. It is a very strange animal."
Mr Whitley is adamant that the creature is not a wild dog.
He added: "I have worked with dogs all my life and it was definitely not that.
"I have seen a collie-sized black cat in the area about ten years ago and it was not that - this was a lot bigger.
"You would be surprised at the number of people who have seen black big cats and something resembling a small bear in the area over the course of the years."
What? You don't reckon it's a dog? Short muzzle and small round ears, just like a hyrax..roflcakes its a dog, looks nothing like whatever that huge rat/rabbit looking thing is
Some pepole believed that the Beast might be a surviving remnants of a Mesonychid seeing how some witnesses described it as a huge wolf having hooves rather than paws.[7]:
modern hyraxes share numerous features with elephants, such as toenails, excellent hearing, sensitive pads on their feet, small tusks, good memory, high brain functions compared to other similar mammals, and the shape of some of their bones.[7]
So he admits in some photos it looks like a dog so rather than reaching the logical conclusion of "It's a dog which is rather rough looking" he thinks "Its a bear which is rather scrawny looking"."It looks like a wolverine or a bear in some shots and a big wild dog in others. It is a very strange animal."
No, the eye-witnesses who saw it moving said that it definitely WASN'T a dog. Some very intriguing photos of an unidentified ambling creature on Dartmoor
In every place where humans and animals spend time near one another the animals get comfortable with people and have no problem trotting through built up areas.
You seem to forget that you weren't there were you? The eye-witness was a regular local who also has his own dogs all his life. He's seen big cats, and says that it wasn't the same. He says it didn't MOVE like a dog. How can people here claim to have a better opinion from only a photo, whilst this man saw the evidence in real life!? It's also VERY big, too big for a dog.And? I say it definitely IS a dog. Only an idiot would claim otherwise.
You seem to forget that you weren't there were you? The eye-witness was a regular local who also has his own dogs all his life. He's seen big cats, and says that it wasn't the same. He says it didn't MOVE like a dog. How can people here claim to have a better opinion from only a photo, whilst this man saw the evidence in real life!? It's also VERY big, too big for a dog.
Hyraxes on the other hand were prolific during the past, sometimes evolving to the size of a pony. This is the rotund stature of the herbivorous hyrax imo.
Show me how exactly it isn't the head of a dog.The head ISN'T that of a dog. Fact.
So you have seen it move then? Evidence please!The way it moved wasn't that of a dog. FACT.
Evolution
All modern hyraxes are members of the family Procaviidae (the only living family within the Hyracoidea) and are found only in Africa and the Middle East. In the past, however, hyraxes were more diverse and widespread. The order first appears in the fossil record over 40 million years ago, and for many millions of years hyraxes were the primary terrestrial herbivore in Africa, just as odd-toed ungulates were in the Americas. There were many different species, the largest of them about the weight of a small horse, the smallest the size of a mouse. During the Miocene, however, competition from the newly-developed bovids—very efficient grazers and browsers—pushed the hyraxes out of the prime territory and into marginal niches. Nevertheless, the order remained widespread, diverse and successful as late as the end of the Pliocene (about two million years ago) with representatives throughout most of Africa, Europe and Asia.
The descendants of the giant hyracoids evolved in different ways. Some became smaller, and gave rise to the modern hyrax family. Others appear to have taken to the water (perhaps like the modern capybara), and ultimately gave rise to the elephant family, and perhaps also the Sirenians (dugongs and manatees). DNA evidence supports this hypothesis, and the small modern hyraxes share numerous features with elephants, such as toenails, excellent hearing, sensitive pads on their feet, small tusks, good memory, high brain functions compared to other similar mammals, and the shape of some of their bones.[7]
Hyraxes are sometimes described as being the closest living relative to the elephant.[8] Although relatively closely related, not all scientists support the proposal that hyraxes are the closest living relative of the elephant. Recent morphological and molecular based classifications reveal the Sirenians to be the closest living relatives of elephants, while hyraxes are closely related but form an outgroup to the assemblage of elephants, sirenians, and extinct orders like Embrithopoda and Desmostylia.[9]