The kilopilopitsofy, kidoky, and bokyboky: Accounts of strange animals from Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar, and the megafaunal "extinction window"

In July and August 1995, the authors interviewed elderly Malagasy with know ledge of the traditions and natural history of their home areas, centered o n the villages of Belo-sur-mer, Antsira, and Ambararata, on the southwest c oast of Madagascar. Several individuals related personal experiences in whi ch they claim to have seen and heard animals that do not match any known ex tant animal of Madagascar. Two of the mystery animals, known locally as the kilopilopitsofy and kidoky, were described in terms similar to creatures d etailed in historical accounts and folklore recorded in Madagascar between the mid-1600s and the end of the nineteenth century. The former of these ha s been compared by some authors to the dwarf hippopotamus and the latter to a giant lemur, animals generally inferred from radiocarbon dating of last known occurrences to have gone extinct early in the present millennium or p erhaps a few centuries later. Stories by these same informants concerning e xtant animals demonstrate their accurate knowledge of the fauna. Magical po wers are ascribed to some animals, such as the bokyboky, a viverrid (Mungot ictis) that occurs in the region. Radiocarbon dates obtained recently on so me of the extinct megafauna, showing that some extirpated taxa may have sur vived until recent centuries, confirm that ethnographic sources of informat ion on these species should not automatically be dismissed as irrelevant or unreliable.