Olitiau

Olitiau

Creature
Grouping	Cryptid
Sub grouping	bat or bird
Data
First reported	1932
Country	Cameroon, Republic of Congo
Habitat	Mountain streams

An Olitiau (also known as the Death Bat or Night Flyer) is a gigantic humanoid cryptid bat (or flying reptile) hypothesized to exist in Central Africa. The word, Olitiau likely comes from a fusion of the Ipulo words “Ole” and “Ntya”, a name for ceremonial dance masks used to represent demons.

Description

Olitiau are said to have 6–12 ft (2–4 m) wingspans. Their body is allegedly black, though their wings have been described as either dark brown or red. Their lower jaws are said to contain 2-inch (50 mm) long, serrated teeth with equal spacing between each tooth.

Claimed Sightings

While hunting Hammer-headed fruit bats in southern Cameroon, Ivan T. Sanderson claimed that an Olitiau swooped down on him and his hunting companion, Gerald Russel along a mountain stream in 1932. He called it "the granddaddy of all bats".^{[citation needed]}

Possibilities

• Hammer-headed fruit bats have the largest wingspan of any bat in Africa: up to 3 ft (1 m). It is possible that a large Hammer-headed fruit bat, when viewed close up for an instant, can appear larger.
• Yellow-winged bats has the largest wingspan of any insectivorous bat in Africa. Although it is only up to 16 inches (40 cm), the scenario mentioned earlier could play a part in explaining size and the serrated teeth of an Olitiau. Yellow-winged bats are known for their yellow, sometimes orange, wings. Sighting a bat with orange wings is not far from the red wings Olitiau are reported to have.^{[original research?]}
• An unknown large bat species - Karl Shuker followed Sanderson in suggesting the animal may belong to the suborder Microchiroptera.
• There is also the possibility that a member of one of the larger species of bats could experience abnormal growth, becoming larger than average size.
• A surviving Pterosaur. Although Ivan Sanderson insisted that what he saw was a bat there is some evidence to suggest that pterosaurs had hair or hairlike structures, though there is no evidence that any were still alive in the Paleogene, let alone today.

Popular culture

• The Sanderson incident is often used as an example of a Kongamato sighting.
• The olitiau was the subject of Lost Tapes, described as "Cave Demons". It was shown as a giant bat. Curiously, it is described as coming from the Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan, rather than Cameroon.
• It also appeared in the video game The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun as an ally.

References

• George M. Eberhart. Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. Volume Two N-Z Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Pp. 405-406.
• Ivan T. Sanderson. Animal Treasure. New York: Viking, 1937. Pp. 300-301.
• Ivan T. Sanderson. Investigating the Unexplained. Englewood cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Pp. 39-44.
• Bernard Heuvelmans. Les Derniers Dragons d’Afrique. Paris: Plon, 1978. Pp. 436-445.
• Karl Shuker. The Beasts That Hide From Man. New York: Paraview, 2003. Pp. 84-107. ISBN 1-931044-64-3