Investigators David Woetzel, Garth Guessman, and Jonathan Whitcomb suspect that these strange works of art, now in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, may have been inspired by an actual living creature that is sometimes seen in the coastal areas of the mainland and various islands. It is also suspected by some researchers that there is one species that is responsible for most of the sightings by eyewitnesses in the Southwest Pacific. One name for this pterosaur-like nocturnal creature: ropen. The carvings do not seem to come with any explanation from the original artists who created them.

http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/carv14/

Photograph Copyright 2004 Garth Guessman

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These carvings may have been inspired by living Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea. But what about the possibility of living Pterodactyloid ptero-saurs? There have been a few reports of these, as well (on New Britain Island).

Strange Carving in Papua New Guinea