Ahool

Ahool

Drawing of Ahool, showing the commonly reported gray fur
Grouping	Cryptid
Sub grouping	Bat
Country	Indonesia
Region	Java
Habitat	Rainforest

The ahool is a flying cryptid, supposedly a giant bat, or by other accounts, a living pterosaur or flying primate. Such a creature is unknown to science and there is no objective evidence that it exists as claimed.

Like many cryptids, it is not well documented, and little reliable information - and in this case, no material evidence - exists. Named for its distinctive call A-hool (other sources render it ahOOOooool), it is said to live in the deepest rainforests of Java in Indonesia It is described as having large dark eyes, large claws on its forearms (approximately the size of an infant), and a body covered in gray fur. Possibly the most intriguing and astounding feature is that it is said to have a wingspan of 3 m (10 ft). This is almost twice as long as the largest (known) bat in the world, the common flying fox.

According to Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark, it was first described by Dr. Ernest Bartels. Bartels published regular accounts of his work while exploring the Salak Mountains on the island of Java.

One speculation on its existence by the cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson is that it might be a relative of kongamato in Africa. Others have suggested it were a living fossil pterosaur, on account of its supposedly leathery wings. As is known today, most pterosaurs seem to have had wings that were covered with a downy fluff to prevent heat loss; this may or may not have been necessary in a tropical environment depending on these animals' metabolism. On the other hand, there might be an entirely mundane explanation: