Over the last 100 years, numerous explorers have returned from central Africa with tales of a mysterious creature the locals call Mokele-Mbembe – 'one who stops the flow of rivers'. Its description is vivid and detailed. Here is an animal as big as an elephant with a long, slender neck and crocodile-like tail. Some reports talk of a frill on the head; others mention a small horn. It's said to be a strict herbivore, but will readily kill anyone who comes too close. It spends most of its time in the water, but leaves large, three-clawed tracks on land.

The description of Mokele-Mbembe sounds like a sauropod dinosaur, those ancient, lumbering creatures, famed for their long necks, small heads and massive limbs. But how likely is it that a brontosaurus-type beast is strutting its stuff in the jungles of Africa, 65 million years after it was supposed to go extinct? No-one doubts that there are amazing animals out there as yet undiscovered, but a dinosaur in the remote swamps of Zaire?

As is customary in these cases, the only evidence for the animal's existence comes from eyewitness accounts. Physical evidence, of the kind that would make most sensible scientists sit up and take notice, is conveniently lacking. So until something more substantial materialises, this putative piece of pre-history must be seen for what it is – an obvious case of mistaken identity. Think of an elephant swimming across a lake, paddling the water with its giant limbs. From a distance, its trunk held high in the air becomes the long and slender 'neck' of the mythical Mokele-Mbembe.

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