The Tomb of the Mili Mongga

A fossil expedition becomes a thrilling search for a mythical beast deep in the Indonesian forest - and a fascinating look at how fossils, folklore, and biodiversity converge. The need to understand and conserve biodiversity has never been more pressing. This is particularly urgent for vulnerable ecosystems such as islands, which have suffered human-caused extinctions throughout history and recent prehistory.A tale of exciting scientific discovery, The Tomb of the Mili Mongga is based on the story of expeditions to the island of Sumba in eastern Indonesia. While there, Professor Samuel Turvey discovers an entire recently extinct mammal fauna from the island''s fossil record, revealing how islands support some of the world''s most remarkable biodiversity, and why many endemics are threatened with extinction.But as the story unfolds, a new narrative emerges - Sumba''s indigenous communities tell of a mysterious wildman called the mili mongga, a giant yeti-like beast that supposedly lives in the island''s remote forests. What is behind the stories of the mili mongga? Is there a link between this enigmatic entity and the fossils Sam''s looking for? And what did he discover when he finally found the grave of a mili mongga? The Tomb of the Mili Mongga combines evolution, conservation, anthropology, travel writing and cryptozoology to explore the traditional culture and unique biodiversity of a tropical island that''s largely unknown to the outside world. It also considers wider questions about the relationship between biodiversity and cultural diversity, what reality means from different cultural perspectives, and how folklore, fossils and biodiversity conservation can be linked together in surprising ways.>

Turvey's gripping adventures are a quest to understand human consciousness and explore the differences between cultural truths and scientific facts.

Auteur

Samuel Turvey is a Professor of Conservation Biology at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London. His work focuses on understanding how science can guide conservation for the world's rarest species, and his research encompasses ecology, the fossil record and Indigenous knowledge to gain new conservation insights. Sam is the author of Witness to Extinction: How We Failed to Save the Yangtze River Dolphin. He was awarded the Linnean Medal in 2019 for his contributions to zoology.

Résumé
'The Tomb of the Mili Mongga lives up to its magnificent billing' DAILY TELEGRAPH - A fossil expedition becomes a thrilling search for a mythical beast deep in the Indonesian forest - and a fascinating look at how fossils, folklore, and biodiversity converge. A tale of exciting scientific discovery, The Tomb of the Mili Mongga tells the story of Samuel Turvey's expeditions to the island of Sumba in eastern Indonesia. While there, he discovers an entire recently extinct mammal fauna from the island's fossil record, revealing how islands support some of the world's most remarkable biodiversity, and why many of these unique endemic species are threatened with extinction or have already been lost. But as the story unfolds, an unexpected narrative emerges - Sumba's Indigenous communities tell of a mysterious wildman called the 'mili mongga', a giant yeti-like beast that supposedly lives in the island's remote forests. What is behind the stories of the mili mongga? Is there a link between this enigmatic entity and the fossils that Sam is looking for? And what did he discover when he finally found the tomb of a mili mongga? Combining evolution, anthropology, travel writing and cryptozoology, The Tomb of the Mili Mongga explores the relationship between biodiversity and culture, what reality means from different cultural perspectives, and how folklore, fossils and conservation can be linked together in surprising ways.

Contenu

Prologue: Anselm and Gaunilo
Chapter One: Splendid Isolation
Chapter Two: Sumba, East of Java
Chapter Three: Glutton-Granny
Chapter Four: Storytelling
Chapter Five: Rodents of Unusual Size
Chapter Six: Tulang Junkie
Chapter Seven: The Wall of the Mili Mongga
Chapter Eight: An Interlude with Giant Rats
Chapter Nine: The Island of the Day Before
Chapter Ten: They Might Be Giants
Chapter Eleven: The Perfect Island - A Fairy Tale for Biologists
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index