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ALMA

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A creature originating in Siberia and living in the northern forest and wastelands. The Alma has also been seen in Kazakstan and the Caucasus. The name means ‘Wild Man’ in Mongolian. It is a fur-covered humanoid like the Bigfoot or Sasquatch found in the United States. Gigantic and humanoid in shape, it is covered in shaggy brown, black or red fur. Sightings of Almas have been reported since the 17th century, the most recent being in 1948 by the Russian scientist, Alexander G. Pronin, who said it looked very like a man but with much longer arms.

In the mid-19th century, a female Alma with reddish-black hair and with a deeply sloped forehead was captured in Abkhazia in the western Caucasus. It was named Zanya. She reportedly mothered six children by different men of which four survived. These offspring looked like normal humans except for being of much darker complexion and immensely stronger than men. Descendants of these Alma children are said to survive to this day and were investigated by Russian historian, Boris Porshney. He was struck by their Negroid features and powerful jaw muscles. He attempted to unearth the remains of Zanya, but they only succeeded in finding the remains of her original descendants whose skeletal structure was nearer to that of a Neanderthal than a modern human. This find has led to speculation as to whether the Alma is a living survivor of the prehistoric early humans, the Neanderthal.

The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic

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