According to noted cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman, these bipedal (and occasionally violent) chimp-like primates can be found throughout the American south.
The term NAPES, which was coined in the 1960’s by cryptozoologist LOREN COLEMAN, is an acronym for North American Apes. Not to be confused with atypically large, bipedal Hairy-Hominids such as BIGFOOT and SASQUATCH, these chimpanzee-like primates appear to dwell in the swamplands and forests of the American Mid-West and South-East.
The mystery surrounding these creatures, which have often been associated with the DEVIL MONKEY and Florida SKUNK APE phenomenons — as well as the legendarily aggressive FOUKE and HONEY ISLAND SWAMP MONSTERS — has been reignited in the opening years of the 21st century with sightings of chimp or even some orangutan-like animals like Sarasota, Florida’s MYAKKA APE. Still others like the ARKANSAS APE MAN and the TENNESSEE MYSTERY MONKEY were both sighted during the autumn of 2003.
Coleman — who was part of the party to the discovery of NAPE tracks near Decatur, Illinois in 1962 — believes that these creatures may be specimens of the genus Dryopithecus, which are an extinct group of semi-erect apes, whose fossils have been discovered in Africa, Asia and Europe, and who many scientists believe may be a direct ancestor to both modern apes and man.