A nearly-complete encyclopedia of underwater cryptozoological knowledge

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Steller's sea monkey / sea ape

Aleutian Islands--possibly the Shuinagin Islands
North Atlantic, Russia/Alaska

ADD PICTURE p. 98

In 1741, Commander Vitus Bering led a sailing expedition in the employ of Czar Peter the Great.  His zoologist, the German Georg Wilhelm Steller, is nowadays most well-known for his discovery on that voyage of the now-extinct Steller's sea cow--at least we think it's extinct.  Steller found and described many new animals on this voyage, all of which have been identified--except for one.

During this time we were near land or surrounded by it we saw large numbers of hair seals, sea otters, fur seals, sea lions, and porpoises…On August 10 [1741] we saw a very unusual and unknown sea animal, of which I am going to give a brief account since I observed it for two whole hours. It was about two Russian ells [six feet] in length; the head was like a dog`s, with pointed erect ears. From the upper and lower lips on both sides whiskers hung down which made it look like a Chinaman. The eyes were large; the body was longish round and thick, tapering gradually towards the tail. The skin seemed thickly covered with hair, of a grey colour on the back, but reddish white on the belly; in the water, however, the whole animal appeared entirely reddish and cow-coloured. The tail was divided into two fins, of which the upper, as in the case of sharks, was twice as large as the lower.

Harry Trumbore's depiction of Steller's
sea monkey.
According to Richard Ellis in Monsters of the Sea, "the animal cavorted around Steller's boat for hours, playing with strands of kelp, and finally, Steller took a shot at it ('in order to get possession of it for a more accurate description'), but he missed.  According to The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates, by Harry Trum, the sighting took place off the Shuinagin Islands, Alaska.

In Searching for Hidden Animals, Roy Mackal discounts the suggestion that Steller confused the creature with a sea otter or a seal and writes, 'The simplest explanation is that the 'sea-monkey' actually existed, and that Steller saw it for the first and last time before it became extinct.'"  Ellis points out that the sea mink of the Atlantic off Maine and New Brunswick shares characteristics with this mysterious animal, and even has relatives off Alaska--but none that truly match Steller's description.

Steller went on to say that the creature "corresponds in all respects to Gesner's Simia marina Danica," the "Danish Sea-ape."  Conrad Gesner is a pretty reliable source, being the author of Historia Animalium (1551-58)--considered the basis of modern zoological classification.

Citing a source listed only as "M.Clark op cit p.12," the Still on the Track blog gives the following quoted text:

No record of any other sighting of this animal has been found,and so scientists have generally agreed that it must have become extinct at around the same time as the sea cow. That was until 1965...On a clear afternoon in June, [when Brigadier Smeeton, his wife and daughter and Henry Combe - R] were sailing about four miles off the northern coast of Atka, in the central Aleutians, bound for Deep Cove,when they saw a strange animal which they couldn't identify.

Possible explanations

Famed cryptozoologist Loren Coleman writes that

According to biographer Dean Littlepage in his Steller’s Island: Adventures of a Pioneer Naturalist in Alaska (The Mountaineers Books, 2006), the most likely explanation for the sea ape is a young Northern Fur Seal. Their forelimbs are set back far enough on their torso that they might have been obscured below the waterline, and the “shark-like” tail might have been the animal’s hind flippers. Steller was already familiar with fur seals, but Littlepage speculates that poor lighting during the lengthiest encounter with a probable juvenile could account for the misidentification.

Coleman notes int eh same entry that some have said the creature could be a misidentified Hawaiian monk sealIt's difficult to dismiss Steller's account of the sea-monkey, seeing that he discovered and described so many other creatures which we know to be real--this one is the only exception.

Steller's Sea Cow

93

Otayzilla

Lower Otay Lake
San Diego County, California, United States

"Otayzilla" is the name given to an alleged monster that has been seen in San Diego County's Otay Lake (also known as Lower Otay) since June 2005.  Fishermen reported an alligator-like lizard stalking the waters of the reservoir, which was created in 1897.

"I was actually coming up on a boat at the end of Otay arm," said fisherman Jose Gutierrez. "There have been other fisherman who have seen it."

"I know one fisherman, about a week ago, he said he thought it was an alligator," said Gutierrez.

According to San Diego's 10News, many people had heard of Otayzilla, but far fewer had actually seen it.

Fish that live in the lake include Florida-strain largemouth bass, bluegill, black and white crappie, channel catfish, blue catfish, white catfish and bullhead.  The biggest of these, the blue catfish, can grow to five-and-a-half feet and weigh 100 pounds, and the channel catfish can grow up to four feet and weigh 58 pounds.  The Florida-strain largemouth bass, meanwhile, can reach almost 30 inches and weigh more than 20 pounds.

Rick Sturm, a local herpetoculturist, has another suspect in mind.

"It does look like a Nile monitor," he says.  He believes Otayzilla is a former pet monitor lizard that someone released near Otay Lakes when it got too big to keep.  The lizard can easily survive around the lake by eating fish, mice, and birds, and it will probably not bite unless provoked, he said.  Nile monitors average 31-and-a-half inches but can exceed seven-and-a-half feet.

The Nile monitor explanation might explain the alligator appearance, but not if the witness was close to the creature.  Also, one wonders why picnickers wouldn't have spotted the lizard on land (Otay Lakes County Park is a popular recreation area) since it is essentially a land animal.  None of the known fish in the lake looks like an alligator.  So what could Otayzilla be?  Whatever it is, the creature has stayed quiet in recent years and is yet to reemerge from the depths of the popular fishing reservoir.


Perhaps this creature is related to the Giant Salamanders that supposedly inhabit streams and lake bottoms of the Trinity Alps.  Same state, opposite ends.

The Santa Cruz Sea Serpent

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/07/moores_beach_monster.php
http://www.genesispark.com/genpark/santa/santa.htm
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2010/01/san_francisco_monsters.php

Sharpe's Sea Serpent

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/07/prof_sharpe_monster_photo.php

The Margate Beach Creature

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/07/dead_sea_monsters.php

The Monongahela Monster

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/07/dead_sea_monsters.php

The Bungalow Beach Globster

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/07/dead_sea_monsters.php

Captain Hanna's Bony Fish

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/07/dead_sea_monsters.php

Long-necked Seals

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/10/long-necked-seals-in-south-america.html
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/09/longnecked_seal_described.php
Chile
Peru
Atlantic

Migo / Masali

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/10/filming_migo_the_monster.php
Oceania

The Sacramento Sea Monster

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/11/cfi_talk_slides.php

The Ambon Monster

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/11/cfi_talk_slides.php

The Princess Creature

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/11/cfi_talk_slides.php

The Conakry Monster

Guinea, Africa, water
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/05/conakry_monster_tubercle-technology.php

Bowness Lagoon Creature

Bowness Lagoon
Bowness, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

A catfish- or eel-like creature was seen in Canada's Bowness Lagoon in 1942, according to Darren Naish, who cites the Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology.

The author of Calgary: The Unknown City swears he "once read about a 'sea monster' which inhabited the Bowness Park lagoon circa 1900.  The terrified locals eventually banded together to kill the monster then roasted it over a fire-pit as some sort of a perverted celebration.  It couldn't have tasted very great.  Anyway, do you think I could find the darn article?  Nope.  You'll just have to trust me" (Martin 80).

Sources:
Martin, James. Calgary: the Unknown City. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 2001. Print.
Newton, M. 2005. Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology. McFarland & Company, Jefferson (N. Carolina) and London.

Giant Catfish

Catfish
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fanimal.discovery.com%2Ffish%2Friver-monsters%2Fgoonch-catfish%2F&ei=_a75Tcy2Ko2RgQeQ3_z2BA&usg=AFQjCNHfkv1OXVymdtn8A-yRzqE2dVsGdQ

http://www.aquabeasties.com/2011/06/catfish-caught-in-virginia-may-set.html

Freshwater Octopus

Octopus

Pressie

Canada
http://www.seamonster.org/

Gougou

Gulf of Saint Lawrence

Cressie

Canada
http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/business/124446019.html

Antukai

Animal

Amhuluk

America

Akhlut

Alaska, Pacific

One-Eye

eye

Slimy Slim

slimy

Patagonian Hippopotamus

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/patagonian-tapir.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/patagonian-hippos-strange-but-real.html

Kappa

http://www.unknownexplorers.com/kappa.php

Coonigator

http://www.unknownexplorers.com/coonigator.php

Buru

http://www.unknownexplorers.com/buru.php
India
See Giant Salamanders

Ambize

http://www.unknownexplorers.com/ambize.php
See Patagonian Water Bulls

DRC

Lake Leelanau Monster

Scott

Charles Mill Lake Monster

Spot

Lake Vidal Gormaz Monster

According to Austin Whittall at Patagonian Monsters, Tito Bahamonde and his wife Amandina Velázquez live near southern Chile's Lake Vidal Gormaz and have seen a “‘monster’ that supposedly lives in the lake.”

More:
Patagonian Monsters: Creatures at the Reloncavi Fjord area

This creature is one among many which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters site.

Lake de Las Rocas Monster

According to Austin Whittall at Patagonian Monsters, there have been reports of a monster in southern Chile's Lake de Las Rocas.

This creature is one among many which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters site.

Negros del Agua

According to Austin Whittall, Argentinian folklorist Gregorio Alvarez says that at Lake Caviahue a native named Tranavil saw “black men bathing; they came out to the sandy shore and lay there for a while to rest.”  Whittall writes:
"These 'Negros del Agua' (water blacks) are described as being slightly smaller than men; their aquatic nature is confirmed by their webbed hands and feet. They are evil, and swim in groups looking for canoes to overturn and drown their occupants.

Alvarez also mentions Water BullsLake Horses, and La Sirena inhabiting this lake.

See also Clifden Water Hoses of Ireland.

These beings are some among many that Aquabeasties found on Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters.

More:
Patagonian Monsters: Lake Caviahue - lake of the week
Fernández, C. and López, H. El valle secreto de los Mapuches. Año Cero 126. 07.11.2000. Ed. America Iberica. 11-2000. Online.
Alvarez, G., (1968). El Tronco de Oro. Neuquen: Pehuén. pp. 116 -7.

Tagua Tagua Lagoon Monster

The source for the following information is The UFO Chronicles, which quotes from


The Journal of Hispanic Ufology 6-8-05
Translation (c) 2005, Scott Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Liliana Núñez.
Source: Archivos Forteanos de Latinoamérica
(originally featured in La Tercera (Santiago de Chile) 01.13.02, p.18)


This is the quoted article:

The legend of this creature is little known, even for residents of San Vicente in the country's 6th region, but this discovery returns a piece of their history to them.

     The horrible creature in the etching that accompanies this article is the little-known Monster of Tagua Tagua lagoon, a legendary creature that not even the residents of San Vicente, in Chile's 6th region, have ever heard of.

     The indescribably horrifying creature was relegated to oblivion for over 2 centuries until two Spanish researchers discovered the drawing among thousands of documents in the Madrid National Library. Thus, the anonymous etching made in Chile in 1784 became the poster for the exposition "Monsters and Other Imaginary Beings" that took place in the Spanish capital to great popular acclaim.

     The winged, two-tailed figure with scales and a human face had a well-deserved presence among nearly 200 images, just as unreal, belonging to such artists as Goya, Durero, Ribera, Brueghel, Holbein, Picart and Kircher. Plates extracted from classics of literature and scientific texts--largely from the 15th and 18th centuries, were also on exhibit.

     Under the drawing of the monster, a true bibliographic jewel, it can be read that it appeared in early 1784 at the farm of Don Próspero Elso and that "it did great damage, eating all manner of animals and drinking from the lagoon, until 100 men stealthily ambushed it with firearms and caught it alive."

     The description is very detailed: "It measures three and a half rods long and its tail is bigger than its body. It legs are nearly a quarter [rod] but its claws are much larger. Its mane reaches the ground so that it entangles around its feet. The upper tail...helps it to catch its prey. The teeth are some 30 cm long and the mouth is as wide as its face. Its horns are a rod and a half long and very well-turned, and finally, it ears are are three quarters of a rod long.

     Even more curious: an address -- Calle de Carretas No.8 -- is given for those interested in seeing it.

     The spectacular Madrid exposition, unprecedented in Europe, featured cyclops, dwarves, giants, two headed or six-fingered creatures, hermaphrodites, lion-men, bearded or multi-breasted women. However, the organizers of this exhibit -- Javier Moscoso, a professor with the University of Murcia, and Antonio Lafuente, fellow of the Superior Center for Scientific Research -- believe that "the presence of horns is one of the definite signs of monstrosity. Our selection has been based, on the one hand, by the richness of the image and by the historical importance, on the other.

     To some residents of San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, the legend that gave rise to the monster was possibly a reflection of the fears, nightmares and anguish felt at the time. After all, this wasn't the first time that the existence of fantastic creatures in the area was suspected, and sometimes quite rightly. That was where the Inca Empire came to an end, and in recent decades the remains of 14 mammoths from 11,000 years ago were discovered, making the place one of the richest sites in America for modern archaeology. However, no one imagined that the most recent discovery would be an item forgotten thousands of kilometers away, in Madrid's National Library.

     San Vicente residents recall that the Tagua Tagua Lagoon -- drained in the 1930s -- was notorious for its "chivines": floating islands formed by a dense and firm network of roots, so resilient that they could bear the weight of a horse. Deceived by the large size of some of these "chivines", cattle would climb onto them to graze, realizing only too late that the floating island had been taken away by the current without any hope of escape. That's how the legend emerged among natives and Spaniards about a monster that dragged cattle into the lake. Armed groups of hunters were even organized to capture it.

See the UFO Chronicles article here.

Chile
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/06/another-paleo-lake-puelo.html

Dragons

http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-8-7/31030.html

Whippy

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20050820/quebec_monster_050819/

Central and South America

Steamy green jungles breathe out landscapes of mist, insects climb and anacondas slither slowly, bird and monkey calls echo from over the mountains.  Central and South America has always been a breeding ground for the strangest of freshwater monsters.  And because the rain forest flora and winding, muddy rivers hide them so well, they are the scariest.

When people think of South American water monsters, they gnerally think of Nahuelito (a serpentine lake monster) and El Cuero (translates to "the skin" - it is a sort of large skin which moves across the surface of lakes and devours those unfortunate enough to get on the wrong side of it).  Reports of water bulls are common throughout Patagonia, and of course the giant anaconda keeps you on your toes on land or in the water.

Aside from information on the more famous South American monsters like Nahuelito and El Cuero, Austin Whittall is responsible for all of the information herein pertaining to river, lake and sea monsters in Patagonia.  For several years he has kept up a blog, Patagonian Monsters, which has become a sort of encyclopedia for bizarre beasts in Patagonia.

Pulau Tiga Plesiosaur

http://ww.animalpicturesarchive.com/m.view.php?q=plesiosaur&p=19
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/freshwater-plesiosaurs.html

The Sakhalin Globster

http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2006/08/28/unknown-creature-was-found-by-soldiers/
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/03/a_russian_sea_monster_carcass.php
Asia
Pacific

Pterosaur

http://eworldwire.com/pressreleases/17135
Papua New Guinea

http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa061702b.htm

Evidence for the Doubters

Octosquid, Hawaii
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/07/05/news/story03.html
http://www.theufochronicles.com/2006/01/paraguay-fish-with-hands-and-feet.html
http://gralienreport.com/cryptozoology/giant-babes-of-the-deep-leptocephalus-of-the-large-variety/
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/03/statistics_seals_sea_monsters.php
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/03/408_post-1993_mammal_species.php

Coelocinth
Giant squid

Giant Birds

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/search.php?cat=6&p=22
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=112083
http://biofort.blogspot.com/2006/10/neglected-event-may-reveal-much-about.html
http://www.failedsuccess.com/index.php?/weblog/comments/piasa_bird_legend
http://gralienreport.com/cryptozoology/something-wicked-this-way-flaps-anomalous-bats-and-cryptozoology/

The Stronsay Beast

In the winter of 1808, a strange carcass was found draped over a rock in the Orkney Islands.  Eyewitnesses said it was more than 55 feet long and had a small head, a neck more than 10 feet long, a thin body and three pairs of appendages.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/DNA-tests-hope-to-.4461944.jp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7074696.stm
Orkney Islands
Scotland

Kouris Dam Serpent

http://famagusta-gazette.com/cyprus-officials-search-for-mystery-monster-p6085-69.htm
Cyprus, Europe
Mediterranean

Borneo Monster

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Two-Pictures-Show-the-100-Foot-039-Borneo-Monster-039-104996.shtml
http://www.livescience.com/3352-100-foot-borneo-monster-photographed.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=are-the-photos-of-borneos-monster-s-2009-02-20
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/02/19/is-100ft-long-snake-mythical-borneo-monster-115875-21137187/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4701034/Has-the-Loch-Ness-Monster-emigrated-to-Borneo.html
See Sucuriju Gigante

New Zealand

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/238090/Hunting-mythical-creatures

The Channel Creature

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=152816

Giant Alligator

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=156665
http://www.aquabeasties.com/2009/11/giant-crocs.html

Norfolk Sea Serpent

http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2009/09/linmdsay-selby-norfolk-sea-serpent.html

The Cornerbrook Corpse

http://www.thewesternstar.com/Natural-resources/2010-02-20/article-1462900/Another-sea-creature-Mysterious-headless-marine-animal-washes-ashore/1
Newfoundland
Atlantic

The Trinity Bay Sea Monster

http://www.thetelegram.com/Manufacturing/2010-03-02/article-1440898/Newfoundland-fishermen-snag-sea-monster-in-nets/1
Newfoundland
Atlantic

Lakooma

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lakooma.html

Colorado River Water Animal

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/colorado-river-water-animal.html

Fox Snake

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/guruvilu-fox-snake-water-creature-full.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html

Fañanito

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/fananito.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/02/beavers-or-small-northern-monsters.html

Strait of Magellan Sea Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/strait-of-magellan-sea-monster.html

Walichus

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/santa-cruz-river-basin-creatures.html

Lago Tar Monsters

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html#tar
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/06/lake-tar-monsters.html

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Lake Cisnes Creature

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/creature-at-lake-cisnes_08.html

Lake Pueyrredón Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html

Deseado River Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/03/creatures-at-deseado-river.html

Tamango River Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/bears-in-patagonia.html

Lago Blanco Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html

Iemisch / Water Tiger

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/iemisch-patagonian-water-tiger.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/water-tiger.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/creature-at-lake-buenos-aires-general.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/walrus-or-iemisch-or-sabretooth.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/nahuel-patagonian-tiger.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/02/snakes-andean-myth-imported-into.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/yaguar.html

Lake Colhue Huapí Creature

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-colhue-huap-creature.html

Senguer River Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html

Lake La Plata Creatures

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-of-week-lake-la-plata.html
Argentina

Lake Vintter / Palena Creature

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-vintters-creature.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/lake-vintter-update.html
May be Nahuelito
Argentina
Chile

Patagonian Water Bulls

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/lake-rosario-lake-of-week.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/creature-at-lake-del-toro-bull.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/lake-foitzick-bull.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/02/lake-bulls-or-water-bulls.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/lake-caviahue-lake-of-week.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/patagonian-tapir.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/water-creature-at-aucapan.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/06/water-bulls-in-northern-neuquen.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/patagonian-tapir.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/lake-lolog-lake-of-week.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/huechulafquen-lake-monster-huechulito.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/huechulafquens-lake-cow.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/creature-at-lake-cisnes_08.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/lake-foitzick-bull.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/view/flipcard/5563336289273021599/2009/10/lake-of-week-lake-la-plata.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-lakar-creatures.html
Argentina
Chile

Lake Esquel Creature

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/lake-esquel-creature.html
Argentina

Patagonian Plesiosaur

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/search/label/plesiosaur
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/lake-esquel-creature.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/12/teddy-roosevelt-and-lake-monster-hunt.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/10/real-plesiosaur-lake-at-epuyen.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/freshwater-plesiosaurs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/plesiosaurs-and-pliosaurs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/06/lake-tar-monsters.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/06/another-paleo-lake-puelo.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_17.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/05/vanishing-rivers-and-plesiosaurs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/patagonian-plesiosaur-photographs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-lake-epuyen-letter.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_17.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-expedition-people.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/patagonian-plesiosaurs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/plesiosaur-tango.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/carroza-del-plesiosaurio-i-nahuel-huapi.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/nahyuelito-hide.html
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/patagonia-plesiosaur/
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/freshwater-plesiosaurs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/05/vanishing-rivers-and-plesiosaurs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-lake-epuyen-letter.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/patagonian-plesiosaurs.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/carroza-del-plesiosaurio-i-nahuel-huapi.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/nahyuelito-hide.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/bears-in-patagonia.html

Lake Plesiosaurio Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/freshwater-plesiosaurs.html

Chiloé Island Sea Horse

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/sea-horse.html

Reloncavi Fjord Creatures

South Pacific
Chile
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/creatures-at-reloncavi-fjord-area.html

Lake Todos Los Santos Creature

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-todos-los-santos-creature.html
Chile

Llanquihue Plesiosaur

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-llanquihue-lake-of-week.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/freshwater-plesiosaurs.html

Culebrón

All of the information on this monster comes from Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters.

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/culebr-may-look-like-this.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/culebron-full-dossier.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/desceliers-1546-map-and-its-monsters.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/giant-snakes-patagonias-mythical.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/lake-ranco-lake-of-week.html

Sucuriju Gigante

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Lake Nonthue Creatures

According to Austin Whittall at Patagonian Monsters, unknown creatures may inhabit Lake Nonthue.  See the reference here.
This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Lake Lacar Bull

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/lake-lacar-lake-of-week.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-lakar-creatures.html

Lake Lolog Creatures

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/lake-lolog-lake-of-week.html
Argentina

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Lake Paimun Creature

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/07/lake-paimun-creature.html

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Huaca Mamül

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/water-creature-at-aucapan.html
Argentina

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Aluminé River Monster

 Pilo Lil 
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/11/patagonian-lakes-and-rivers-with.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/plesiosaur-at-laguna-negra-plesiosaur_15.html

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Lake Villarrica Monster

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/11/lake-villarrica-monster.html

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Toltén River Creature

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/11/tolten-river-creature.html
Chile

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Huechulito

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/huechulafquen-lake-monster-huechulito.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/09/lake-huechulafquen-changed-color.html
Argentina

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Cuero Uñudo

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/lake-quillen-lale-of-week-and-its-cuero.html
Argentina

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Lake Horses / Calimayos

Strange aquatic horses have been seen in many lakes throughout Patagonia, according to Austin Whittall at Patagonian Monsters.

For example, G. Alvarez writes in El Tronco de Oro that swimming around in Argentina's Lake Caviahue are
"animals that should not have been there, like threatening bulls and horses […] and a female entity associated to these waters named 'la sirena' [the mermaid] who is mentioned many times in the stories of the elderly locals."
According to Whittall, there have been several sightings in southern Chile's Lake Tagua-Tagua of a strange lake horse.

In 1995, local Carlos Pinto was traveling upstream in a motor boat when he saw swimming in the same direction an animal with “the head of a little foal, with a shiny hide and a short rigid mane.”  Moving aside to let the speedy creature pass (its wake almost capsized his boat), he watched as it swam out of view.

Pinto's aunt, who lives near Tagua-Tagua, had a mare that seemed to have given birth after a pregnancy.  She began “to neigh, and an animal like a small foal appeared which had feet like those of a duck […] and it walked like a duck."

The creature, which Pinto's aunt thought was the foal but which Whittall believes was probably "a predator that had captured the foal and taken it to the lake to eat it," went on to “molt its fur like through a wounding its back [it then] went towards the river that goes into the lake and disappeared.”  The mare neighed as if calling the foal.

Sources:
Patagonian Monsters
Creatures at the Reloncavi Fjord Area
Lake Caviahue - lake of the week
Alvarez, G., (1968). El Tronco de Oro. Neuquen: Pehuén. pp. 116 -7.
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/lake-viedma-lake-of-week.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/06/another-paleo-lake-puelo.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/creature-at-lake-cisnes_08.html
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/view/flipcard/5563336289273021599/2009/10/lake-of-week-lake-la-plata.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/patagonian-tapir.html
These creatures are some among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

Vichuquen Monster

According to Austin Whittall at Patagonian Monsters, Orestes Plath writes in Geografía del mito y la leyenda chilenos that on the full moon there appears in Chile's Lake Vichuquen "an enormous monster whose body is white and transparent."

See more:
Patagonian Monsters: Lake Vichuquen - lake of the week
Plath, Orestes, (1973). Geografía del mito y la leyenda chilenos. Ed. Nascimiento.

This monster is one among many in Patagonia which Aquabeasties found at Austin Whittall's wonderful Patagonian Monsters blog.

The Devon Sea Monster

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=187260

Bobo

http://beastpedia.blogspot.com/2009/08/bobo.html
United States, Pacific

Sucuriju Gigante / Giant Anaconda

Sucuriju Gigante is a legendary giant anaconda said to be found in the jungles and rivers of South America, with some legends also active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  It is a predatory snake ranging in length from 42 feet to 164 feet.  It is amphibious and several sightings have been made by swimmers.  The giant anaconda is sometimes described as having the width of a mere normal anaconda, but the length of several buses.  Some reports tell of large eyes.


Sightings


The famous Amazon explorer Colonel Percy H. Fawcett, while on one of his expeditions to find El Dorado in the Amazon, sighted a giant anaconda one day.  He and his men at first mistook it for a dead tree on the edge of the slow-moving river, but it started undulating toward the canoes.  According to David Grann in The Lost City of Z,


"It was bigger than an electric eel, and when Fawcett's companions saw it they screamed.  Fawcett lifted his rifle and fired at the object until smoke filled the air.  When the creature ceased to move, the men pulled a canoe alongside it.  It was an anaconda.  In his reports to the Royal Geographical Society, Fawcett insisted that it was longer than sixty feet ('Great Snakes!' blared one headline in the British press) . . ." (81).

Grann dismisses the claim as mistaken, believing that Fawcett overestimated the length of the anaconda's submerged section.


On October 29, 1929, Father Victor Heinz saw a huge snake swimming in the Amazon River near Alenquer, Brazil.


In 1932, this photo was taken of a supposed Sucuriju Gigante which was killed in Brazil near the Venezuelan border.  Judging by the notes on the picture, the diameter was reported at more than two-and-a-half feet and the length at over 131 feet.








In 1948 or '49 Joaquim Alencar took this photo of a supposedly 115-foot snake swimming in Rio Guaporé (which runs along the Bolivia-Brazil border) near Rio Abuna in the Amazon basin.
In 1977, Vicente de Oliveira Amarilho saw a huge snake with horns and greenish eyes on the Rio Purus, an Amazon tributary.




The largest known anacondas can reach 25 feet.  The largest known snake in the world is just under 33 feet, India's reticulated python Python reticulatus  

Eocene epoch: Chubutophis in Albino 22 feet young and 36 feet adult.  But that was tens of millions of years ago.


In 2009, scientists discovered remains of the world's biggest snake.  Columbia: 43-foot Titanoboa snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis (longer than a bus) changed scientists' ideas about how big a snake could be.  2,500 pounds.  Modern boas and ancondas average less than 20 feet and max 30 feet.  Ate crocodiles and giant turtles.  It is as long as the largest known t-rex.  58-60 million years ago.  However, it seems unlikely that a snake that big to survive because scientists estimate the tropical climate had to be 6 to 8 degrees warmer than today for the snake to survive.  The warmer the climate, the larger cold-blooded animals can be.


But according to  Austin Whittall at Patagonian Monsters, Adriana María Albino wrote in a 1991 paper, Patagonia: 45-60 feet, not much is known since the only remnant of the snake is an incomplete vertebrae.  This paper could not be found.
Madtsoia bai Argentina, Eocene once estimated to be 27 feet long.
Madtsoia camposi Brazil, Paleocene


http://beastpedia.blogspot.com/2009/08/sucuriju-gigante.html
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=198032
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=190043
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=179716
http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2009/06/peruvian-giant-snake-pictures-released.html
http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/anaconda.php
South America
Brazil
Peru
Argentina
Venezuela
Guyana
Bolivia
DRC


Sources:
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/05/stupidly_large_snakes_the_stor.php
http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=38105
http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/geodiv/g00n2a4.pdf
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/05/science/sci-snake5
"Science Today" Vol 3 N ° 14 / June to August 1991.
http://www.kryptozoologia.pl/sucuriju-gigante,200,35,artykul.html

Grann, David. The Lost City of Z: a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. New York: Doubleday, 2009. Print.

Murphy JC, Henderson RW. 1997. Tales of Giant Snakes: A Historical Natural History of Anacondas and Pythons. Krieger Pub. Cous. ISBN 0894649957.

See Borneo Monster
See Culibron
See some contemplation on possible connections at Patagonian Monsters

To probe:
http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/giant-snakes-patagonias-mythical.html

http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/354/1/B067a01.pdf

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/05/stupidly_large_snakes_the_stor.php

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/01/culebron-full-dossier.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/02/snakes-andean-myth-imported-into.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2010/02/flying-snake-of-mapuche-piwichen.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-on-big-patagonian-snakes-piri-reis.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/12/giant-patagonian-snakes-bit-of-science.html
Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, Simon Welfare & John Fairley
Claws, Jaws, and Dinosaurs, William J. Gibbons and Dr. Kent Hovind


  1. Dr. Heuvelmans', Bernard, "On the Track of Unknown Animals"
  2. Dinsdale, Tim, "Monster Hunt" 1972
Albino, A. M., 1991. Las serpientes del Santacrucense y Friasense de Argentina.Ameghiniana 28 (3-4), 402.
- 1993. Snakes from the Paleocene and Eocene of Patagonia (Argentina): paleoecology and coevolution with mammals. Historical Biology 7, 51-69.
- 1991. Serpientes gigantes en la Patagonia. Ciencia Hoy, 3(14): 58-63. Read a fragment (in Spanish) Here
Albino, A. M. 1991. Las serpientes del Santacrucense y Friasense de Argentina. Ameghiniana 28 (3-4), 402.
- . 1993. Snakes from the Paleocene and Eocene of Patagonia (Argentina): paleoecology and coevolution with mammals. Historical Biology 7, 51-69.
- . 2000. New record of snakes from the Cretaceous of Patagonia (Argentina). Geodiversitas 22, 247-253.
Andrews, C. W. 1901. Preliminary note on some recently discovered extinct vertebrates from Egypt (Part II). Geological Magazine (Dec. 4) 8, 434-444.
Gasparini, Z. 1993. New Tertiary sebecosuchians (Crocodylomorpha) from South America: phylogenetic implications. Historical Biology 7, 1-19.
Head, J. & Polly, D. 2004. They might be giants: morphometric methods for reconstructing body size in the world's largest snakes. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24 (Supp. 3), 68A-69A.
Heuvelmans, B. 1995. On the Track of Unknown Animals. Kegan Paul International, London.
Hoffstetter, R. 1961. Nouvelles récoltes de serpents fossils dans l'Éocène supérieur du désert Libyque. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2e Serie 33 (3), 326-331.
Rage, J.-C. 1983. Palaeophis colossaeus nov. sp. from the Eocene of Mali, with remarks on the genus problem within the Palaeophinae. Comptes Rendu de l'Academie des Sciences, Paris, Serie II 296, 1741-1744.
Rieppel, O., Kluge, A. G. & Zaher, H. 2002. Testing the phylogenetic relationships of the Pleistocene snake Wonambi naracoortensis Smith. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22, 812-829.
Scanlon, J. D. 2003. The basicranial morphology of madtsoiid snakes (Squamata, Ophidia) and the earliest Alethinophidia (Serpentes). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23, 971-976.
- . 2005. Cranial morphology of the Plio-Pleistocene giant madtsoiid snake Wonambi naracoortensis. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50, 139-180.
- . 2006. Skull of the large non-macrostomatan snake Yurlunggur from the Australian Oligo-Miocene. Nature 439, 839-842.
- . & Lee, M. S. Y. 2000. The Pleistocene serpent Wonambi and the early evolution of snakes. Nature 403, 416-420.
- . & Lee, M. S. Y. 2002. Varanoid-like dentition in primitive snakes (Madtsoiidae).
Journal of Herpetology 36, 100-106.
Seiffert, E. R. 2006. Revised age estimates from the later Paleogene mammal faunas of Egypt and Oman. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103, 5000-5005.
Smith, M. J. 1990. Wonambi naracoortensis. In Rich, P. V. & van Tets, G. F. (eds) Kadimaka. Extinct Vertebrates of Australia. Princeton University Press (Princeton, New Jersey), pp. 156-159.

INDEX


Antarctica

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