This post shares a paper published in April 2025, about a supergigantic land tortoise discovered in the temperate regions of Argentina in Upper Pleistocene sediments, the Chelonoidis pucara
Paper: Agnolín, F. L., & Chimento, N. R. (2025). A GIANT AMONG GIANTS: A NEW LAND TORTOISE FROM THE PLEISTOCENE OF THE ARGENTINE PAMPAS. RIVISTA ITALIANA DI PALEONTOLOGIA E STRATIGRAFIA , 131(2). https://doi.org/10.54103/2039-4942/27229
I hadn't considered tortoises or their aquatic relatives, the freshwater turtles as an option for lake monsters in Patagonia until watching the movie "Bajo Superficie" and reading about its Director suggesting that the animal could be a gigantic freshwater turtle.
I have posted about the existing turtles in the region. And will look into prehistoric specimens that were coeval with the Paleoindians around 12,000 years ago.
The paper by Agnolín and Chimento suggests that gigantism was an evolutionary trend that a large body size provided an advantage in retaining heat and promoting higher metabolic levels. The authors even go as far as stating that " The occurrence of C. pucara in semiarid environments gives some in-direct support to this ypothesis, suggesting some kind of endothermy in these extinct taxa, meaning it had a rudimentary system for maintaining its body temperature warm like mammals and birds (reptiles, amphibians, are "cold blooded" and can't heat their bodies by internal metabolic means).
The paper also says they were predators: " It is possible that supergigantic tortoises, such as C. pucara, may have had similar habits with opportunistic scavenging and predation."
They coexisted with humans who may have caused their extinction: "Chelonoidis pucara is the youngest extinct tor-toise from the Upper Pleistocene of Argentina. Cione et al. (2003) postulated that giant tortoise ex-tinction at the end of the Pleistocene was the re-sult of a combination of early human exploitation and extreme and frequent periodic climate which led to changes in temperature, humidity, and habitat modification."
Beasts like a supergigantic tortoise are myth-making creatures.
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025by Austin Whittall ©
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