Back in 1922, while the expedition was searching for the Plesiosaur that Sheffield had said he'd seen in a tiny lagoon close to his home near the Epuyen River, many looked on with a skeptic attitude.
Below is the text from an article published in the New York Times (HINT 'PLESIOSAURUS' WAS A HUGH TURTLE; Dr. Lucas and Washington Scientists Scoff at Tale of Finding Monster in Patagonia) published on March 8, 1922, mocking the expedition.
"Dr. F. A. Lucas, director of the Museum of Natural History, does not credit the report that a plesiosaurus, an amphibian of the Mesozoic period, generally believed to exist only in fossil form, has been seen alive in Patagonia.
'It is very unlikely that a plesiosaurus has been seen,' said Dr. Lucas yesterday. 'It is possible that something has been seen, but not a plėsiosaurus. It has been my experience that the nearer one goes to the source of such reports the less people seem to know about them. Nobody seems to know just how these wild reports start. Not long ago a report was circulated that a glyptodon, a genus of large extinct mammals of the order of edentata, related to the armadillos, had been seen in New Zealand.'
'As nearly as I can recall, no fossil remains of plesiosauri have been found in South America, but I know of no reason why they should not exist there. The most recent remains found in this country date from the Cretaceous period. It is barely possible that the animal seen was a large fresh-water turtle or a crocodile, though Patagonia is far south for a crocodile.'
WASHINGTON, March 7. - Professor Gilmore of the National Museum and N. Hollister of the National Zoological Park said today that they were of the opinion that such animals as plesiosauri vanished from the earth long ago.
'The last positive evidence of such creatures running at large,' said Professor Gilmore, dates back some 10,000,000 years. So far as scientists are aware, no such animal has been seen since that period. I would not hesitate in advising that the subject be dismissed.'"
Scientists
These men were authorities, and they made a good point.
Frederic Augustus Lucas, (1852-1929) was a naturalist, director of the American Museum of Natural History from 1911 to 1924, and honorary director until his death. He was an authority on vertebrate anatomy.
Charles Whitney Gilmore (1874–1945) was an renown paleontologist who worked with dinosarus during his career at what then was the United States National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural History).
Ned Hollister (1876-1924) was a naturalist, and between 1910 and 1916 served as Assistant Curator in the Division of Mammals, United States National Museum. Then he became the Superintendent of the National Zoological Park in Washington, where he worked until his death.
Comments
The New Zealand glyptodon is an interesting story, since there were no native mammals in the islands because it split from Gondwana before the first mammals appeared. It only had birds and reptiles, but no mammals. It is the first time I have read about it, but I have not been able to find any references to this sighting.
The suggestion that if there is an animal, it may be "a large fresh-water turtle or a crocodile" is reasonable. Nevertheless, Lucas points out that there are no known crocs in Patagonia. I agree with this possibility.
The image above was published in 1912 ( Fray Mocho: semanario festivo, literario, artístico y de actualidades. (1912). En Busca de un Nuevo Monstruo. Argentina. Año 1, N° 11.) and its caption reads: "A plesiosaur, a species who mister König believes the mysterious inhabitant of Lake Pueyrredón belongs to."
This sighting at Lake Pueyrredón took place ten years before Sheffield's sighting.
Of course, Plesiosaurs died out 65 million years ago. The creatures, if real, were not plesiosaurs.
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall ©
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