Cryptid on Phoenician - Tehuelche carving

 
A cryptid on a Tehuelche engraved stone with Phoenician symbols.
 
See Index on all my posts on Phoenicians in America.
 

Stone with an engraving of a Patagonian cryptid (and some Phoenician characters).
Is it a guanaco (left), wolf (center) or horse (right)? Copyright © 2011 by Austin Whittall

The strange "engraved stones" of Patagonia, which are unlike any other artistic expression of the Patagonian natives, besides having odd symbols that seem to be of Semitic (i.e. Phoenician or even Hebrew letters) origin, also depict animals. Some stones portray snakes (we will post on them separately, from a cryptozoological point of view) which I have already dealt with from a historical point of view (celtic or phoenician intertwined snakes)

The image shown above is form one of the stones from the Museo Salesiano at Rawson, Chubut, Argentina.

The stone, is a round boulder, which has several engravings. In its central part, a mammal, of unknown origin. Just above it, three symbols or letters. Above right an arrow head and below it, a geometric fringe or border with triangles.

This is not the usual native style, as already mentioned (Genuine Tehuelche inscribed stones), and all these "Phoenicians in Patagonia" posts aim at trying to validate if they are genuine, and if so, are they native or made by ancient Mediterranean mariners.

The Cryptid

The animal is shown sideways, only one fore leg and one back leg are depicted. It has a triangular shaped head with upright ears. Its legs are short in comparison to its body, and its tail is also short and bulky.

The local fauna, includes pumas (which as the engraving is definitively not a feline, we will discard), foxes (the animal seems dog-like), and guanacos.

I have included, just because the creature also has a horse-like air, an image of a Trapan (a rare Eurasian wild horse), officially there were no native horses in Patagonia until the arrival of the Europeans who brought horses with them to America, however I have posted elsewhere about the possible survival of prehistoric native American horses, so I decided to include one, just in case. (Also see: Patagonian donkeys)

I also included a wolf (nowadays there are no wolves in Patagona, and the maned wolf has long legs, so it is not the animal portrayed on the stone), because it may be a representation of an "Andean Wolf", another Patagonian cryptid.

In my opinion, the animal is some kind of canid. It may be an Andean Wolf, or even a variety of "warrah" (Falkland Islands / Malvinas fox-wolf).

The stone was apparently found in Chubut province, in the northern part of Patagonia. It is unusual for the Tehuelche to depict a dog. They usually painted guanaco or hunters, as well as pumas of feline looking animals. I have not seen any dog - wolf - fox in their rock paintings. So, this is indeed a very peculiar stone which differs from the standard native artistic expression.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2011 International Year of Forests Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

Phoenicians, Tehuelches, Patagonia and cryptozoology - Part 1

 
Phoenician symbols engraved on Patagonian rocks. Native or Semitic art?
 
See Index on all my posts on Phoenicians in America.
 

Fig. 1. Alleged Tehuelche engraved stone with several intertwined snakes. Source: Internet

Fig. 2. Tehuelche, snake and symbols. Engraved stone. Source: Internet

Fig. 3. Ancient Patagonian sculpture. Cross, moon and symbols. Source: Internet

Fig. 4. Ancient Patagonian sculpture. Phoenician symbols or letters and a Berber symbol. Source: Internet

Fig. 5. Berber symbol and letters on ancient Tehuelche engraved rock. Source: Internet

Fig. 6. Native face, sun and moon on Tehuelche engraved rock. Source: Internet

Fig. 7. Tehuelche engraved stone, with an arrow head and, a horse?. Source: Internet

Fig. 8. Boulders engraved by Tehuelches. Above: a strange horse like? creature and symbols. Below: Guanaco, snake, symbols. From [1]

(See my post on this "horse-like cryptid").

Fig. 9. Woman's face, Tehuelche or Phoenician sculpture. Patagonia. "Dama de Comodoro Rivadavia". Source: Internet

And this image, which I already posted before when I mentioned the Phoenician-Patagonian connection for the first time:

Fig. 10. Tehuelche Rock Art with Semitic symbols and weird snake. From [2]

If the title of today's post surprised you, well, that was my intention. I had already mentioned in a previous post that I would delve in this weird subject: Phoenicians or Hebrews in Pre-Hispanic Patagonia.

I posted those images of objects which, are all (except one, the "Dama de Comodoro") actually exhibited at the Museo Salesiano, at Rawson, in the Province of Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. The "Dama de Comodoro" was at a museum in the town of Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, and, which apparently has disappered.

Tehuelche engraved rocks and sculptures

I came across those images while looking for Tehuelche sculptures. I have already posted in January 2010, on a Cryptid, strange animal - Tehuelchense art, which I photographed and saw at the Museo Perito Moreno at Bariloche, in Rio Negro, Patagonia, Argentina.

Now, the engraved rocks shown above, don't look at all like anything else produced by the Tehuelche natives. They did "engrave" flat stones, and these are known as "Placas Grabadas", in Spanish (engraved stone plate). But these were just scratches etched on a flat stone, crude drawings. They weren't bas-reliefs like those shown above: see an example and an image of a genuine Tehuelche engraved stone.

They don't resemble either other kinds of Tehuelche stone sculptures, such as the stone snake reported by Deodat [3] in 1942, in Santa Cruz province, Patagonia.

These are more complex and neater. They are actually executed as bas-relief sculptures. A Bas-relief is a sculpture in which figures are carved in a flat surface so that they project only a little from the background.

This, at least in Patagonia is an unknown technique.

After seeing the photographs I thought that they may be fakes, so I got in touch with the Museum at Rawson, and they confirmed that the pieces are real, and event though the Museum is now closed, that these stones are in good shape and stored.

I also found them in Father Molina's book [1]. I had also seen them in another book (dated 1951)[2], so these all facts reassured me of their existence.

The question is, are they genuine or are they forgeries?

If genuine, were they carved by the Tehuelche natives? or by someone else?

We have some clues...

The symbols :Semitic, Phoenician, Punic, Berber or something else?

There are symbols, resembling Semitic letters, that is, Hebrew or Phoenician letters, on the stones. This is highly unusual.

What is more, there is a symbol, which appears in some sculptures (Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 8 bottom), which is shown below:

This symbol is actually a letter belonging to an ancient writing system, the Tifinagh alphabet. It is a "Lybico-berber" character that has been used by Berber speaking people of North Africa and also, the Canary Islands for several hundreds of years between, the third century B.C., and up to around the third century A.D. The arrival of the Muslim Arabs after 600 AD led to its demise.

What is a Berber symbol doing in a native Patagonian sculpted stone?

Carthage, was a Phoenician colony in Tunisia, North Africa, which was later razed by Rome after the Punic wars. The Tifinagh alphabet incorporated several Punic - Phoenician letters. This is a tenuous but clear link between Phoenicia and Patagonia.

From the cryptozoological point of view, the large snakes (Figs. 1, 2, 8 -bottom-, and 10) are interesting (I have posted extensively on Patagonian gigantic snakes), and so are the two animals (Figs. 7 and 8 -above) which resemble horses, as I have also posted on the possible survival of Native Pre-Hispanic horses in Patagonia. I posted on the animal in Fig. 8, a dog or horse-like cryptid.

Yet, from a historical point of view, the idea of Phoenicians having reached Patagonia long before the Spaniards did in the 1500s, is an extremely exciting one.
Furthermore, the Phoenicians or, to put it correctly, "Ancient Mediterranean sailors" who brought Phoenician letters with them to Patagonia, may have also brought their myths and beliefs with them, and shared them with the local natives.

If this happened, could they have been the origin of some of the Patagonian mythical monsters?. For instance, the horned creatures, so cow-like, or, should I say bull-likethat we find in Patagonian native lore, (see my posts on Native Pre-Hispanic cattle in Patagonia and Patagonian devils or cattle?), could have originated in the bull myths of ancient Crete and Greece (Crete-Mycenaean culture), such as the Minotaur of the Minoan labyritnt.

As you can see, this is a long story with many open options. So, I will keep on posting on it over the next few days (weeks?), till, as I did with the "Homo erectus in America" hypothesis, I bore you to tears!.

Sources

[1] Molina, M., (1976). Patagónica: Prehistoria, tradiciones y mitologías. Roma: Ed. LAS. pp.121
[2] Antonio Garcés,(1951). Libro del Cincuentenario de Comodoro Rivadavia, 1901-1951. Aspectos de la Arqueología Patagónica. Chap. 29.
[3] Deodat, Leoncio, S. M., (1942) Un bastón mágico herpetiforme descubierto en Patagonia austral. Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, III, pp. 99-118.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2011 International Year of Forests Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

Alakaluf Rock Art and Mylodon depiction

 

Location of Madre de Dios Island, and the Mylodon Cave close to Puerto Natales, Chile. Adapted by Austin Whittall from [2]

Looking for rock art depicting Homo erectus or similar archaic hominids, I found an interesting anthropomorphic drawing done by some Alakaluf natives which may depict a mylodon.

Mylodons in Patagonia

I have already posted on the Mylodon Cave where in the 1890s some apparently fresh remains of mylodon fur and dung were found. This led scientists to believe that the animal which should have become extinct at the end of the last Ice Age, was still alive somewhere out there in the Patagonian wilderness. It was only much later that the bones were dated and their old age proven (they dated to the Ice Age megafaunal extinction period).

However, at Madre de Dios Island, in the South Pacific Ocean, some ancient rock art, drawn by the Alakaluf canoe people, a strange figure was discovered: [1][2]

(A) Rock Art by Alakaluf natives at Madre de Dios Island, Chile. (B) Reproduction of a Mylodon, at Mylodon Cave, Puerto Natales, Chile. © 2010 by Austin Whittall

At first I thought it represented a person (actually the article describes it as "an anthropomorphic figure"[2], but it has a third "leg" right between its other two legs; which may either represent a well endowed male or, more likely, a tail (furthermore, the tail is longer than the two legs).

I am quite certain of this because most other drawings of naked men represent them with "normal" sized penis, as can be seen in the composite below which has several human figures (men) drawn at different locations in Patagonia:

Male Human Figures from different rock art sites in Patagonia.
Adapted from [3] by Austin Whittall

The Alakaluf rock art on the other hand is not human-like, actually the opposite: it has an "animal appearance", long and slender, long tailed, long dangling arms. It even looks hairy due to the dashed or dotted technique used in the drawing.

Anyway, I thought that it would be interesting since the Alakaluf natives lived in this region moving along the Patagonian fjords and sounds in their canoes. They could have easily come across an extant Mylodon in relatively recent times (the rock art is not yet dated) and drawn it.

Sources.

[1] Ultima Patagonia 2006 Rapport scientifique Expedition franco-chilienne et internationale a Madre de Dios (Magallanes, Chili). Expédition nationale 2006
de la Féderation Française de Speleologie. Association Centre Terre - www.centre-terre.fr. pp. 89+. Image is Fig. 20.
[2]Mairie Richard, Bernard Tourte, Stephane Jaillet, Joel Despain, Benjamin Lans, Franck Brehier, Luc-Henri Fage, Laurent Morel, et al., (2009). Geomorphic and archaeological feautes of coastal caves in Madre de Dios Archipielago (Patagonia, Chile)Proceedings of 15th International Congress of Speleology, Kerrville, Texas, USA, 19-26 july 2009. Symposium on Karst Islands.
[3] P. Bosch-Gimpera (1964). El Arte Rupestre de America. Anales de Antropología. Vol 1, No 1. pp. 30+. Fig. 9.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2011 International Year of Forests Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

Teddy Roosevelt and the lake monster hunt

 

Detail of the original NY Times article. From [1]

Former US President Teddy Roosevelt was approached by the American gold prospector Martin Sheffield in 1903, who suggested that he organize an expedition to hunt a mysterious huge lizard-like monster with a curved neck-.

This information surfaced in a New York Times article published on March 31, 1922:

ROOSEVELT WANTED TO HUNT MONSTER; Ex-President Thought of Patagonia Expedition When He Went to South America. KEEN OVER TALE ... John Barrett Gave Him in 1903 an Explorer's Account of Strange Amphibian.

The newspaper heard about it from Mr. John Barrett, late Director of the Pan American Union and Minister to Argentina during President Roosevelt’s administrations during the famous 1922 plesiosaur expedition (sent to hunt a plesiosaur close to Lake Epuyen).

According to Barret, Sheffield "had reported that he had seen what appeared to be a plesiosaurian monster, or huge amphibian, swimming in the waters of a Southern Andean jungle lake, I recalled that nearly twenty years ago, in November, 1903, ". [1]

Apparently Sheffield had fought in Cuba during the 1898 Spanish-American war, and has somehow met Roosevelt there.

Interesting and verifiable

This is indeed interesting. Because it could be verifiable:

• We could check when Sheffield arrived in Argentina (before or after 1898).
• We know that in 1903 he had met Clemente Onelli then working with the Argentine Border Committee marking out the frontier with Chile. Onelli later (1922) organized the Plesiosaur expedition. Could he have been in Buenos Aires at the same time?
• Why did he wait for 19 years (from 1903 to 1922) before reporting the "lizard" again? Did he tell Onelli in 1903? And was ignored by him?
• Can the details mentioned by Barrett be tracked and proven? Did any of those mentioned in the article record the event?
• What about the handwritten letter by Roosevelt himself? Did Roosevelt write memoirs?
  

Anyway, it may all be a lie, made up by Barrett. It may be true, and if so, Sheffield saw something in 1903 and then saw it again in 1922. An active and long living monster (or perhaps its offspring). Enjoy the full text at the NY Times site. See reference [1] below.

Sources.

[1] Roosevelt wanted to hunt monster New York Times, NY. 31.03.1923.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©

Horse Eating Frog - Chile

 

Beelzebufo ampigna Giant Prehistoric Frog .From: [1], by Stony Brook University.

A team of paleontologists found the remains of a giant fossil frog that lived some 70 Million years ago in Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Southern Africa during the Age of the dinosaurs, the Beelzebufo ampigna.

This giant frog measured about 41 cm long and weighed 4.5 kg (16 in and 10 lbs). It had a thick skin and sharp teeth.

The team that found it, led by David Krause of Stony Brook University named it "the frog from hell" hence its name, Beelzebufo (devil = Beelzebub and toad (in Latin) = bufo).

It was probably the largest frog that ever existed and was more than twice the size of its closest relative, the South American Ceratophrys aurita and nearly five times larger than the biggest extant frog on Madagascar, the Mantidactylus guttulatus.

The interesting thing is the "South American Link", it seems that Beelzebufo is quite similar to the South American Ceratophryinae, and, on the other hand quite unlike the local Madagascar frogs. If it was similar to its American relatives, it would be a predator gobbling up everything that it came across (small mammals, other frogs and even small newborn dinos).

These Ceratophryinae ,or "horned frogs", are a subfamily of the leptodactylid frogs. And they are only found in South America.

Also in South America, another interesting frog can be found; it lives in Chile and is known as the "helmeted water toad" or "giant Chilean toad", (Calyptocephalella gayi, formerly Caudiverbera caudiverbera).

It is found in the temperate and cold areas from Central Chile to northern Chilean Patagonia, from Coqimbo to Los Lagos, it is a big frog and can reach up to 32 cm (11.9 in.) from snout to vent [4] and weigh 3 kg (6.6 lbs.) . As it is the only extant member of its genus, it is sad news that it is endangered by exotic frogs and fungal infections. [3]

Frogs and lake monsters

So, why frogs? Well, I read a comment at a post on lake monsters in Southern Chile that offers an interesting explanation on the possible animal behind the sightings, below I quote the relevant text :[5]

I looked into some stories and diaries of old Chilean families. And it is so, that in one, whose surname I will not disclose, that tells how a hose was devoured by an immense toad. I knew that the caudiverbera frog has a very strange gene that expresses itself once every ten thousand millions to produce a frog of one meter [3.3 ft.] [long] It is a recessive gene. I knew then that another recessive gene produced yet an even bigger frog when it is phenotypically expressed. I believe that this solved the case of the vilú the immense killer toad of the great irrigation channels and lagoons. [5]

The idea is intriguing, the helmeted frog does live in the cold waters of the Patagonian Lakes all the way Reloncavi area. So they are in the right location. The "recessive gene" is something that should be investigated. I have not yet found any papers about this mysterious gene or its "phenotypic expression". However, the Madagascar remains prove that frogs can grow to a big size, alas, as far as the fossils found to date show, not big enough to eat a horse in one mouthful.

Nevertheless, the diary entry (if true and not just some yarn made up by someone)with the horse eating frog is indeed interesting. It is a pity that the date and site of this incident are not given.

Myths and frogs

What did the natives have to say about frogs? Did they believe in giant toads?

We have the Arumco is a myth about a giant Mapuche frog, whose name derives from "arun" = "big frog" and "có = water. [6]

The name and supernatural nature of Arumco were recorded by Naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina, who mentioned it in his book (1788) on Chile's natural history: " aquatic frogs, the Arunco [...] that the Araucano [Mapuche] call Genco which means father of the water because they believe that they contribute to keeping and to the health of the waters. [2]

Then there is the Mapuche's "piwichen" myth, a flying feathered snake, which, in some versions, according to Vicuña Cifuentes, is a snake that mutates into a gigantic frog covered with fine hair which then sprouts wings (more info on this hairy frog). The winged frog was depicted by Renaissance artist Hieronymus Bosch in his "The Temptation of St. Anthony", which shows that the range of the human mind, when it comes to weird creatures, is quite limited.

And last but not least is the Matuasto, depicted below in a photograph that I took at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cueva de Las Manos, Santa Cruz province, Argentina:

Paleoindian Rock art: Matuasto at Cueva de Las Manos. Copyright © 2007 by Austin Whittall

These creatures are said to be tailless lizards (whatever that may be) or a variety of short tailed lizard. In my opinion, they look quite frog-like and may depict some variety of monster-toad. They were drawn in red paint on the walls of Cueva de las Manos ledge some 8 to 10 thousand years ago by the Tehuelche Indian's ancestors.

It was a persistent myth, because, the creature was mentioned by British explorer George Musters who in 1870, after traveling from Punta Arenas to Carmen de Patagones with a band of Tehuelche, wrote:

Another animal supposed to be possessed of magical powers is a flat toad-like lizard, which is believed to lame horses by mysterious agency, and is killed whenever met with. [7]

The word Matuasto is imported, exotic, of Quechua origin (from the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes Region), [8] so it can not be a local myth, perhaps it was introduced from Chile by the Mapuche (who acquired it from the Inca invaders ca. 1430) who in turn passed it on to the Tehuelche. Fear of Matuastos prevails in the area that came into contact with the Incas, such as Northern Argentina.

This site (SIB.gov.ar) has some details and an image of a matuasto.

Sources

[1] Ned Stafford . Giant frog found in Madagascar. 'Frog from hell' fossil hints at later split of continents. Nature. Online. 18.02.2008. doi:10.1038/news.2008.607
[2] Molina, Juan Ignacio, (1788). Compendio de la historia geografica, natural y civil del Reyno de Chile. Madrid: Sancha, pp. 238
[3] Veloso, A. & Formas, R., ( 2004). Caudiverbera caudiverbera. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
[4] Naish, Darren (2007). It's the Helmeted water toad! 27.10.07.
[5] Andrés El monstruo del lago generla Carrera, Comments. 23.10.10
[6] José María Alfonso Félix Gallardo, (1994). Anfibios y reptiles: relatos y leyendas, etimología, usos y abusos. Librería Agropecuaria, pp. 33.
[7] Musters George Chaworth, (1969). At home with the Patagonians: a year's wanderings over untrodden ground from the Straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro. (1869).Greenwood Press, pp. 182.
[8] Fernando Hugo Casullo, (1963). Voces indígenas en el idioma español. Cia. Argentina de Editores, pp. 34

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

New Rare Carnivore discovered in Madagascar

 
A team of scientists has discovered a new carnivore mammal species in Madagascar. It was first sighted swimming in the largest lake of the Island in 2004. It was photographed in an attempt to identify it. In 2005 one was captured.

This extremely rare animal is a mongoose-like animal, which has been named Durrell's vontsira (Salanoia durrelli), in honour of British conservationist Gerald Durrell (1925-1995). [1]

Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island and is about 1.600 km long (1,000 mi.) and 570 km (350 mi.) wide. It is located close to Africa, in the Indian Ocean. Its isolation led it to develop an endemic fauna as the Mozambique Channel 400 km (250 mi.) wide separates it from Africa.

I posted this, because despite being totally unrelated to Patagonia and its cryptids, it clearly shows us that there are 'critters' out there still waiting to be discovered by science in the early years of the twenty-first century. Perhaps Patagonia also harbors unknown animals in its lonely forests.

Just consider that Madagascar is densely populated (19,448,815 inhabitants living on a surface area of 587,041 km²): 33.13 persons/km² (85.8 persons/sq. mi.). While Patagonia with a larger surface area of one million km² (403,000 sq. mi.) and a scanty population of barely 2 million inhabitants has a population density which is 15 times smaller: 2 persons/km² (5.2 persons/sq.mi.). If new mammals crop up on that densely packed island, what can be expected in Patagonia?

Source.

[1] Victoria Gill, (2010) New carnivorous mammal species found in Madagascar. BBC. 11.10.2010

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Lea este post en español

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

On Tourism and Cryptids

 
A cynical point of view regarding cryptozoology: the whole thing is a big lie made up to promote tourism.

This is not a new theme, actually, back in 1922, when an expedition was sent to hunt and capture a plesiosaur in Patagonia, some hinted that the whole thing was a publicity stunt to place Patagonia in the public eye.

In my book, I also suggested the same motive: [1]

Taking a more prosaic tack, some have suggested that the whole issue was made up by a local tycoon, Primo Capraro to promote Bariloche as an international tourist resort and, coincidentially, it was in 1922 that Argentina’s Federal government created the country’s first national park at Nahuel Huapi and set its headquarters in Bariloche.³⁶ Frey was named its first Superintendent. [1]

I have already posted on this supposed PR stunt: Plesiosaur Carnival float which shows the headlines and the pageant at Bariloche to celebrated the expedition.

Russian Tourism and Yeti

Today I came across not one, but two articles on the famed Yeti cryptid, on regarding its appearance in Russia (below),[2] the other about a scientific expedition that is being organized in China to search it [3].

The Russian article is worth quoting regarding the "tourist" aspect:[2]

Creating a non-existant tourist attraction has a long pedigree. Visitors to Verona, Italy, have the chance to see Juliet's Balcony, inspired by the famous scene in Shakepeare's drama "Romeo and Juliet".
[...]
Meanwhile the Scottish city of Inverness has traded heavily on the nearby Loch Ness Monster to boost its tourist trade [2]

The article adds: that these reports "about finding Bigfoot as fodder for gullible tourists" and that the site of the sightings was "an emerging tourist destination". [2]

The Russian yeti article can be found following the link below:

Yeti to entice tourists to Siberia

12/10/201016:57

China to search for the Yeti

Regarding the Chinese, the Hubei Wild Man Research Association, are seeking international volunteers and funding (about 1 million Euros) from private organizations to search for the Yeti, which was last seen in 2007. Chinese are more open minded about cryptids and the government organized several expeditions in the 1970s and 80s to track down the beast. [3]

This seems to be a more serious effort and not something staged to promote a tourist site.

If you are wondering if yeti has a relative in Patagonia, the answer is yes, The Patagonian Bigfoot, which is not a bigfoot but some variety of hairy hominid that has been sighted all over Patagonia.

Bibliography

[1] Whittall, Austin. (2010) Book in preparation. To be published shortly. The Monsters of Patagonia: A Field Guide to its Giants, Dwarves, Lake Creatures and Forest Beasts
[2] Washington, Tom. Yeti to entice tourists to Siberia. The Moscow News. 12.10.2010.
[3] Peter Foster. China to embark on Yeti expedition . Telegraph. London. UK. 12.10.2010


Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Miocene South America a map

 

South America during the Mid Miocene (about 10-14 Million years ago).
Copyright © 2010 by Austin Whittall

In several posts I have written about marine creatures from the Miocene Epoch (which spans from about 23.3 to 5.3 Million years ago). During this period the geography of South America was quite different from what it is nowadays. As the map above shows, vasts parts of the continent were submerged by marine ingressions due to higher sea levels. Some "islands" remained safe and dry (the highlands which comprised the Brazilian and Guyanan shields as well as the rising Proto Andes). All the rest was under water.

Submerged South America

During the mid Miociene, between 10 and 20 million years ago, the sea levels rose and reached a maximum level, some 30 to 40 m (100 - 130 ft.) above current sea levels about 14 million years ago.

Seawater flooded the interior of South America forming "epicontinental" seas. There is still some discussion regarding the exact extension of these seas and if they were all interconnected however the fact remains that most of the Amazon basin and the Paranáa River basin and the Pampas were under the sea.

Parts of Patagonia were submerged (Somuncuráa Plateau and the Deseado shield) kept dry.

Cryptozoological implications

This marine enviornment would have created new access routes for Northern Hemisphere sea-going mammals such as the ancestors of modern seals, manatees and walruses. We have already mentioned the 'Central American seaway" (left red arrow) through Panama which linked the Caribbean with the Pacific Ocean as a route for dispersion. But, as you can see in the map, another narrow seaway connected the Caribbean with the Pebesian Sea (right red arrow). From here these creatures could have moved east into the Amazon or South all the way down to Patagonia.

Could the marine creatures discovered in southern Peru and Northern Chile ('walruses', giant marine sloths and sea cows) have counterparts on the eastern side of the Andes? In fact, the amazonian manatee and all other manatees around the world are said to have originated in Colombia (from the potamosiren). One of the members of the American manatee family (Trichechidae), the ribodon could be found all the way from the coast of North Carolina in the U.S. to Argentina in the south.[1][2]

The lack of fossils in this region which was formerly the coast of these ancient seas may be due to their placement on the eastern foothills of the Andes. An area which is covered by dense jungles in the north and central parts of South America and, in the whole area, by hundreds of feet of sediment deposited there by the rivers dragging soil from the constant erosion of the Andes.

Maybe future exploration may yield new fossils that could help clarify the origin of some of South American cryptids (and hopefully, Patagonian cryptids too).

Quizás futuras exploraciones resulten en nuevos fósiles que puedan explicar algunos de los criptidos sudamericanos (y patagónicos).

This seaway joining the Caribbean and the South Atlantic is worth deeper analysis from a cryptozoological viewpoint as a route for cryptid dispersion.

Bibliography.

[1] Daryl P. Domning, (1982). Evolution of Manatees: A Speculative History.
Journal of Paleontology, vol. 56, No. 3 (May, 1982), pp. 599-619.
[2] Evolution of the Sirenia
[3] For the map:

Kirby M.X., Jones D.S., MacFadden B.J., (2008) Lower Miocene Stratigraphy along the Panama Canal and Its Bearing on the Central American Peninsula. PLoS ONE 3(7): e2791. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002791

Marengo, H.G., (2000). Rasgos micropaleontológicos de los depósitos de la transgresión Entrerriense-Paranense en la cuenca Chaco-Paranense y noroeste argentino, República Argentina. En: F.G. Aceñolaza y R. Herbst (eds.), El Neógeno de Argentina. Serie Correlación Geológica 14: 29-45.

Alonso, Ricardo N., (1999). El terciario de la Puna salte˜ña In: Congreso Geológico Argentino, 1999, Salta. Relatorio XIV congreso geológico argentino, tomo I. , 1954. p.311 – 316.

Bush, Mark B., and Oliveira, Paulo E. de, (2006). The rise and fall of the Refugial Hypothesis of Amazonian speciation: a paleoecological perspective. Biota Neotrop., vol.6, n.1. ISSN 1676-0603. doi: 10.1590/S1676-06032006000100002.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Patagonian Sea Cows (manatees)

 

Map showing current American Manatees and probable "Patagonian sea cow" distribution. Copyright © 2010 by Austin Whittall

In previous posts I have written about different bovine-like aquatic animals found in several Patagonian lakes (Lake bulls). These are definitively bovine because, they phyisically resemble cows and bulls and are also endowed with horns. I also presented some evidence towards the (very faint) possibility that they were actually some kind of bovid species native to Patagonia.

Today I will add some more information on “sea cows”. Which I believe is quite interesting.

Chilean Sea Cows

While reading some new sources on Patagonian lake bulls and cows, I came across the following text, which I will quote in full:

Sometimes certain animals appear in the seas of Arauco [by the region of that name in Chile, between Chiloé and Bio Bio River] that those people call sometimes sea bulls, sometimes sea cows, but which I have not been able to ascertain if they are lamentines or manatees, or if they belong to some other genera; nevertheless I am inclined to believe, based on the vague descriptions that I have acquired that they are manatees or lamentines. The first Spaniards that settled on the large Island of Juan Fernandez caught large quantities of these animals, of whose meat they tastily fed: but the continuous damage they caused them forced them to abandon the vicinity of that island. [1]

At first I was inclined to believe that they were some kind of seal because, they are no known manatees living in the eastern Pacific Ocean or, in cold waters such as those found in Southern Chile. But, manatees are herbivores and there are plenty of algae along the Patagonian Pacific coastline and, there is evidence that manatees once lived in the area (see map above).

Fossil Chilean manatees

Today there are only four species of the marine mammal order Sirenidae, there was another one, Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) which regrettably became extinct in the eighteenth century.

All of these sirenians are believed to have originated in the Atlantic Ocean during the Eocene (55.8-33.9 Million years ago). Some of them spread into the Pacific Ocean through the Central American Seaway (a channel that linked both oceans long before North and South America merged at the Isthmus of Panamá. It is marked as the red arrow in the map above). From there they moved north towards California, Alaska and northeastern Asia, and south towards Peru and Chile.

Unlike all other mammals (i.e. seals, walruses, dolphins, seals, etc.) the sirenians are the only mammal herbivores of the seas: they eat algae and sea grass (hence the “cow” part of their name).

Extant sirenians are restricted to warm tropical and subtropical waters because they have a very low metabolism and can not thrive in cold waters. Furthermore, warm, shallow coastal waters favor the growth of the aquatic vegetation that they eat. [2] Therefore they are not found along the western coast of South America which is subject to the cold water of the Humboldt current that flows along its shores.

But, there was one exception, one species of sea cow that lived in icy North Pacific waters, Steller’s sea cow, which is now extinct.

Going back to South , fossil remains of a sirenian from the Late Miocene have been recovered from sediments of the Bahia Inglesa in Chile at 27° S. This finding are the southernmost remains found on the Eastern Pacific coast (other remains have been found in Peru and California) and they extend the geographic range of these marine beings into the Southern Hemisphere of the Americas. They lived during the Miocene when the global climate was warmer than present and these waters were not as cold as they are nowadays. [3]

Close by, in Peru there were at least two other species of sea cows, with were unrelated to the extant South American group of manatees. Not surprisingly they were linked to the now extinct Steller’s sea cows of northern North America and to the dugongs of the western Pacific Ocean. These sirenids shared their ecosystem with the "walrus", Odobenocetops and the giant sea sloths, Thalassocnus.

Both sites in Chile and Peru are marked with a red dot in the map above.

Steller´s sea cow ( Hydrodamalis gigas )

This creature was first discovered in 1741, by Captain Bering who found them eating kelp in the cold shallow waters of an island (now named after him), close to Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. His shipwrecked crew survived the winter by eating them, and they found their meat delicious. News soon spread and all vessels sailing through the area hunted them until there were none left.

Steller's Sea Cow. Adapted by Austin Whittall From [4]

These sea cows seem to have been the last survivors (some 1,500 individuals) of a dwindling population that at one time was a widely distributed species. They and their ancestors H. cuestae, Dusisiren dewana, and D. jordani once spanned the Pacific from Japan to California. [2]

The arrival of humans in America and the Aleutians, and their hunting activities reduced their habitat to Bering Island where, after Captain Bering’s expedition, modern man hunted them to extinction.

Unlike the current warm water sirenians, Steller’s Sea Cow, ate the algae in the freezing waters around the islands where it lived. It was well adapted to the cold Arctic conditions as it had a thich skin (2.5 cm – 1 in.), and an insulating layer of fat between 10 and 23 cm thick (4 -9 in.) . They were enormous and could measure up to 9 m (26 ft) long and could weigh up to 10,000 kg (22,000 lb.).

They lacked teeth but chewed the kelp with two large bony plates that ground the plants, grazing like cows while they bobbed around in the freezing waters (Steller, who described them during Bering’s voyage, said that they could not dive nor submerge as their blubber kept them afloat). Docile creatures that apparently lacked predators, they were easily hunted and killed.

Even though the last sea cow was killed in 1768 (barely twenty seven years after it had been discovered by science), there have been alleged sightings of sea cows since then. The more recent ones are from a whaling boat in 1962 that saw a herd of them [4] and in 2006 a sighting in Washington state, U.S.[5]

Patagonian Manatees?

The coast of Southern Chile, from Chiloé to Cape Horn has abundant algae. One variety known as cochayuyo or cachiyuyo (Durvillaea antarctica), is an edible seaweed which is also found in New Zealand and the South Atlantic. It can reach a length of 15 m (49 ft.) . There are also submarine forests of dense groups of Giant Kelp, Macrocystis. pyrifera, which can be found up to depths of 20 m (650 ft.), and occasionally up to 80 m (262 ft.) deep.

These could provide the food for the “sea cows” of the “Arauco sea”. Perhaps they did not become extinct in Chile and, like Steller’s sea cows, they adapted to a colder aquatic environment with no predators. Arrival of modern man towards the end of the last Ice Age would have placed them in a situation similar to their north Pacific relatives. Perhaps they sought safety at Juan Fernandez Islands which are about 600 km (373 mi.) from Chile (approx. 33ºS; 79ºW) from where they were displaced by the relentless hunting after their discovery in the XVI^th century.

I have not been able to find any data on the aquatic resources (i.e. algae) at these islands, because, if the sea cows lived there, they had to have seaweeds to graze on.

If they somehow survived in the fjords and channels of Southern Chile, they could have originated the belief in “sea cows” such as the one that I mention below:[7]

SEA COW: Animal of fabulous beauty that travels about the channels seeking bulls to seduce. It is considered an aquatic version of a bovine, whose legs are flippers, fat of curved horns and fiery eyes. It bewitches bulls and mates with them with such passion that the animal is left impotent and nostalgic…[7].

Steller sea cows are indeed fat and large, but, they lack horns. So, I wonder if it was an embellishment added by the locals, or, simply another creature and not a genuine sea cow. The question remains open.

It is interesting to point out however that according to French naturalist Cuvier [8]:



Which is remarkably similar to what Father Diego de Rosales’ wrote about the mermaid, Pincoya that had been seen several times in the sea by Chiloé in 1632:

a beast that came close to the shore, which surging out of the water displayed a head, face and woman’s breasts, with long fair and loose hair or mane. It carried a child in its arms. When it submerged they noticed that it had a tail and back of a fish, covered with thick scales like small shells.[9]

See also (in the same post), Byron's description of a merman in the Chonos islands in 1741 that had, "an appearance like that of a man swimming half out of the water" [10].

Both are very similar to Cuvier's description.

Could these be sightings of a sea cow?

Bibliography.

[1] Estala, Pedro, (1798). El viagero universal o Noticia del mundo antiguo y nuevo. Imprenta de Villalpando. pp. 179



[2] Sirenian International
[3] Giovanni Bianuccia, Silvia Sorbia, Mario E. Suárez and Walter Landinia. The southernmost sirenian record in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from the Late Miocene of Chile. C. R. Palevol 5 (2006) 945–952. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2006.06.001.
[4] Dietz, Tim, (1992). The call of the siren: manatees and dugongs.Fulcrum Publishing. pp.102.
[5] Colman, Loren, (2006). Steller’s sea cow sighting? Cryptomundo. 16.09.2006.
[6] Image credits: Mooney, Sharon, (2002). Sirenian Evolution. Howard University. Academic Press, 20002.
[7] Renato Cárdenas Alvarez. (1997) El Libro de la Mitología de Chiloé. Anaquel Austral. Ed. Virginia Vidal. Santiago : Editorial Poetas Antiimperialistas de América. 15.09.2005.
[8] Cuvier, Georges, (1832). The animal kingdom: arranged in conformity with its organization. G. & C. & H. Carvill, pp 116.
[9] De Rosales, D., (1877). Historia general de el Reyno de Chile. Valparaiso: El Mercurio. v. i, ii. v. 1. pp. 308- 309.
[10] Byron J., (1996). Naufragio en las costas patagónicas. Buenos Aires: Ediciones del Sol. pp. 63.

Further reading.

Steller's Sea Cow Hydrodamalis gigas.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Nahuelito bubbles and gas

 

Map showing Faults at Lake Nahuel Huapi.
Copyright © 2010 by Austin Whittall. Adapted from [1] and [4]

During my "research" this weekend, I came across a very interesting post by Dr. Marcos Asensio in the blog Animal de Ruta [1]. In this post he proposes that Nahuelito is the result of natural gas and oil seeping out of faults that lie below Lake Nahuel Huapi's bed. It is an excellent theory and it adds yet another natural cause to all the other ones that can explain the Nahuelito myth in a rational manner.

Oil and Gas

By a creek now known as Las Minas which was known as Pichi Ñireco, there is a natural seepage of oil. It is located about 25 km ( 15.5 mi.) south east of the city of San Carlos de Bariloche, within a private property (La Lucha) close to the Nahuel Huapi National Park (see red circle in map above).

This natural well was discovered ca. 1890-1900 and it was explored between 1916 and 1922 by the Compañia Minera Chileno-Argentina who drilled four wells here. Later in the 1930s, YPF sank two more wells. It was followed by La Celina (later named Isaura) in the 1940s and, between 1982 and 1984 it was surveyed by Pluspetrol and Exxon but they did not attempt to exploit the oil because it is not "mature" for use as fuel.

Recently, in 1997, Emerald Energy showed some interest in the Ñirihuau basin but did not do anything in the field.

In 2008 a permit was granted to the joint venture by YPF-Pluspetrol to explore transport and sell oil from the Ñirihuau basin. But oil still seeps out and natural gas bubbles out of it. The oil is bituminous, a heavy crude with low density that looks like tar insoluble in water. [2][3]

The provincial Wate Department did some primary containment works with poor results during 2008 trying to reduce the pollution.

The Faults

Lake Nahuel Huapi occupies a depression formed by several tectonic faults that was later deepened by the glaciers during the Ice Ages. We will point out the two main faults: Otto Fault, which separates the Ventana and Ñirihuau formations, which are both part of the Nahuel Huapi Group. These are Tertiary rock formations. The Otto Fault crosses Challhuaco stream, Mount Otto, Campanario Fjord, San Pedro Peninsula (in blue in the map above) and along the Lake's western side to its northern tip.[4]

Catedral Fault is similar in extent and trajectory going from the Pichileufu River by Mount Millaqueo, Rincon Fjord along the western shore of the lake. Shown in red in the map. It is not as straight as the Otto Fault.

There are other lesser faults marked in black in the map.

Faults, oil and Nahuelito

Asensio [1] suggests that most of the shipwrecks on the lake have happened in the area between Victoria Island ("4" on the map) and Peninsula San Pedro (“5”), this area is marked "3" on the map. Asensio mentions some ships that have sunk here such as the “Wapi” in 1989, the “Entre Ríos” in 1993 and the “Therapia” in 2006 [5] and says that they may have been caused by gass that vents through the fault.

As gas is constantly escaping from the seepage by Minas Creek, this shwos that the oil field has plenty of gas. The fault under the lake is very deformed and this traps and retains the gas that is released from the oil increasing its pressure till it reaches a point where it can break free and escape by degassing.

This means that it has to overcome the pressure of several hundred feet of water column and the lake bed sediments.

The released gas will appear as bubbles on the surface of the lake and will also have some hydrocarbons. This could cause ships to sink if they happened to sail across a surging plume of bubbles.

The reason for this is that water would become less dense due to the bubbles and the ship would ride deeper and deeper in the water to keep afloat in a medium with lower density (Archiemedes Principle), sinking.

There have been dozens of shipwrecks on the lake and most are due to the terrible storms that rage with great violence. For instance the "Helvecia” in 1907 [6] , a steel ship 17 m long (55 ft.) sank during a storm after "a gigantic mass of water sank it ". Personally I have sailed on the lake with my father while fishing by trolling, and the crossing from Victoria Island to San Pedro as well as the northern sheer rocky face of the Peninsula are exposed to the waves pushed by the strong western winds. The area where the Blest and Tristeza fjords meet the lake's main body is known as the "Cockatil Shaker" due to the strong waves that clash there.

Nevertheless, it is quite possible that a sudden mass of surging gas could sink a ship.

Is Monstrous Nahuelito only gas?

More interesting than capsizing ships is the fact that a sudden irruption of bubbles can make the lake's surface move in an unexpected manner and the casual onlooker would believe that it was caused by some strange animal. Furthermore the "oil slick" with the oil that surged with the gas would alter the lake's color and induce people to believe that they were seeing the dark back of an aquatic being.

Due to the length of these faults they could easily explain sightings that occurred at Campanario Fjord ("2" on the map) or in front of Bariloche city where two faults meet. Also at Huemul Fjord ("1" on the map).

Sightings such as the Strange blotch or the ones mentioned in my post on Nahuelito (including the video at Campanario), can be explained by bubbles causing froth in the lake.

Part 2 of Nahuelito Bubbles and Gas

Sources

[1] Marcos Asensio, (2010). La leyenda del Nahuelito. 14.08.2010.

[2] Petrol News. (2009). Ñirihuau hoy: contención a medias de manaderos de petróleo. 19.10.2009.
[3] Bernardo, L. M., Zamora, G., Folguera, A. y Zapata, T., (2009). Nuevo Modelo Exploratorio y Definición de los Sistemas Petroleros de la Cuenca del Ñirihuau, Cordillera Patagónica, Argentina
[4] Quiroga J., Rolando Granada J., Formulación del Informe Ambiental del Centro Atómico Bariloche
[5] Clarín. 27.10.2006.
[6] Histarmar. La primera tragedia naval del Nahuel Huapi

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Monstruos de la Patagonia - Criptozoologia, Mitos & leyendas de la Patagonia

2010 Año Internacional de la Diversidad Biológica Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Peccaries

 

Mapa showing current distribution of the peccary in America and its probable former distribution in Patagonia. Copyright © 2010 by Austin Whittall

Peccaries (Tayassuidae) are very similar to the Old World pigs (Suidae). They came to North America from Asia and then spread into South America some 3 Million years ago when north and south America joined.

It is an extremely adaptable animal and the fossil remains of a peccary have been found in the Great Lakes region of North America, the Platygonus compressus, which fed in the grasslands "near the edge of the glacier", that is, in a very cold and harsh climate. It also lived in South American during the Pleistocene. This Platygonus was the largest of all peccaries and had the size of an European wild boar. [1]

Patagonian Peccaries

¿Could it have lived in Patagonia at the end of the Last Ice Age?

Intriguingly, a source,[2] states that "Catagonus is a genera related to the Platygonus [...] which during the sixties has been found alive in Patagonia" . This is surprising since I have not found any records or references about it. Furthermore there are no peccaries in Patagonia nowadays.

Regarding the Catagonus (Catagonus wagneri) it was believed extinct until it was rediscovered in Paraguay in 1972. It is currently restricted to the dry Chaco region in Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. [3] It is the largest surviving member of the peccary family and can weigh up to 35 kg (70 lb) and measure over 1 m (3.3 ft.) long. In its curent arid habitat it eats cacti.

No peccaries are found beyond this area. Well to the north of Patagonia. Nevertheless we have some clues that lead us to believe that they did inhabit Patagonia in relatively recent times. Lets see the proof:

• The northern Tehuelche lived in the area between the rivers Chico and Chubut in the south to the Negro River in the north, and outside of Patagonia they could be found in La Pampa and the province of Buenos Aires, They had a word in their language to name the peccary: Olasiq. This word does not seem to have been taken from any other language and has no equivalent in Spanish or Mapuche it must therefore refer to a native "pig". It could also refer to wild or feral Old World pigs.[4]
• In 1876, Francisco Moreno mentioned the "pachyderms" in the forests close to Lake Nahuel Huapi which he did not see, but based on the native's description thought they could be "forest pigs" or peccaries.[10]
• In that same area, in 1862 Chilean explorer Guillermo Cox said he had noticed wild pigs on the shores of Limay River. [11]
• The native path used by Tehuelches and Mapuches that joined Valcheta with the Negro River at Carmen de Patagones through San Antonio Oeste, was known as the "Pigs Road" ("Camino del Chancho").[6]

This seems to indicate the presence of peccaries, at least in northern Patagoina. I show this in the map (above) where in yellow I mark the current range of all peccary species and in green, only for Argentina, their probable distribution in until the ninetheenth century.

It is possible that they had extended their range into southern Patagonia because we have reports on pigs there:

Captain FitzRoy, commander of the HMS Beagle sailed along this region between 1826 y 1833, and recorded that the natives:

were much frightened by sheep and pigs. They would not land on a small island where some pigs were turned loose, and when talking of them, made signs that they had very big noses which alarmed them. When a pig was killed by the crew and part of it cooked, the natives refused even to taste the meat.[12]

Also at the straits of Magellan, in 1593 Sir Richard Hawkins reported something very similar to the pig-like tapir: “Hogs […] here we saw certaine Hogs, but they were so farre from us, that we could not discerne wether they were of those of the Countrey, or brought by the Spaniards”.[13]

Ned Chace, an american who lived in Patagonia between 18981 and 1930, also wrote about giant pigs in southern Patagonia (beyond 48°S):

A friend of his had followed a track [...] until he caught sight of what he took for a hairy pig as big as a bull. Just a glimpse he had. [14]

Taboo

According to the jesuit father Strobel, in 1740 there was a taboo among the northern Tehuelches and the Pampas or Puelches:

They do not eat pork and asking one why, he answered that those animals had been at one time bad men that then became pigs. [7]

This is similar to a legend compiled by folklorist Bertha Koessler Ilg, which mentions the creation of pigs as a punishment for some men and additionally that for this reason their meat could not be eaten and that in summer: "your flesh will be harmfull because it is poisoned".[9] The Tehuelche myth in northern Patagonia is evidently of Mapuche origin (due to the Araucanization of the Tehuelche: the Mapuche progressively extended their influence eastwards towards the Pampas, and through war, trade and cattle rustling, absorbed and Araucanized the original Puelche inhabitants of Tehuelche blood during the eighteenth-and nineteenth-centuries).

But, in the deep south of Patagonia, the Aonikenk, towards the end of the nineteenth century, according to explorer Ramón Lista "Do not eat fish, nor pork. These two animals are considered disgusting, and show for them an insurmountable repugnance", which he believed was due to some taboo regarding their god Elal. [8] This aversion is very similar to the one mentioned by FitzRoy.

These myths may indicate a widespread animal similar to a pig within Patagonia.

We have found, besides the word Olasiq [4] mentioned above, another one, which according to Casamiquela, was used by the northern Tehuelche to name the peccary kúcha which he believed was due to the snorting sound it made.[6] I disagree with this interpretation. -It is clearly (see following image) that the word comes from the Mapuche language spoken at Chiloé (and apparently from Quechua too) who called the pig cuchi because it was the word used for dirt:

Cuchi word used for pig in Chiloé. Copyright © 2010 by Austin Whittall

According to Casamiquela [5] the Mapuche called the collared peccary "sañwé" (pronounced shañwé). But again I believe he is mistaken as this is not a native word, father Augusta's dictionary [12] has an entry for "swine: sanchu, sañ:we", and the same for pig (in Spanish "chancho") [12] which is without doubt the word from which the Mapuche one comes from (chancho - sanchu), as both have the same sound. The word is of Spanish origin.

Tapir or peccary?

Why would the natives have a taboo against eating pork? (We will not suggest silly ideas such as the Patagonian natives belonged to the lost tribes of Israel -amusing and interesting which I may look into later).[16]

It is a question for which we do not have an answer, but it is likely that Patagonia was home to a big animal (the giant pig seen by Chace's friend), one that provoked fear in the natives (as mentioned by FitzRoy), a monstrous pig or something similar.

It is likely that there were no peccaries in Chile (that is why I did not paint Chile green in my map above), and that they only came into contact with the Spanish pigs after the conquest.

But the northern and southern Tehuelches did know a local native animal resembling a pig. Maybe it was a peccary, or it could have been some other animal such as a tapir.

Bibliography.

[1] J. Alan Holman. (1995). Ancient life of the Great Lakes Basin: Precambrian to Pleistocene. University of Michigan Press. pp. 198
[2] Eudald Carbonell, (2005). Hominidos: Las primeras ocupaciones de los continentes. Editorial Ariel pp. 617
[3] Maffei, Leonardo, Cuellar, Rosa L. y Babegas, Jorge. Distribución del solitario (Catagonus wagneri) en Bolivia. Geographic distribution of Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri) in Bolivia. Ecología en Bolivia. [online]. ago. 2008, vol.43, no.2 , p.141-145.
[4] Mariano Martín Fernández El pecarí de collar. Chancho autóctono de La Pampa
[5] Casamiquela, R. (1968). Geonimia: obra mapa de La Pampa. Biblioteca Pampeana, pp. 25
[6] Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, Volúmenes 8-10 (1974), Sociedad Argentina de Antropología. pp. 114-115.
[7] Furlong Cardiff, Guillermo (1938): Entre los pampas de Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires: Talleres Gráficos San Pablo. pp. 97
[8] Lista, Ramón, (1998) Los Indios Tehuelches -Una Raza Que Desaparece. Ed. Confluencia. pp. 72
[9] Bertha Kössler-Ilg, Rolf Foerster, (2006). Cuenta el pueblo mapuche: Cuentos y fábulas. vol .iii. MN Editorial. pp 238
[10] Moreno F., (2007b). Exploración de la Patagonia Sur I-Por las cuencas del Chubut y el Santa Cruz: 1876. B. Aires: Continente pp. 73.
[11] Cox, G., (2006). Expedición de la Patagonia Norte: un viajero en el Nahuel Huapi: 1862-1863. B. Aires: Continente-Pax. pp. 194.
[12] FitzRoy, R., (1839). Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836… London: Henry Colburn.
v. ii. pp. 195 - 6.
[13] Purchas, S., [Comp], (1625). Haklvytvs posthumus or, Pvrchas… London: H. Fetherston. v. 4. pp. 1384.
[14] Le Moyne Barrett, R. y Barrett K., (1931). A Yankee in Patagonia, Edward Chace. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 29-30.
[15] Augusta, F., (1916). Diccionario Araucano - Español y Español - Araucano. Santiago. Impr. Univ. pp. 97 y 208.
[16] Bernardo Graiver, (1980). Argentina bíblica y biblónica: historia de la humanidad en la Argentina bíblica y biblónica. Editorial Albatros. Also see Enrique García Barthe (Online).

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©