Matuasto - the monstrous midget lizard

 

Matuasto (top left) from Tehuelche Rock Art. From [1]

The image above portrays a Matuasto (upper left) and a regular lizard (bottom right), it was drawn at the basaltic plateau by Lake Buenos Aires in northwestern Santa Cruz province, Argentina.[1]

The natives depicted their staple food (which they hunted on foot until the late 1600s, and then on horseback) such as guanaco (a South American camelid similar to llamas an vicuñas), and the South American rhea (an ostrich-like flightless bird). They also represented human steps and hand marks, and geometric shapes. But, why would they draw lizards? And not only one, but two varieties? What was so special about the Matuasto?

Midget monster, the Matuasto lizard

I had mentioned this lizard in a previous post (The Horse-Eating frog - Chile), but did not provide much information. Today we will go a bit deeper:

Matuastos (Diplolaemus darwinii) are found in Chile and Argentina, where it ranges from Patagonia in the south, through Cuyo (Mendoza, San Luis and San Juan provinces), Catamarca, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán provinces.

The word is of Quechua origin, a language not spoken in Patagonia but in Peru, Bolivia, and to a lesser extent, the norhtern reaches of Argentina. It was the language of the ancient Inca empire. Its meaning is "homeless" or "whose cave is not known". Which is quite reasonable, since lizards run around the ground, from here to there.

The interesting point is that it is widely feared. For instance, outside of Patagonia, in San Luis, it is regarded as poisonous and capable of giving a terrible bite; once it closes its jaws, it cannot be removed. It holds fast to its unfortunate prey.

Just for the record, it is NOT poisonous.

In San Juan and Mendoza (also outside of Patagonia) there is a myth about a woman Pericana who morphs into a giant matuasto and devours children.[6]
The main features of this small "monster" is its short tail and stout body, a big squat head and very powerful jaws.

What is even more surprising is that such a small animal (it grows to about 5 to 9 cm long - 2 to 5.6 in.) can stir such great fears!

Patagonian Matuastos

It was a widespread myth, and found in Patagonia, 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. [3]

The Tehuelche natives of eastern and southern Patagonia named it "k'amter", so this is what they must have told Musters that it was called.

Fernández, [4] records that the Mapuche natives took them for creatures possessed by "evil spirits" (snakes fell into the same category). The Mapuche word for it was "kirke", which simply meant: "lizard".

The Mapuche people at Neuquen province, describe it as a lizard with a stunted tail that is "aggressive and poisonous, that can jump, and once it has bitten it will not let go". [7]

The bringer of fire

The creature is also mentioned in a Tehuelche myth, as the one who invented the use of fire. The native group of Quilchamal, Tehuelche who speak Mapuche language (there was a process of Araucanization in northern Patagonia by which the Mapuche culture and language was adopted by the Tehuelche, even though they belonged to two distinct ethnic groups). This tribe lives in the province of Chubut, in Argentina.

One of the natives, Alberto Quilchamal recorded the legend, in which the Patagonian hare (mara) steals the flames from a matuasto (which Alberto calls kirke), he describes the lizard as "harmful and poisonous: 'they live from poison, the poison they have does not let them die'.", that is, they were immortal. Furthermore, to be able to kill them, they should be burnt (like European witches) or they will not die. [5]

The matuasto is therefore immortal, the inventor of fire, a poisonous, jumping strong jawed monster. Possessed by evil spirits and evil itself. The question is: Why? Why endow such a tiny lizard with such a repertoire of evil powers?

Perhaps not so tiny

I have seen the rock art at Cueva de las Manos (where I took the photograph shown in the horse-eating frogs post mentioned above), and these paintings were big. And by big I mean about 40 cm (3.3 ft long) and about the same width (look at the adult human hands stamped beside the images to get a sense of size). Those would be really big lizards. And also look at their clawed paws. Nasty indeed.

Could there have been some giant matuasto living in Patagonia in Paleo-Indian times?

For the time being I have not found any evidence or myths to support this notion, but who knows, maybe I will find something.

Sources

[1] Eduardo E. Berberián and María Ester Albeck, (2001), Historia argentina prehispánica. Ed. Brujas. vol. 1. pp. 856, Fig. 6, image 14. After Gradin (1993).
[2] Juan Wenceslao Gez and María Estela Gez de Gómez, (1939), Geografía de la provincia de San Luis. Ed. Peuser. vol. 2, pp. 96.
[3] 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.
[4] César A. Fernández, (1999). Cuentan los mapuches. Ed. Nuevo Siglo. pp. 14a
[5] Ana Fernandez Garay and Graciela Hernandez, (1999). Origen y uso del fuego
mito recogido entre los tehuelches araucanizados de la patagonia argentina, Amerindia, N°24, 1999.
[6] Marcos de Estrada, (1985), Leyendas y supersticiones sanjuaninas: contribución al estudio del folklore en la Provincia de San Juan. BPR , pp. 119.
[7] Gregorio Alvarez, (1981). El Tronco de Oro. Siringa Libros, pp. 295

---

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

---

Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

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