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The Loch Ness Monster (Scottish Gaelic Niseag) is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands and More Species Genetic Oddity's...
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Loch Ness Monster
Loch Ness Monster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| (Nessie, Niseag[1] (Scottish Gaelic), The LNM , "Nessiteras rhombopteryx") | |
|---|---|
| Creature | |
| Grouping | Cryptid |
| Sub grouping | Lake monster |
| Data | |
| First reported | 565 (retrospectively),[2] 1802 (chronologically)[3] |
| Country | Scotland |
| Region | Loch Ness |
| Habitat | Water |
The Loch Ness Monster (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag) is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next. Popular interest and belief in the animal has varied since it was brought to the world's attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with minimal and much-disputed photographic material and sonar readings.
The most common speculation among believers is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs.[4] The scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as a mix of hoaxes and wishful thinking.[5] Despite this, it remains one of the most famous examples of cryptozoology. The legendary monster has been affectionately referred to by the nickname Nessie[6] (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag)[1] since the 1950s.
Origins
The term "monster" was reportedly applied for the first time to the creature on 2 May 1933 by Alex Campbell, the water bailiff for Loch Ness and a part-time journalist, in a report in the Inverness Courier.[7][8][9] On 4 August 1933, the Courier published as a full news item the assertion of a London man, George Spicer, that a few weeks earlier while motoring around the Loch, he and his wife had seen "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life", trundling across the road toward the Loch carrying "an animal" in its mouth.[10] Other letters began appearing in the Courier, often anonymously, with claims of land or water sightings, either on the writer's part or on the parts of family, acquaintances or stories they remembered being told.[11] These stories soon reached the national (and later the international) press, which described a "monster fish", "sea serpent", or "dragon",[12] eventually settling on "Loch Ness Monster".[13] On 6 December 1933 the first purported photograph of the monster, taken by Hugh Gray, was published in the Daily Express,[14] and shortly after the creature received official notice when the Secretary of State for Scotland ordered the police to prevent any attacks on it.[15] In 1934, interest was further sparked by what is known as The Surgeon's Photograph. In the same year R. T. Gould published a book,[16] the first of many that describe the author's personal investigation and collected record of additional reports pre-dating 1933. Other authors have claimed that sightings of the monster go as far back as the 6th century.[citation needed]
History
Saint Columba (6th century)
The earliest report of a monster associated with the vicinity of Loch Ness appears in the Life of St. Columba by Adomnán, written in the 7th century.[17] According to Adomnán, writing about a century after the events he described, the Irish monk Saint Columba was staying in the land of the Picts with his companions when he came across the locals burying a man by the River Ness. They explained that the man had been swimming the river when he was attacked by a "water beast" that had mauled him and dragged him under. They tried to rescue him in a boat, but were able only to drag up his corpse. Hearing this, Columba stunned the Picts by sending his follower Luigne moccu Min to swim across the river. The beast came after him, but Columba made the sign of the cross and commanded: "Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once."[18] The beast immediately halted as if it had been "pulled back with ropes" and fled in terror, and both Columba's men and the pagan Picts praised God for the miracle.[18]
The oldest manuscript relating to this story was put online in 2012[19]. Believers in the Loch Ness Monster often point to this story, which notably takes place on the River Ness rather than the loch itself, as evidence for the creature's existence as early as the 6th century.[20] However, sceptics question the narrative's reliability, noting that water-beast stories were extremely common in medieval saints' Lives; as such, Adomnán's tale is likely a recycling of a common motif attached to a local landmark.[21] According to the sceptics, Adomnán's story may be independent of the modern Loch Ness Monster legend entirely, only becoming attached to it in retrospect by believers seeking to bolster their claims.[20] Additionally, in an article for Cryptozoology, A. C. Thomas notes that even if there were some truth to the story, it could be explained rationally as an encounter with a walrus or similar creature that had swum up the river.[20] R. Binns acknowledges that this account is the most serious of various alleged early sightings of the monster, but argues that all other claims of monster sightings prior to 1933 are highly dubious and do not prove that there was a tradition of the monster before this date.[8]
Spicers (1933)
Modern interest in the monster was sparked by a sighting on 22 July 1933, when George Spicer and his wife saw 'a most extraordinary form of animal' cross the road in front of their car.[10] They described the creature as having a large body (about 4 feet (1.2 m) high and 25 feet (7.6 m) long), and long, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the 10–12-foot (3–4 m) width of the road; the neck had a number of undulations in it. They saw no limbs, possibly because of a dip in the road obscuring the animal's lower portion.[22] It lurched across the road towards the loch 20 yards (20 m) away, leaving only a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake.[22]
In August 1933 a motorcyclist named Arthur Grant claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan on the north-eastern shore, at about 1 a.m. on a moonlit night. Grant claimed that he saw a small head attached to a long neck, and that the creature saw him and crossed the road back into the loch. A veterinary student, he described it as a hybrid between a seal and a plesiosaur. Grant said he dismounted and followed it to the loch, but only saw ripples.[16][23] However some believe this story was intended as a humorous explanation of a motorcycle accident.[24]
Sporadic land sightings continued until 1963, when film of the creature was shot in the loch from a distance of 4 Kilometers. Because of the distance it was shot at it has been described as poor quality.[25]
Chief Constable William Fraser (1938)
In 1938, Inverness Shire Chief Constable William Fraser penned a letter stating that it was beyond doubt the monster existed. His letter expressed concern regarding a hunting party that had arrived armed with a specially-made harpoon gun and were determined to catch the monster "dead or alive". He believed his power to protect the monster from the hunters was "very doubtful". The letter was released by the National Archives of Scotland on 27 April 2010.[26][27]
C. B. Farrel (1943)
In May 1943, C. B. Farrel of the Royal Observer Corps was supposedly distracted from his duties by a Nessie sighting. He claimed to have been about 250 yards (230 m) away from a large-eyed, 'finned' creature, which had a 20-to-30-foot (6 to 9 m) long body, and a neck that protruded about 4–5 feet (1.2–1.5 m) out of the water.[28]
Sonar contact (1954)
In December 1954 a strange sonar contact was made by the fishing boat Rival III. The vessel's crew observed sonar readings of a large object keeping pace with the boat at a depth of 480 feet (146 m). It was detected travelling for half a mile (800 m) in this manner, before contact was lost, but then found again later.[28] Many sonar attempts had been made previously, but most were either inconclusive or negative.
Photographs and films
Hugh Gray's Photograph (1933)
On 12 November 1933, Hugh Gray was walking along the loch after church when he spotted a substantial commotion in the water. A large creature rose up from the lake. Gray took several pictures of it, but only one of them showed up after they were developed. This image appeared to show a creature with a long tail and thick body at the surface of the loch. The image is blurred suggesting the animal was splashing. Four stumpy-looking objects on the bottom of the creature's body might possibly be a pair of appendages, such as flippers.[29] Although critics have claimed that the photograph is of a dog swimming towards the camera (possibly carrying a stick), researcher Roland Watson rejects this interpretation and suggests there is an eel-like head on the right side of the image.[30]
This picture is the first known image allegedly taken of the Loch Ness Monster.
"Surgeon's Photograph" (1934)
The "Surgeon's Photograph" purported to be the first photo of a "head and neck".[31] Dr. Wilson claimed he was looking at the loch when he saw the monster, so grabbed his camera and snapped five photos. After the film was developed, only two exposures were clear. The first photo (the more publicised one) shows what was claimed to be a small head and back. The second one, a blurry image, attracted little publicity because it was difficult to interpret what was depicted. The image was revealed as a fake in The Sunday Telegraph dated 7 December 1975.[32] Supposedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist, it was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934.[33] Wilson's refusal to have his name associated with the photograph led to it being called "Surgeon's Photograph".[34] The strangely small ripples on the photo fit the size and circular pattern of small ripples as opposed to large waves when photographed up close. Analysis of the original uncropped image fostered further doubt. In 1993, the makers of Discovery Communications's documentary Loch Ness Discovered analysed the uncropped image and found a white object was visible in every version of the photo, implying it was on the negative. It was believed to be the cause of the ripples, as if the object was being towed, though it could not be ruled out as a blemish in the negative. Additionally, one analysis of the full photograph revealed the object was quite small, only about 60 to 90 cm (2 to 3 ft) long.[35] However, analyses of the size of the photograph have been inconsistent.
In 1979 it was claimed to be a picture of an elephant (see below). Other sceptics in the 1980s argued the photo was that of an otter or a diving bird, but after Christian Spurling's confession most agree it was what Spurling claimed – a toy submarine with a sculpted head attached.[35] Details of how the photo was accomplished were published in the 1999 book, Nessie – the Surgeon's Photograph Exposed, that contains a facsimile of the 1975 article in The Sunday Telegraph.[36] Essentially, it was a toy submarine bought from F.W. Woolworths with a head and neck made of plastic wood, built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell, a big game hunter who had been publicly ridiculed in the Daily Mail, the newspaper that employed him. Spurling claimed that to get revenge, Marmaduke Wetherell committed the hoax, with the help of Chris Spurling (a sculpture specialist), his son Ian Marmaduke, who bought the material for the fake, and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent), who asked surgeon Robert Kenneth Wilson to offer the pictures to the Daily Mail.[37] The hoax story is disputed by Henry Bauer,[38] who claims this debunking is evidence of bias, and asks why the perpetrators did not reveal their plot earlier to embarrass the newspaper. He also claimed that plastic wood did not exist in 1934 (when actually it was a popular DIY and modelling material in the early 1930s[39]).
Tim Dinsdale also disputes the claim of this photograph as a hoax in his book Loch Ness Monster. He claims that he studied the photograph so often and from many different angles that he was able to discern objects that prove the photograph is not a hoax. He states "upon really close examination, there are certain rather obscure features in the picture which have a profound significance."[40] Two of the obscure features are: a solid object breaking the surface to the right of the neck, and to the left and behind the neck there is another mark of some sort, Dinsdale states.[41] After making this claim Dinsdale discusses that these objects are too hard to identify, but that just proves that they could be part of the monster. According to Dinsdale either the objects are part of a very subtle fake or genuinely part of the monster.[42] Another object that he points out to prove the photograph is not a fake is the vague smaller ripples that are behind the neck, which seem to have been caused after the neck broke the surface.[42] Dinsdale emphatically states that this is a part of the animal underwater behind the neck. His reasons suggest that it is possible that the photograph is not a fake.
Alastair Boyd, one of the researchers who uncovered the hoax, argues that the Loch Ness Monster is real, and that although the famous photo was hoaxed, that does not mean that all the photos, eyewitness reports, and footage of the monster were as well. He asserts that he too had a sighting and also argues that the hoaxed photo is not a good reason to dismiss eyewitness reports and other evidence.[43]
Taylor film (1938)
In 1938, G. E. Taylor, a South African tourist, filmed something in the loch for three minutes on 16 mm colour film, which was in the possession of Maurice Burton. Burton refused to show the film to Loch Ness investigators (such as Peter Costello or the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau). A single frame was published in his book The Elusive Monster; before he retired. Roy P. Mackal, a biologist and cryptozoologist, declared the frame was "positive evidence".[44] Later, it was shown also to the National Institute of Oceanography, now known as the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
Dinsdale film (1960)
In 1960, aeronautical engineer Tim Dinsdale filmed a hump crossing the water leaving a powerful wake.[45] Dinsdale allegedly spotted the animal on his last day hunting for it, and described the object as reddish with a blotch on its side. When he mounted his camera the object started to move and said that he shot 40 feet of film. JARIC declared that the object was "probably animate".[46] Others were sceptical, saying that the "hump" cannot be ruled out as being a boat,[47] and claimed that when the contrast is increased a man can be seen in a boat.[46]
In 1993 Discovery Communications made a documentary called Loch Ness Discovered that featured a digital enhancement of the Dinsdale film. A computer expert who enhanced the film noticed a shadow in the negative that was not very obvious in the positive. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what appeared to be the rear body of a creature underwater. He commented that "Before I saw the film, I thought the Loch Ness Monster was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I'm not so sure".[43] Some have countered this finding by saying that the angle of the film from the horizontal along with sun's angle on that day made shadows underwater unlikely.[48] Others pointed out that the darker water is undisturbed water that was only coincidentally shaped like body.[49] The same source also says that there might be a smaller object (hump or head) in front of the hump causing this.[49]
Holmes video (2007)
On 26 May 2007, Gordon Holmes, a 55-year-old lab technician, captured video of what he said was "this jet black thing, about 45 feet (14 m) long, moving fairly fast in the water." Adrian Shine, a marine biologist at the Loch Ness 2000 centre in Drumnadrochit, described the footage as among "the best footage [he has] ever seen."[50] BBC Scotland broadcast the video on 29 May 2007.[51] STV News' North Tonight aired the footage on 28 May 2007 and interviewed Holmes. In this feature, Adrian Shine of the Loch Ness Centre was also interviewed and suggested that the footage showed an otter, seal or water bird.[52]
Holmes's credibility has been doubted by an article on the Cryptomundo website,[53] which states that he has a history of reporting sightings of cryptozoological creatures, and sells a self-published book and DVD claiming evidence for fairies. His video also has no other objects for size comparison.[54] The Monster Quest team investigated this video as well in their TV episode "Death of Loch Ness", where they examine evidence that Nessie has died, as well as other photos. In this documentary, Holmes asserts he spotted two creatures. A CNN news report showed the footage and an interview with Gordon Holmes.
Joe Nickell has suggested that this footage shows one or more otters, swimming in the loch.
Sonar image (2011)
On 24 August 2011, Marcus Atkinson, a local Loch Ness boat skipper, photographed a sonar image of a long 5 ft wide unidentified object which was apparently following his boat for two minutes at a depth of 75 ft. Atkinson ruled out the possibility of any small fish or seal being what he believed to be the Loch Ness Monster. In April 2012, a scientist from the National Oceanography Centre said that this image is a bloom of algae and zooplankton.[55] However, Roland Watson, a cryptozoologist and Loch Ness Monster researcher, has criticized this analysis, stating that the object in the image is very unlikely to be a bloom of algae and zooplankton, since algae needs sunlight to grow, and the waters of Loch Ness are very dark, and nearly devoid of sunlight, 75 feet down. [56]
George Edwards' photograph (2012)
On 3 August 2012, skipper George Edwards published a photograph he claims to be "The most convincing Nessie photograph ever". Edwards' photograph consists in a hump out of the water which, according to him, remained so for five to ten minutes. The Daily Mail reports that Edward has had the photograph independently verified by specialists like a Loch Ness Monster sighting devotee and a group of US Military monster experts. Edwards spends 60 hours per week on the loch aboard his boat, Nessie Hunter IV, in which he takes tourists for a ride on the lake, and claims to have searched for the Loch Ness monster for 26 years.[57][58] Said Edwards, "In my opinion, it probably looks kind of like a manatee, but not a mammal. When people see three humps, they’re probably just seeing three separate monsters."[59]
Searches for the monster
Sir Edward Mountain Expedition (1934)
Having read the book by Gould,[16] Edward Mountain decided to finance a proper watch. Twenty men with binoculars and cameras positioned themselves around the Loch from 9 am to 6 pm, for five weeks starting 13 July 1934. They took 21 photographs, though none was considered conclusive. Captain James Fraser was employed as a supervisor, and remained by the Loch afterwards, taking cine film (which is now lost) on 15 September 1934.[60] When viewed by zoologists and professors of natural history it was concluded that it showed a seal, possibly a grey seal.[61]
Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (1962–1972)
The Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB) was a UK-based society formed in 1962 by Norman Collins, R. S. R. Fitter, David James, MP, Peter Scott and Constance Whyte[62] "to study Loch Ness to identify the creature known as the Loch Ness Monster or determine the causes of reports of it."[63] It later shortened the name to Loch Ness Investigation Bureau (LNIB). It closed in 1972. The society had an annual subscription charge, which covered administration. Its main activity was for groups of self-funded volunteers to watch the loch from various vantage points, equipped with cine cameras with telescopic lenses. From 1965 to 1972 it had a caravan camp and main watching platform at Achnahannet, and sent observers to other locations up and down the loch.[64] According to the 1969 Annual Report of the Bureau,[65] it had 1,030 members, of whom 588 were from the UK.
LNPIB sonar study (1967–1968)
Professor D. Gordon Tucker, chairman of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, England, volunteered his services as a sonar developer and expert at Loch Ness in 1968. The gesture was part of a larger effort helmed by the LNPIB from 1967 to 1968 and involved collaboration between volunteers and professionals in various fields. Tucker had chosen Loch Ness as the test site for a prototype sonar transducer with a maximum range of 800 m (2,600 ft). The device was fixed underwater at Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and directed towards the opposite shore, effectively drawing an acoustic 'net' across the width of Ness through which no moving object could pass undetected. During the two-week trial in August, multiple animate targets 6 m (20 ft) in length were identified ascending from and diving to the loch bottom. Analysis of diving profiles ruled out air-breathers because the targets never surfaced or moved shallower than midwater. A brief press release by LNPIB and associates touched on the sonar data and drew to a close the 1968 effort:[citation needed]
The answer to the question of whether or not unusual phenomena exist in Loch Ness, Scotland, and if so, what their nature might be, was advanced a step forward during 1968, as a result of sonar experiments conducted by a team of scientists under the direction of D. Gordon Tucker... Professor Tucker reported that his fixed beam sonar made contact with large moving objects sometimes reaching speeds of at least 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). He concluded that the objects are clearly animals and ruled out the possibility that they could be ordinary fish. He stated: "The high rate of ascent and descent makes it seem very unlikely that they could be fish, and fishery biologists we have consulted cannot suggest what fish they might be. It is a temptation to suppose they might be the fabulous Loch Ness monsters, now observed for the first time in their underwater activities!"
Andrew Carroll's sonar study (1969)
In 1969 Andrew Carroll, field researcher for the New York Aquarium in New York City, proposed a mobile sonar scan operation at Loch Ness. The project was funded by the Griffis foundation (named for Nixon Griffis, then a director of the aquarium). This was the tail-end (and most successful portion) of the LNPIB's 1969 effort involving submersibles with biopsy harpoons. The trawling scan, in Carroll's research launch Rangitea, took place in October. One sweep of the loch made contact with a strong, animate echo for nearly three minutes just north of Foyers. The identity of the contact remains a mystery. Later analysis determined that the intensity of the returning echo was twice as great as that expected from a 10-foot (3 m) pilot whale. On returning to the University of Chicago, biologist Roy Mackal and colleagues subjected the sonar data to greater scrutiny and confirmed dimensions of 20 feet (6 m).[citation needed]
Submersible investigations
Earlier submersible work had yielded dismal results. Under the sponsorship of World Book Encyclopedia, pilot Dan Taylor deployed the Viperfish at Loch Ness on 1 June 1969. His dives were plagued by technical problems and produced no new data. The Deep Star III built by General Dynamics and an unnamed two-man submersible built by Westinghouse were scheduled to sail but never did. It was only when the Pisces arrived at Ness that the LNPIB obtained new data. Owned by Vickers, Ltd., the submersible had been rented out to produce The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, a film featuring a dummy Loch Ness Monster. When the dummy monster broke loose from the Pisces during filming and sank to the bottom of the loch, Vickers executives capitalised on the loss and 'monster fever' by allowing the sub to do a bit of exploring. During one of these excursions, the Pisces picked up a large moving object on sonar 200 feet (60 m) ahead and 50 feet (15 m) above the bottom of the loch. Slowly the pilot closed to half that distance but the echo moved rapidly out of sonar range and disappeared.[citation needed]
"Big Expedition" of 1970
During the so-called "Big Expedition" of 1970, Roy Mackal, a biologist who taught for 20 years at the University of Chicago, devised a system of hydrophones (underwater microphones) and deployed them at intervals throughout the loch. In early August a hydrophone assembly was lowered into Urquhart Bay and anchored in 700 feet (210 m) of water. Two hydrophones were secured at depths of 300 and 600 feet (180 m). After two nights of recording, the tape (sealed inside a 44 gallon drum along with the system's other sensitive components) was retrieved and played before an excited LNPIB. "Bird-like chirps" had been recorded, and the intensity of the chirps on the deep hydrophone suggested they had been produced at greater depth. In October "knocks" and "clicks" were recorded by another hydrophone in Urquhart Bay, indicative of echolocation. These sounds were followed by a "turbulent swishing" suggestive of the tail locomotion of a large aquatic animal. The knocks, clicks and resultant swishing were believed were the sounds of an animal echo-locating prey before moving in for the kill. The noises stopped whenever craft passed along the surface of the loch near the hydrophone, and resumed once the craft reached a safe distance. In previous experiments, it was observed that call intensities were greatest at depths less than 100 feet (30 m). Members of the LNPIB decided to attempt communication with the animals producing the calls by playing back previously recorded calls into the water and listening via hydrophone for results, which varied greatly. At times the calling patterns or intensities changed, but sometimes there was no change at all. Mackal noted that there was no similarity between the recordings and the hundreds of known sounds produced by aquatic animals.[citation needed]
Robert Rines's studies (1972, 1975, 2001 and 2008)
In the early 1970s, a group of people led by Robert H. Rines obtained some underwater photographs. Two were rather vague images, perhaps of a rhomboid flipper (though others have dismissed the image as air bubbles or a fish fin). The alleged flipper was photographed in different positions, indicating movement.[66] On the basis of these photographs, British naturalist Peter Scott announced in 1975 that the scientific name of the monster would henceforth be Nessiteras rhombopteryx (Greek for "The Ness monster with diamond-shaped fin").[67] Scott intended that this would enable Nessie to be added to a British register of officially protected wildlife. Scottish politician Nicholas Fairbairn pointed out that the name was an anagram for "Monster hoax by Sir Peter S".[68][69]
The underwater photos were reportedly obtained by painstakingly examining the loch depths with sonar for unusual underwater activity. Rines knew the water was murky and filled with floating wood and peat, so he took precautions to avoid it. A submersible camera with an affixed, high-powered flood light was deployed to record images below the surface. If he detected anything on the sonar, he would turn the lights on and take some pictures. Several of the photographs, despite their obviously murky quality, did indeed seem to show an animal resembling a plesiosaur in various positions and lightings. One photograph appeared to show the head, neck and upper torso of a plesiosaur-like animal.[70] After two distinct sonar contacts were made, the strobe light camera photographed two large lumps in the water, suggesting there to be two large animals living in the loch. Another photo seemed to depict a horned "gargoyle head", consistent to that of several sightings of the monster.[71] Sceptics point out that several years later, a log was filmed underwater which bore a striking resemblance to the gargoyle head.[who?]
A few close-ups of what would be the creature's diamond-shaped fin were taken in different positions, as though the creature was moving, but the "flipper photograph" has been highly retouched from the original image. The Museum of Hoaxes shows the original unenhanced photo. Team member Charles Wyckoff claimed that someone retouched the photo to superimpose the flipper, and that the original enhancement showed a much smaller flipper. No one is sure how the original came to be altered.[72]
On 8 August 1972, Rines' Raytheon DE-725C sonar unit, operating at a frequency of 200 kHz and anchored at a depth of 35 feet (11 m), identified a moving target (or targets) estimated by echo strength to be 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) in length. Specialists from Raytheon, Simrad (now Kongsberg Maritime), and Hydroacoustics, Inc.; Marty Klein of MIT and Klein Associates (a producer of side scan sonar); and Dr. Ira Dyer of MIT's Department of Ocean Engineering were all on hand to examine the data. Further, P. Skitzki of Raytheon suggested that the data showed a protuberance, 10 feet (3 m) in length, projecting from one of the echoes. Mackal proposed that the shape was a "highly flexible laterally flattened tail" or the misinterpreted return from two animals swimming together.[73]
In 2001, the Robert Rines' Academy of Applied Science videoed a powerful V-shaped wake traversing the still water on a calm day. The AAS also videotaped an object on the floor of the loch resembling a carcass, found marine clam-shells and a fungus-like organism not normally found in fresh water lochs, which they suggest gives some connection to the sea and a possible entry for Nessie.[74]
In 2008, Rines theorised that the monster may have become extinct, citing the lack of significant sonar readings and a decline in eyewitness accounts. Rines undertook one last expedition to look for remains of the monster, using sonar and underwater camera in an attempt to find a carcass. Rines believed that the animals may have failed to adapt to temperature changes as a result of global warming.[75]
Operation Deepscan (1987)
In 1987, Operation Deepscan took place. Twenty-four boats equipped with echosounder equipment were deployed across the whole width of the loch and they simultaneously sent out acoustic waves. BBC News reported that the scientists had made sonar contact with a large unidentified object of unusual size and strength. The researchers decided to return to the same spot and re-scan the area. After analysing the echosounder images, it seemed to point to debris at the bottom of the loch, although three of the pictures were of moving debris. Shine speculates that they could be seals that got into the loch, since they would be of about the same magnitude as the objects detected.[76]
Darrell Lowrance, sonar expert and founder of Lowrance Electronics, donated a number of echosounder units used during Operation Deepscan. After examining the echogram data, specifically a sonar return revealing a large moving object near Urquhart Bay at a depth of 600 feet (180 m), Lowrance said: "There's something here that we don't understand, and there's something here that's larger than a fish, maybe some species that hasn't been detected before. I don't know."[77]
Discovery Loch Ness (1993)
In 1993 Discovery Communications began to research the ecology of the loch. The study did not focus entirely on the monster, but on the loch's nematodes (of which a new species was discovered) and fish. Expecting to find a small fish population, the researchers caught twenty fish in one catch, increasing previous estimates of the loch's fish population about ninefold.
Using sonar, the team encountered a kind of underwater disturbance (called a seiche) due to stored energy (such as from a wind) causing an imbalance between the loch's warmer and colder layers (known as the thermocline). While reviewing printouts of the event the next day, they found what appeared to be three sonar contacts, each followed by a powerful wake. These events were later shown on a program called Loch Ness Discovered, in conjunction with analyses and enhancements of the 1960 Dinsdale Film, the Surgeon's Photo, and the Rines Flipper Photo.[citation needed]
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster BBC (2003)
In 2003, the BBC sponsored a full search of the Loch using 600 separate sonar beams and satellite tracking. The search had enough resolution to pick up a small buoy. No animal of any substantial size was found whatsoever and despite high hopes, the scientists involved in the expedition admitted that this essentially proved the Loch Ness monster was only a myth.[78]
Explanations
A variety of explanations have been postulated over the years to account for sightings of the Loch Ness Monster. These may be categorised as: misidentifications of common animals; misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects; reinterpretations of traditional Scottish folklore; hoaxes; and exotic species of large animals.
Misidentification of common animals
Bird wakes
There are wake sightings that occur when the loch is dead calm with no boat nearby. A bartender named David Munro claims to have witnessed a wake he believed was a creature zigzagging, diving, and reappearing. (There were 26 other witnesses from a nearby car park.)[72] Some sightings describe the onset of a V-shaped wake, as if there were something underwater.[74] Moreover, many wake sightings describe something not conforming to the shape of a boat.[43] Under dead calm conditions, a creature too small to be visible to the naked eye can leave a clear v-shaped wake. In particular, a group of swimming birds can give a wake and the appearance of an object. A group of birds can leave the water and then land again, giving a sequence of wakes like an object breaking the surface, which Dick Raynor says is a possible explanation for his film.[79]
Eels
A giant eel was one of the first suggestions made.[15] Eels are found in Loch Ness, and an unusually large eel would fit many sightings. This has been described as a conservative explanation.[80] Eels are not known to protrude swanlike from the water and thus would not account for the head and neck sightings.[81][82] Dinsdale dismissed the proposal because eels move in a side-to-side undulation.[83]
On 2 May 2001, two conger eels were found on the shore of the loch; as conger eels are saltwater animals and Loch Ness is freshwater, it is believed that they were put there to be seen as "Mini-Nessies".[84]
Elephant
In a 1979 article, California biologist Dennis Power and geographer Donald Johnson claimed that the Surgeon's Photograph was in fact the top of the head, extended trunk and flared nostrils of a swimming elephant, probably photographed elsewhere and claimed to be from Loch Ness.[85] In 2006, palaeontologist and artist Neil Clark similarly suggested that travelling circuses might have allowed elephants to refresh themselves in the loch and that the trunk could therefore be the head and neck, with the elephant's head and back providing the humps. In support of this he provided a painting.[86]
Resident animals
When viewed through a telescope or binoculars with no outside reference, it is difficult to judge the size of an object in the water. Loch Ness has resident otters and pictures of them are given by Binns,[87] which could be misinterpreted. Likewise he gives pictures of deer swimming in Loch Ness, and birds that could be taken as a "head and neck" sighting.[88]
Seals
A number of photographs and a video have confirmed the presence of seals in the loch, for up to months at a time.[89][90] In 1934 the Sir Edward Mountain expedition analysed film taken the same year and concluded that the monster was a species of seal, which was reported in a national newspaper as "Loch Ness Riddle Solved – Official".[91] A long-necked seal was advocated by Peter Costello for Nessie and for other reputed lake-monsters.[92] R.T. Gould wrote "A grey seal has a long and surprisingly extensible neck; it swims with a paddling action; its colour fits the bill; and there is nothing surprising in its being seen on the shore of the loch, or crossing a road."[16] This explanation would cover sightings of lake-monsters on land, during which the creature supposedly waddled into the loch upon being startled, in the manner of seals.[92] Seals could also account for sonar traces that act as animate objects. Against this, it has been argued that all known species of pinnipeds are usually visible on land during daylight hours to sunbathe,[93] something that Nessie is not known to do. However seals have been observed and photographed in Loch Ness and the sightings are sufficiently infrequent to allow for occasional visiting animals rather than a permanent colony.
Misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects
Trees
In 1933 the Daily Mirror showed a picture with the following caption 'This queerly-shaped tree-trunk, washed ashore at Foyers may, it is thought, be responsible for the reported appearance of a "Monster"'.[94] (Foyers is on Loch Ness.)
In a 1982 series of articles for New Scientist, Dr Maurice Burton proposed that sightings of Nessie and similar creatures could actually be fermenting logs of Scots pine rising to the surface of the loch's cold waters. Initially, a rotting log could not release gases caused by decay, because of high levels of resin sealing in the gas. Eventually, the gas pressure would rupture a resin seal at one end of the log, propelling it through the water—and sometimes to the surface. Burton claimed that the shape of tree logs with their attendant branch stumps closely resemble various descriptions of the monster.[95][96][97]
Four Scottish lochs are very deep, including Morar, Ness and Lomond. Only the lochs with pinewoods on their shores have monster legends; Loch Lomond—with no pinewoods—does not. Gaseous emissions and surfactants resulting from the decay of the logs can cause the foamy wake reported in some sightings. Indeed, beached pine logs showing evidence of deep-water fermentation have been found. On the other hand, there are believers who assert that some lakes do have reports of monsters, despite an absence of pinewoods; a notable example would be the Irish lough monsters.[98]
Seiches and wakes
Loch Ness, because of its long, straight shape, is subject to some unusual ripples affecting its surface. A seiche is a large, regular oscillation of a lake, caused by a water reverting to its natural level after being blown to one end of the lake. The impetus from this reversion continues to the lake's windward end and then reverts back. In Loch Ness, the process occurs every 31.5 minutes.[99]
Boat wakes can also produce strange effects in the loch. As a wake spreads and divides from a boat passing the centre of the loch, it hits both sides almost simultaneously and deflects back to meet again in the middle. The movements interact to produce standing waves that are much larger than the original wake, and can have a humped appearance. By the time this occurs, the boat has passed and the unusual waves are all that can be seen.[100][101]
Optical effects
Wind conditions can give a slightly choppy and thus matte appearance to the water, with occasional calm patches appearing as dark ovals (reflecting the mountains) from the shore, which can appear as humps to visitors unfamiliar with the loch. In 1979, Lehn showed that atmospheric refraction could distort the shape and size of objects and animals,[102] and later showed a photograph of a rock mirage on Lake Winnipeg that looked like a head and neck.[103]
Seismic gas
The Italian geologist Luigi Piccardi has proposed geological explanations for some ancient legends and myths. He pointed out that in the earliest recorded sighting of a creature, the Life of St. Columba, the creature's emergence was accompanied "cum ingenti fremitu" (with very loud roaring). The Loch Ness is located along the Great Glen Fault, and this could be a description of an earthquake. Furthermore, in many sightings, the report consists of nothing more than a large disturbance on the surface of the water. This could be caused by a release of gas from through the fault, although it could easily be mistaken for a large animal swimming just below the surface.[104]
Binns concludes that it would be unwise to put forward a single explanation of the monster, and probably a wide range of natural phenomena have been mistaken for the monster at times: otters, swimming deer, unusual waves. However, he adds that this also touches on some issues of human psychology, and the ability of the eye to see what it wants to see.[8]
Folklore
According to the Swedish naturalist and author Bengt Sjögren (1980), present day beliefs in lake monsters such as the Loch Ness Monster are associated with the old legends of kelpies. He claims that the accounts of loch monsters have changed over the ages, originally describing creatures with a horse-like appearance; they claimed that the "kelpie" would come out of the lake and turn into a horse. When a tired traveller would get on the back of the kelpie, it would gallop into the loch and devour its prey. This myth successfully kept children away from the loch, as was its purpose. Sjögren concludes that the kelpie legends have developed into current descriptions of lake-monsters, reflecting modern awareness of plesiosaurs. In other words, the kelpie of folklore has been transformed into a more realistic and contemporary notion of the creature. Believers counter that long-dead witnesses could only compare the creature to that with which they were familiar, and they were not familiar with plesiosaurs.[105]
Specific mention of the kelpie as a water horse in Loch Ness was given in a Scottish newspaper in 1879,[106] and was commemorated in the title of a book Project Water Horse by Tim Dinsdale.[107]
A study of the Highland folklore literature prior to 1933 with specific references to Kelpies, Water Horses and Water Bulls suggested that Loch Ness was the most mentioned loch by a large margin.[108]
Hoaxes
The Loch Ness monster phenomenon has seen several attempts to hoax the public, some of which were very successful. Other hoaxes were revealed rather quickly by the perpetrators, or exposed after diligent research. A few examples are mentioned below.
In August 1933, Italian journalist Francesco Gasparini submitted what he claims was the first news article on the Loch Ness monster. In 1959, he confessed to taking a sighting of a "strange fish" and expanding on it by fabricating eye witness accounts. "I had the inspiration to get hold of the item about the strange fish. The idea of the monster had never dawned on me, but then I noted that the strange fish would not yield a long article, and I decided to promote the imaginary being to the rank of monster without further ado."[109]
In the 1930s, a big game hunter named Marmaduke Wetherell went to Loch Ness to look for the Loch Ness Monster. He claimed to have found some footprints but when the footprints were sent to scientists for analysis, they turned out to be hippopotamus footprints. A prankster had used a hippopotamus foot umbrella stand to make the footprints.[110]
In 1972 a team of zoologists from Yorkshire's Flamingo Park Zoo had gone out in search of the legendary monster and soon discovered a large body floating in the water. The corpse, was 16–18 feet long and weighed up to 1.5 tonnes, described by the Press Association as having "a bear's head and a brown scaly body with clawlike fins." The creature was put in a van to be taken away for testing, whereupon police chased them down and took the cadaver under an act of parliament which prohibits the removal of "unidentified creatures" from Loch Ness. But it was later revealed that Flamingo Park's education officer John Shields had shaved the whiskers and otherwise disfigured a bull elephant seal which had died the week before, and dumped it in Loch Ness to dupe his colleagues.[111]
On 2 July 2003, Gerald McSorely found a fossil supposedly belonging to Nessie when he tripped and fell into the loch. After examination, it became clear that the fossil was not from Loch Ness and had been planted there.[84]
In 2004, a documentary team for television channel Five, using special effects experts from movies, tried to make people believe there was something in the loch. They constructed an animatronic model of a plesiosaur, and dubbed it "Lucy". Despite setbacks, such as Lucy falling to the bottom of the loch, about 600 sightings were reported in the places they conducted the hoaxes.[112][113]
In 2005, two students claimed to have found a huge tooth embedded in the body of a deer on the loch shore. They publicised the find widely, even setting up a website, but expert analysis soon revealed that the "tooth" was the antler of a muntjac.[114] The Loch Ness tooth was a publicity stunt to promote a horror novel by Steve Alten titled The Loch.[84]
In 2007, a video purported to show Nessie jumping high into the air showed up on YouTube. This was revealed by the online amateur sceptic's community eSkeptic to be a viral ad promoting the then-upcoming Sony Pictures film The Water Horse.[115] The release of the film confirmed the eSkeptic analysis: the viral video comprises footage from The Water Horse.
Exotic species of large animals
Plesiosaur
In 1933 the suggestion was made that the monster "bears a striking resemblance to the supposedly extinct plesiosaur",[116] a long-necked aquatic reptile that went extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. At the time this was a popular explanation. The following arguments have been put against it:
- Plesiosaurs were probably cold-blooded reptiles requiring warm tropical waters, while the average temperature of Loch Ness is only about 5.5 °C (42 °F).[117] Even if the plesiosaurs were warm-blooded, they would require a food supply beyond that of Loch Ness to maintain the level of activity necessary for warm-blooded animals.[118]
- In October 2006, the New Scientist headlined an article "Why the Loch Ness Monster is no plesiosaur" because Leslie Noè of the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge reported, "The osteology of the neck makes it absolutely certain that the plesiosaur could not lift its head up swan-like out of the water".[119]
- The loch is only about 10,000 years old, dating to the end of the last ice age. Prior to that date, the loch was frozen solid for about 20,000 years.[120]
- If creatures similar to plesiosaurs lived in the waters of the Loch Ness, they would be seen very frequently as they would have to surface several times a day to breathe.[76]
In response to these criticisms, proponents such as Tim Dinsdale, Peter Scott and Roy Mackal postulate a trapped marine creature that evolved either from a plesiosaur or to the shape of a plesiosaur by convergent evolution.[121] Robert Rines also explained that the "horns" described in some sightings may be breathing tubes or nostrils that allow the animal to breathe without breaking the surface.
Amphibian
R. T. Gould suggested something like a long-necked newt[16][122] and Roy Mackal discussed this possibility, giving it the highest score (88%) in his list of possible candidates.[123]
Invertebrate
In 1968 Frank Holiday proposed that Nessie and other lake-monsters such as Morag could be explained by a giant invertebrate such as a bristleworm, and cited the extinct Tullimonstrum as an example of the shape.[124] He says this provides an explanation for land sightings and for the variable back shape, and relates it to the medieval description of dragons as "worms". Mackal considered this, but found it less convincing than eel, amphibian or plesiosaur types of animal.[125]
Pinniped
In the 1930s, the Dutch zoologist Antoon Cornelis Oudemans first proposed that the Loch Ness Monster could possibly be an unknown form of long-necked Pinniped (semi-aquatic mammals including seals). In 1892, Oudemans had come to the conclusion that several sightings of Sea serpents were probably huge, plesiosaur-like pinnipeds. He came up with a hypothetical new species of long-necked pinniped, to which he gave the scientific name of Megophias megophias. He theorized that the Loch Ness cryptid was simply a freshwater version of his own Megophias megophias. In 2003, cryptozoologists Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe discussed the pinniped hypothesis, and found it to be the most likely candidate, for the Loch Ness Monster.[126]
Popular culture
See also
- Bear Lake Monster
- Bunyip
- Champ (cryptozoology)
- Chessie (sea monster)
- Gaasyendietha
- Jiaolong
- Lake monster
- Lake Tianchi Monster
- Lake Van Monster
- List of reported lake monsters
- Leviathan
- Manipogo
- Memphre
- Mokele-mbembe
- Morag
- Nahuel Huapi Lake Monster
- Ogopogo
- Prince Nathan
- Sea monster
- Stronsay Beast
- Wani (dragon)
- Water Horse
References and notes
- ^ a b Campbell, Elizabeth Montgomery & David Solomon, The Search for Morag (Tom Stacey 1972) ISBN 0-85468-093-4, page 28 gives an-t-Seileag, an-Niseag, a-Mhorag for the monsters of Lochs Shiel, Ness and Morag, adding that they are feminine diminutives
- ^ The date is inferred from the oldest written source reporting a monster near Loch Ness, the Life of St. Columba (chapter 28).
- ^ Delrio, Martin (2002). The Loch Ness Monster. New York City: Rosen Publishing Group. p. 48. ISBN 0-8239-3564-7.
- ^ A. G. Harmsworth (2009). Loch-ness.org says the Plesiosaur theory is "Without doubt (the) most popular candidate among monster believers and the press"..
- ^ Robert Todd Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions pages 200–201 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003). ISBN 0-471-27242-6
- ^ A familiar form of the girl's name Agnes, relatively common in Scotland, e.g. the Daily Mirror 4 August 1932 reports the wedding of "Miss Nessie Clark, a Banffshire schoolteacher"
- ^ The Sun 27 November 1975: I'm the man who first coined the word "monster" for the creature.
- ^ a b c R. Binns The Loch Ness Mystery Solved pp 11–12
- ^ Inverness Courier 2 May 1933 "Loch Ness has for generations been credited with being the home of a fearsome-looking monster"
- ^ a b "Is this the Loch Ness monster?". Inverness Courier. 4 August 1933.
- ^ R. Binns The Loch Ness Mystery Solved pp 19–27
- ^ Daily Mirror, 11 August 1933 "Loch Ness, which is becoming famous as the supposed abode of a dragon..."
- ^ The Oxford English Dictionary gives 9 June 1933 as the first usage of the exact phrase Loch Ness monster
- ^ R. P. Mackal (1983) "The Monsters of Loch Ness" p.94
- ^ a b Daily Mirror 8 December 1933 "The Monster of Loch Ness – Official! Orders That Nobody is to Attack it" ... A Huge Eel?"
- ^ a b c d e Gould, Rupert T. (1934). The Loch Ness Monster and Others. London: Geoffrey Bles.
- ^ J. A Carruth Loch Ness and its Monster, (1950) Abbey Press, Fort Augustus, cited by Tim Dinsdale (1961) Loch Ness Monster ppp 33–35
- ^ a b Adomnán, p. 176 (II:27).
- ^ Watson, Roland. "The World's Oldest Loch Ness Monster Document". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ a b c Adomnán p. 330.
- ^ R. Binns The Loch Ness Mystery Solved, pp. 52–57
- ^ a b T. Dinsdale (1961) Loch Ness Monster page 42.
- ^ Tim Dinsdale Loch Ness Monster pp 44–5
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- ^ [1] Book review by Douglas Chapman.
- ^ Daily Mail 21 April 1934
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- ^ Dinsdale, Tim (1976). Loch Ness Monster. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 56. ISBN 0-7100-8395-5.
- ^ Dinsdale, Tim (1976). Loch Ness Monster. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 56–57. ISBN 0-7100-8395-5.
- ^ a b Dinsdale, Tim (1976). Loch Ness Monster. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 57. ISBN 0-7100-8395-5.
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- ^ http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/scottish-sailor-claims-best-picture-yet-loch-ness-100057921--abc-news-topstories.html
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- ^ The Times 5 October 1934, page 12 Loch Ness "Monster" Film
- ^ Henry H. Bauer, The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery, page 163 (University of Illinois Press, 1986). ISBN 0-252-01284-4
- ^ Rick Emmer, Loch Ness Monster: Fact or Fiction?, page 35 (Infobase Publishing, 2010). ISBN 978-0-7910-9779-3
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- ^ "London, 18 Dec (Reuters) – A Scottish member of Parliament has discovered an anagram for Nessiteras rhombopteryx... Nicholas Fairbairn, the MP, announced the anagram in a letter to The Times: 'Monster hoax by Sir Peter S.' ("Loch Ness Monster Shown a Hoax by Another Name." New York Times 19 December 1975. p. 78.)
- ^ The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/monster2.jpg.
- ^ http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/rines1975a.jpg
- ^ a b Loch Ness Monster: Search for the Truth, 2001
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- ^ Roy P. Mackal (1976) The Monsters of Loch Ness, page 138
- ^ The Times 9 December 1933, page 14
- ^ R. P. Mackal (1976) The Monsters of Loch Ness, pages 138–9, 211–213
- ^ Holiday, F.T. The Great Orm of Loch Ness (Faber and Faber 1968)
- ^ R. P. Mackal (1976) The Monsters of Loch Ness pages 141–142, chapter XIV
- ^ Coleman, Loren & Huyghe, Patrick. (2003). The Field Guide To Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, And Other Mystery Denizens Of The Deep. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
Books
- Bauer, Henry H. The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery, Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 1986
- Binns, Ronald, The Loch Ness Mystery Solved, Great Britain, Open Books, 1983, ISBN 0-7291-0139-8 and Star Books, 1984, ISBN 0-352-31487-7
- Burton, Maurice, The Elusive Monster: An Analysis of the Evidence from Loch Ness, London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961
- Campbell, Steuart. The Loch Ness Monster – The Evidence, Buffalo, New York, Prometheus Books, 1985.
- Dinsdale, Tim, Loch Ness Monster, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961, SBN 7100 1279 9
- Harrison, Paul The encyclopaedia of the Loch Ness Monster, London, Robert Hale, 1999
- Gould, R. T., The Loch Ness Monster and Others, London, Geoffrey Bles, 1934 and paperback, Lyle Stuart, 1976, ISBN 0-8065-0555-9
- Holiday, F. W., The Great Orm of Loch Ness, London, Faber & Faber, 1968, SBN 571 08473 7
- Mackal, Roy P., The Monsters of Loch Ness, London, Futura, 1976, ISBN 0-86007-381-5
- Whyte, Constance, More Than a Legend: The Story of the Loch Ness Monster, London, Hamish Hamilton, 1957
Documentary
- Secrets of Loch Ness. Produced & Directed by Christopher Jeans (ITN/Channel 4/A&E Network, 1995).
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Loch Ness Monster |
- Nova Documentary On Nessie
- Smithsonian Institution
- Skeptic's Dictionary: Loch Ness "monster"
- Darnton, John (20 March 1994). "Loch Ness: Fiction Is Stranger Than Truth". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- Photos of Nessie and other cryptids
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness_Monster
Plesiosauria ("The most common speculation among believers is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs.")
| Plesiosauria Temporal range: Early Jurassic - Late Cretaceous, 199.6–65.5 Ma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist's reconstruction of Plesiosaurus. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Node: | †Pistosauria |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria de Blainville, 1835 |
| Suborders | |
Plesiosauria (
/ˌpliːsi.ɵˈsɔriə/; Greek: plesios meaning 'near to' and sauros meaning 'lizard') is an order of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the Early Jurassic (and possibly Rhaetian, latest Triassic) Period and became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.
The name "plesiosaur" is used to refer to the order Plesiosauria as a whole, not only to the long-necked forms (suborder Plesiosauroidea). These latter constitute the plesiosaurs in the popular imagination ("Nessie", "Nahuelito").
Contents |
Description
The typical plesiosaur had a broad body and a short tail. They retained their ancestral two pairs of limbs, which evolved into large flippers. Plesiosaurs evolved from the earlier nothosaurs, who had a more crocodile-like body; major types of plesiosaur are primarily distinguished by head and neck size. Members of Plesiosauroidea such as Cryptoclididae, Elasmosauridae, and Plesiosauridae had long necks and may have been 'bottom-feeders', in shallow waters. Most pliosaurs and rhomaleosaurs, however, had shorter necks with a large, elongated head and may have been at home in deeper waters.
All plesiosaurs had four paddle-shaped 'flipper' limbs. This is an unusual arrangement in aquatic animals and it is thought that they were used to propel the animal through the water by a combination of rowing movements and up-and-down movements. There appears to have been no tail fin and the tail was most likely used for helping in directional control. This arrangement is in contrast to that of the later mosasaurs and the earlier ichthyosaurs. There may be similarities with the method of swimming used by penguins and turtles, which respectively have two and four flipper-like limbs.
In general, the plesiosaurians are among the largest marine predators of all time, with the smallest about 2 m (6.5 ft) long. The largest pliosaurs were up to 15 m long. Plesiosaurs grew even longer; Mauisaurus was 20 meters long. However, the late Triassic ichthyosaurs, such as shastasaurids are known to have reached 21 m in length. Modern large marine animals such as the sperm whale (20 m), and especially the blue whale (~30 m) all grew larger than currently known plesiosaurians.
The anteriorly placed internal nostrils have palatal grooves to channel water, the flow of which would be maintained by hydrodynamic pressure over the posteriorly placed external nares during locomotion. During its passage through the nasal ducts, the water would have been 'tasted' by olfactory epithelia[citation needed].
History of discovery
Mary Anning (1799–1847) was famous for her plesiosaur discoveries at Lyme Regis in Dorset, UK. She is credited with the first plesiosaur find recognised as such (Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus), which has become the 'type fossil' (genoholotype). This region of Britain is now a World Heritage Site, dubbed the Jurassic Coast.
Recent discoveries
In 2002, the "Monster of Aramberri" was announced to the press. Discovered in 1982 at the village of Aramberri, in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León, it was originally classified as a dinosaur. The specimen is actually a very large plesiosaur, possibly reaching 15 m (49 ft) in length. The media published exaggerated reports claiming it was 25 metres (82 ft) long, and weighed up to 150,000 kilograms (330,000 lb), which would have made it the largest predator of all time. This error was dramatically perpetuated in BBC's documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs, which also prematurely classified it as a Liopleurodon ferox.
In 2004, what appears to be a completely intact juvenile plesiosaur was discovered, by a local fisherman at Bridgwater Bay National Nature Reserve in Somerset, UK. The fossil, dated 180 Ma by the ammonites associated with it, measured 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in length, and may be related to Rhomaleosaurus. It is probably the best preserved specimen of a plesiosaur yet discovered.[citation needed]
In 2008, fossil remains of an undescribed plesiosaur currently informally named Predator X were unearthed in Svalbard. It had a length of 15 m (49 ft), a mass of 45,000 kilograms (99,000 lb), and with a bite force of 149 kilonewtons (33,000 lbf) was one of the most powerful in animal kingdom.[1]
Behavior
Plesiosaurs have been discovered with fossils of belemnites (squid-like animals), and ammonites (giant nautilus-like molluscs) associated with their stomachs[citation needed]. They had powerful jaws, probably strong enough to bite through the hard shells of their prey. The bony fish (Osteichthyes), started to spread in the Jurassic, and were likely prey as well. Recent evidence seems to indicate that some plesiosaurs may have, in fact, been bottom feeders.[2]
It had been theorised that smaller plesiosaurs may have crawled up on a beach to lay their eggs, like the modern leatherback turtle, but it is now clear plesiosaurs gave birth to live young [3]: The fossil of a pregnant plesiosaur Polycotylus latippinus shows that these animals gave birth to one large juvenile and probably invested parental care in their offspring, similar to modern whales.[4]
Another curiosity is their four-flippered design. No modern animals have this swimming adaptation (sea turtles only swim with their front flippers), so there is considerable speculation about what kind of stroke they used. While the short-necked pliosauroids (e.g. Liopleurodon) may have been fast swimmers, the long-necked varieties were built more for maneuverability than for speed. Skeletons have also been discovered with gastroliths in their stomachs, though whether to help break down food in a muscular gizzard, or to help with buoyancy, or both, has not been established.
Classification
Taxonomy
The taxonomy presented here is mainly based on the plesiosaur cladistic analyses proposed by Ketchum and Benson, 2011 and Benson et al., 2012 unless otherwise noted.[5][6]
- Node Pistosauria
- Augustasaurus
- Pistosaurus
- Yunguisaurus
- Order Plesiosauria
- Bobosaurus
- Suborder Plesiosauroidea
- Family Elasmosauridae
- Family Microcleididae
- Family Plesiosauridae
- Node Cryptoclidia
- ? Family Aristonectidae
- Family Cryptoclididae
- Node Leptocleidia
- Family Leptocleididae
- Family Polycotylidae
- Suborder Pliosauroidea
- ? Family Rhomaleosauridae
- Family Pliosauridae
Phylogeny
Plesiosauria is a stem-based taxon which was defined as "all taxa more closely related to Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus and Pliosaurus brachydeirus than to Augustasaurus hagdorni". Neoplesiosauria is a node-based taxon which was defined by Ketchum and Benson (2010) as "Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, Pliosaurus brachydeirus, their most recent common ancestor and all of its descendants".[7] Therefore, Neoplesiosauria has been considered to be a junior synonym of Plesiosauria. The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.[5]
| Pistosauria |
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Benson et al. (2012) found Pliosauroidea to be paraphyletic in relation to Plesiosauroidea. Rhomaleosauridae was found to be outside Neoplesiosauria, but still within Plesiosauria. The early carnian pistosaur Bobosaurus was found to be more advanced then Augustasaurus in relation to the Plesiosauria and therefore it represents by definition the oldest known plesiosaur. However, the authors excluded Bobosaurus from this clade without any explanation, although that exclusion might be a typo in the article. The cladogram below follows the topology from Benson et al. (2012) analysis.[6]
| Pistosauria |
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Distribution
Stratigraphic distribution
The following is a list of geologic formations that have produced plesiosaur fossils.
References
- ^ Naturhistorisk Museum, Universitetet i Oslo: PREDATOR X The most significant Jurassic discovery made in the Arctic
- ^ Plesiosaur bottom-feeding shown, BBC News, 17 October 2005, retrieved 21 may 2012
- ^ O'Keefe, F.R. and Chiappe, L.M. (2011): Viviparity and K-Selected Life History in a Mesozoic Marine Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia). Science, 333 (6044): 870-873 doi:10.1126/science.1205689
- ^ Welsh, Jennifer (11 August 2011), Pregnant Fossil Suggests Ancient 'Sea Monsters' Birthed Live Young, LiveScience, retrieved 21 May 2012
- ^ a b Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson (2011). "A new pliosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Oxford Clay Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of England: evidence for a gracile, longirostrine grade of Early-Middle Jurassic pliosaurids". Special Papers in Palaeontology 86: 109–129. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01083.x.
- ^ a b Roger B. J. Benson, Mark Evans and Patrick S. Druckenmiller (2012). "High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary". PLoS ONE 7 (3): e31838. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031838.
- ^ Ketchum, H.F.; Benson, R.B.J. (2010). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 85 (2): 361–392. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x. PMID 20002391.
- ^ "Material: YPM 1640," in "The Occurrence of Elasmosaurids..." Everhart (2006), page 173.
- ^ a b c d "Table 13.1: Plesiosaurs," in Everhart (2005) Oceans of Kansas, page 245.
- ^ "Material: YPM 1640," in "The Occurrence of Elasmosaurids..." Everhart (2006), page 172.
- Lingham-Soliar, T., 1995: in Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 347: 155-180
- Cicimurri, D., and M. Everhart, 2001: in Trans. Kansas. Acad. Sci. 104: 129-143
- O'Keefe, F. R., 2001: A cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia); Acta Zool. Fennica 213: 1-63
- White, T., 1935: in Occasional Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 8: 219-228
- Hampe, O., 1992: Courier Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg 145: 1-32
- Ellis, R. 2003: Sea Dragons' (Kansas University Press)
- ( ), 1997: in Reports of the National Center for Science Education, 17.3 (May/June 1997) pp 16–28.
- Everhart, M.J. 2005. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 322 pp.
- Everhart, M.J. 2005. "Gastroliths associated with plesiosaur remains in the Sharon Springs Member (Late Cretaceous) of the Pierre Shale, Western Kansas" (on-line, updated from article in Kansas Acad. Sci. Trans. 103(1-2):58-69)
- Everhart, Michael J. 2006. The Occurrence of Elasmosaurids (Reptilia: Plesiosauria) in the Niobrara Chalk of Western Kansas; Paludicila; 5(4) pp. 170–183
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Plesiosauria |
- The Plesiosaur Site. Richard Forrest.
- The Plesiosaur Directory. Adam Stuart Smith.
- Plesiosauria technical definition at the Plesiosaur Directory
- Plesiosaur FAQ's. Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog.
- Oceans of Kansas Paleontology. Mike Everhart.
- "Plesiosaur fossil found in Bridgwater Bay". Somersert Museums County Service. (best known fossil)
- "Fossil hunters turn up 50-ton monster of prehistoric deep". Allan Hall and Mark Henderson. Times Online, December 30, 2002. (Monster of Aramberri)
- Triassic reptiles had live young.
- Bridgwater Bay juvenile plesiosaur
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plesiosaur
![[2]](http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/Nessie_Rines%20flipper.gif){kind=link}
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