Legends 26: Living Fossils (ad-free) (Patreon)

Some of the most frightening—and fascinating—stories in folklore are all about living remnants from the distant past. Let’s go hunting, shall we?

Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by Harry Marks and research by Cassandra de Alba.

Sources:

• Anderson, Atholl. “On Evidence For The Survival Of Moa In European Fiordland.” New Zealand Journal of Ecology 12 (Supplement), 1989: pp. 39-44. https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/1859.pdf 

• “Beamsville Man Claims To Have Seen Giant Plesiosaur.” The St. Catharines Standard. April 8, 1922. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1018079215/ 

• “Brontosaurus Still Lives.” The Washington Post. January 23, 1910. https://www.newspapers.com/image/28974457/ 

• Chorvinsky, Mark. “NESSIE and Other Lake Monsters.” Strange Magazine. Accessed January 7, 2023. http://www.strangemag.com/nahuelito.html 

• Clark, Jerome. Unexplained! Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena (Visible Ink, 1999).

• “Coelacanth.” Smithsonian. November 2018. https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/coelacanth 

• Coleman, Loren, and Jerome Clark. Cryptozoology A-Z: he Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature (Fireside, 1999).

• Costello, Peter. In Search Of Lake Monsters (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1974).

• Crossley, Karen. “Argentina.” The Winnipeg Sun. January 8, 1989. https://www.newspapers.com/image/736879210/ 

• Didymus, John Thomas. “Nahuelito.” Fairytales & Myths. December 7, 2023. https://www.fairytalesandmyths.com/nahuelito/

• Eschner, Kat. “In the 1930s, This Natural History Curator Discovered a Living Fossil–Well, Sort of.” Smithsonian Magazine. December 22, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1930s-curator-discovered-living-fossil-well-sort-180967616/ 

• Hagenbeck, Carl, trans. Hugh S.R. Elliot and A.G. Thacker. Beasts and Men: Being Carl Hagenbeck’s Experiences For Half A Century Among Wild Animals (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912).

• Hamlin, Jerome F. “‘Discovery’ Of The Coelacanth.” The Fish Out Of Time. Accessed January 7, 2024. http://www.dinofish.com/ 

• Hebblethwaite, Cordelia. “The hunt for Mokele-mbembe: Congo's Loch Ness Monster.” BBC News. December 28, 2011. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16306902 

• Heuvelmans, Bernard. On The Track Of Unknown Animals (Paladin, 1970).

• Holpuch, Amanda. “The 1,300-Year Search for the Loch Ness Monster.” The New York Times. August 30, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/world/europe/loch-ness-monster-search-timeline.html 

• “Lake Nahuel Huapí.” Encyclopedia Britannica. July 6, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/place/Lake-Nahuel-Huapi 

• Loxton, Daniel and Donald R. Prothero. Abominable Science! Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids (Columbia University Press, 2013).

• Magee, Tamlin. “Why Darwin-Hating Christians Are Hunting For a ‘Living Dinosaur’ In The Congo.” Inverse. April 4, 2022. https://www.inverse.com/science/living-dinosaur-quest 

• Matthews, Philip. “1867: A real live moa sighting?” Stuff. January 8, 2021. https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/123888628/1867-a-real-live-moa-sighting 

• “Moa.” Cryptid Wiki. Accessed January 7, 2024. https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Moa 

• “The Moa, Again.” The Dunstan Times. September 13, 1867. https://www.newspapers.com/image/926641665/ 

• “Mokele-mbembe.” Wikipedia. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokele-mbembe 

• Morell, Virginia. “Why Did New Zealand's Moas Go Extinct?” Science. March 17, 2014. https://www.science.org/content/article/why-did-new-zealands-moas-go-extinct 

• “The Nahuelito Enigma.” Patagonia-Argentina.com. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://www.patagonia-argentina.com/en/the-nahuelito-enigma/ 

• Naish, Darren. Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology And The Reality Behind The Myths (Arcturus Publishing, 2016).

• Newton, Michael. Hidden Animals: A Field Guide to Batsquatch, Chupacabra, and Other Elusive Creatures (ABC-CLIO, 2009). 

• Relmucao, Juan. “Argentina’s Loch Ness Monster Lurks Beneath a Patagonia Lake.” Atlas Obscura. May 2, 2023. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nahuelito-argentina-loch-ness-monster-bariloche-patagonia 

• Shukla, Priya. “Resurrected From Extinction: Celebrating 3 ‘Lazarus’ Species That Were Once Thought To Be Long Gone.” Forbes. October 31, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/priyashukla/2020/10/31/resurrected-from-extinction-celebrating-3-lazarus-species-that-were-once-thought-to-be-long-gone/?sh=334369ed7280 

• Smith, Anthony. “Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer.” The Guardian. May 20, 2004. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/may/21/guardianobituaries 

• Tyson, Peter. “Moment of Discovery.” NOVA: Ancient Creature of the Deep. 2003. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fish/letters.html 

• Ward, Peter Douglas. On Methuselah’s Trail: Living Fossils and the Great Extinctions (W.H. Freeman, 1992).

• Wehi, Priscilla, Hēmi Whaanga and Murray Cox. “Dead as the moa: oral traditions show that early Māori recognised extinction.” The Conversation. September 5, 2018. https://theconversation.com/dead-as-the-moa-oral-traditions-show-that-early-maori-recognised-extinction-101738 

• Worthy, Trevor H. “Moa.” Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. February 17, 2015. https://teara.govt.nz/en/moa