Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Nāga
Half-human serpent, DRAGON, or any serpentine
being of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist myth.
However, it is also said to be a giant SNAKE of
Southeast Asia.
Etymology: Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan), “serpent.”
The term was also used for followers of serpent
cults in India, particularly the pre-Hindu
Nagas, who spoke a Sino-Tibetan language that
is still found in Nagaland, Manipur, and eastern
Assam States in India.
Variant names: Lu (Sino-Tibetan), Nagini
(for the female), Nat (in Myanmar), Naya.
Physical description: Length, up to 59 feet.
Black. Carries a jewel in its head.
Habitat: Caves, under the sea, or in an underground
kingdom called Nāga-loka or Pātālaloka.
Distribution: Thailand; India.
Significant sighting: The abbot of a monastery
near Phon Phisai, Thailand, is said to have seen
a large, black, scaly snake with an erectile crest
on its head.
Present status: As symbols of fertility, images
of Nāgas adorn houses, shrines, and temples in
India.
Possible explanation: A mystical, semidivine
being based on the King cobra (Ophiophagus
hannah), which can grow to 18 feet long, weigh
up to 20 pounds, and is so venomous that it can
kill an elephant. It can rear up to one-third of its
total body length.
Sources: Jorge Luis Borges, The Book of
Imaginary Beings (New York: E. P. Dutton,
1969), pp. 165–166; Nagas, 2001, http://
www.khandro.net/mysterious_naga.htm; Karl
Shuker, “All Lit Up in Thailand,” Fortean
Times, no. 144 (April 2001): 23.
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Nahuel Huapí Pterosaur
FLYING REPTILE of South America.
Physical description: Leathery skin. Pelican-like.
Habitat: Caves.
Distribution: Lago Nahuel Huapí, Neuquén
Province, Argentina.
Significant sightings: In the nineteenth century,
two hunters named Milacsek and Shirdos
shot a pelican-like bird or reptile with leathery
skin that flew away from a cave at Lago Nahuel
Huapí, Argentina. Ulrich Dunkel claims the
animal was left with the National Museum
of Natural History in Santiago, Chile (founded
in 1830), but was lost during one of the civil
wars that Chile went through (in 1829–1830,
1851, 1859, 1891). Hans Krieg says only the
head was retrieved, it was discarded after three
days, and it belonged to a Flying steamerduck
(Tachyeres patachonicus), though this bird is
hardly pelican-like.
Sources: Hans Krieg, Als Zoologe in Steppen
und Wäldern Patagoniens (Munich, Germany:
J. F. Lehmann, 1940); Ulrich Dunkel,
Abenteuer mit Seeschlangen (Stuttgart,
Germany: Kreuz-Verlag, 1961).
Nahuelito
FRESHWATER MONSTER of Argentina.
Etymology: Spanish, “Little Nahuel,” after the
lake.
Variant name: PATAGONIAN PLESIOSAUR.
Physical description: Length, 15–20 feet.
Rough skin. Head like a snake’s. Neck, 9 feet
long. Multiple humps.
Behavior: Surfaces only when the lake is calm.
Makes distinctive breathing sounds.
Distribution: Lago Nahuel Huapí, Neuquén
Province, Argentina.