Gauarge

Gauarge Illustration of the gauarge as an ornithomimosaur by Philippe Coudray for Guide des Animaux Cachés (2009). Category Neodinosaur of Australia Proposed scientific names Other names Gowargay, water emu Country reported Australia First reported 1899 Prominent investigators

The gauarge or gowargay was a cryptid reported from southeastern Australia, usually considered a neodinosaur. A "water emu," it was described as a featherless or giant emu which lived near water holes, in which it drowns bathers with whirlpools. According to Yuwaalaraay mythology, it is the child of either the kurreah or the rainbow serpent.

Bernard Heuvelmans suggested that the "featherless emu" description is reminiscent of an ornithomimosaur dinosaur such as Struthiomimus. However, it is now believed that these dinosaurs had feathers: based on fossil evidence, Ornithomimus is known, and Deinocheirus and Pelecanimimus are suspected, to have been feathered. They are also not currently believed to have been semi-aquatic. Alternatively, it is suggested that the gauarge may be a mythical creature inspired by the discovery of theropod dinosaur fossils.

Dale A. Drinnon, arguing that its size is its distinguishing characteristic, proposes as a better identity a surviving Dromornis, a large Australian mihirung known from Pliocene remains, a theory he also suggests for certain long-necked bunyip sightings. One mihirung, Genyornis newtoni, is known to have survived until the Late Pleistocene.