The lobo-toro (Spanish: "bullish-wolf") or lofo-toro was a cryptid reported from Araucania in Chile, near Patagonia, which has been connected with the Patagonian ground sloth by a number of authors.[1][2][3] Although described as synonymous in several sources, it is not the same animal as the ellengassen.
Etymology[]
Bernard Heuvelmans points out that due to Spanish sentence construction, lobo-toro does not mean "wolfish-bull", as it was often translated as, but "bullish-wolf".[1] "Lobo-toro" is a translation of the animal's original Araucanian name, which is unknown, but which must have meant the same thing.[2]
Description[]
According to George Eberhart, it is a hairy herbivorous animal the size of a bull, which roars or howls like a wolf and lives in a cave.[2] It appears in Araucanian epic poetry.[1]
Theories[]
Authors including Bernard Heuvelmans and George Eberhart believe the lobo-toro could have been a ground sloth - Heuvelmans noted that "bullish wolf" would be a very accurate description of a ground sloth.[1][2] Austin Whittall, on the other hand, believes the lobo-toro was inspired by feral cattle bought to Patagonia by European settlers.[4]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Heuvelmans, Bernard (1955) On the Track of Unknown Animals, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138977525
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Eberhart, George M. (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, ABC-CLIO, Inc., ISBN 1576072835
- ↑ Whittall, Austin (2012) Monsters of Patagonia, Zagier & Urruty Pubns, ISBN 978-9871468218
- ↑ Whittall, Austin “Lobo-Toro” or wolf-bull | Patagonian Monsters patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com [Accessed 2018]