Herps in Society and Culture
Blog Post 3
One of
the most famous cryptids is the loch ness monster that is believed to reside in
the lake “Loch Ness” in Scotland. This monster’s story has been around since
the 1930’s and has made many disputes over its existence. Those that describe
this monster, describe it as some sort of large sea monster, resembling a lot
like a dinosaur. Assumptions were made that this monster most likely was either
a plesiosaur or a descendent of some sort.
The idea
of the monster being a plesiosaur was something many scientists worked with. As
many of people know, reptiles share many traits with dinosaurs, specifically the
fact they are cold-blooded. Those organisms that are cold- blooded, are very
affected by cold temperatures and have a need for an outside source of heat to
regulate their body temperature. Since the waters of loch ness are very much
cold, it would be almost impossible to sustain something so large of a body
mass in such conditions. As something we learned in class, the larger the body
mass, the longer it takes for it to heat up. Temperature is so important when
their metabolism is so dependent on it.
Other
theories were that this monster could be warm blooded opposed to cold-blooded.
The chance that this monster could be the first of its kind, is very unlikely
and there is a lack of evidence to support it. The energy needed for this
organism to be endothermic would require other means of energy besides the sun.
The same way we depend on our food intake for energy, this Loch Ness monster
would have to share that need. There simply is not a viable food source for the
organism to sustain itself.
When you
look at the geography, the “lake” appears to pinch off to nothing, but in
reality, there is significant space for travel to the open ocean. Looking in
history, the time the plesiosaur could have made such a trek, the water would
have been covered by ice, making the water even colder than what it is. For the
amount of time researches have been searching for this creature, they were
unable to find any remains of ancestors or present. If this creature were to
live in such an environment, evolution would most likely be the way it was able
to adapt. Without remains of ancestors, then support for its existence looks
mighty grim.
-
Javier Polo Jr.
1 comment:
Clearly a hoax, but also clearly many people have wished for there to be - something. Perhaps our collective desire for unknown amazing species should inspire us to do a better job conserving the amazing (real) biodiversity we do have!
Also, the thought experiment about Nessie's thermoregulation and dietary needs has me wondering - couldn't a reptile that size have adapted to thermoregulate like a leatherback sea turtle? (But in that case, it would definitely need a lot of food to sustain the increased metabolism.)
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