Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Herps in Society and Culture: Loch Ness Monster

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:

Allison Welch said...

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.)