Rio Magdalena Monster is known for its invasive population of hippos, brought to South America by drug lord Pablo Escobar. Yet another large, misplaced animal had been seen in the river nearly 100 million years ago. In 1921, travelers along the Rio Magdelena, located in northern Colombia, reported seeing a large reptile that resembled the prehistoric Iguanodon. Though the sighting was brief and was only mentioned in Karl Shuker's 1995 book, "In Search of Pre-historic Survivors", it remains one of the few sightings of dinosaurs in South America, as well as the only sighting of a dinosaur in Colombia.
Overview[]
The prime suspect of the 1921 Rio Magdelena Monster is the Iguanodon, despite going extinct 100 million years ago. Iguanodons were huge, bulky herbivores, distinct by their large, thumb-like spikes (used for protection against predators) and their fifth fingers (used for foraging food). The creature was discovered in England in 1823 by William Harding Bensted, and named by Gideon Mantell. And ever since then, our understanding of the Iguanodon has changed with new discoveries and corrections. In fact, the description of the Iguanodon in the 1920s, the time the monster was seen, has since changed. Shown right is what people use to think the Iguanodon looked like. So what these unnamed travelers saw was probably not an Iguanodon (shocking, I know).