What is the Loch Ness monster? Why are so many people interested?

"The mountain is not high, there is a fairy by this name. The water is not deep, and the dragon has spirit. " This old China saying also applies to Loch Ness in Scotland, England. Although it is not the largest and deepest lake here, the name of Loch Ness has long been famous because of the legend of the "water monster".

Loch Ness is located in the north of Scotland. There are not only legends of water monsters, but also historical sites by the lake ||| Wikimedia Commons-Sam Fentress.

In order to find out the true body of the Loch Ness monster, countless scholars and tourists have been looking for traces for hundreds of years. All kinds of photos of water monsters are also popular all over the world, which makes many people firmly believe that water monsters do exist. However, the latest research results of the University of Otago in New Zealand may disappoint the "water monster fans". After testing the DNA in the lake, they found that there is probably no monster at all in Loch Ness, and the so-called monster may just be a very big "eel" [1].

Among all kinds of popular science programs and books, the story of "Loch Ness Monster" has always had a high appearance rate in recent years. However, it has not become a modern network celebrity. As early as nearly 1500 years ago, the "water monster" has become a legend of Loch Ness.

The story of Loch Ness Monster was first seen in the Biography of Saint Columba published in the 7th century. The book says: The famous monk Saint Cullen heard that the Nice River (a small river from Loch Ness) was attacked by fierce beasts, and he wanted to give peace to the residents. So he sent his men to swim in the Nice River. Sure enough, the monster suddenly surfaced to attack. At this time, St. Cullen crossed his fingers and reprimanded the monster and said, "Don't go near, don't hurt people, go home quickly!" " ".Unexpectedly, the monster was immediately dragged away by an invisible force when he heard this [2].

St. Coulomb is a legend in Scotland. He used to be a famous Catholic monk | Wikimedia Commons-J.R. Skelton.

The story of St. Coulomb is certainly not credible. At that time, the story of this monster was probably written only to promote divine power and personal charm. Moreover, it doesn't describe what the Loch Ness monster really looks like. However, after the19th century, various eyewitness reports and even photographic photos gradually enriched, and the appearance of the water monster was vividly portrayed, which made people think: Is there really an unknown mysterious monster in Nice Lake?

These sightings occurred in almost every corner of Loch Ness, and the descriptions of water monsters were also different. However, the images of water monsters in their mouths all have some commonalities. Take the most representative photos as an example. The monster in the photo has a small head, a slender neck and a huge body ... As I said just now, do you have an image of an ancient creature in your mind?

The most classic photo of Loch Ness Monster, taken at 1934 | |Wikimedia Commons-? Robert Kenneth Wilson

That's right! The monster described by people is very similar to plesiosaur. It is a giant marine reptile that lived in the Jurassic period. As a result, many people began to suspect that the Loch Ness monster was actually a "living fossil" left over from the dinosaur era [3]. In the related film and television works, the Loch Ness monster is generally the image of dinosaurs or plesiosaurs. In addition, some people speculate that the water monster is an unknown invertebrate or amphibian according to the reports of other witnesses [4]. In any case, the public no longer thinks that the water monster is a supernatural and religious beast, as it did in the time of St. Coulomb, but that it is an undiscovered species.

The Loch Ness monster model made by local people according to eyewitness descriptions is highly similar to plesiosaur ||| Wikimedia Commons-a obeidat.

Is it a fish or a monster Speak with DNA evidence

Since the "water monster" is considered as a creature, it must also be flesh and blood. Perhaps its living habits will be like that of a long-necked dragon, and it needs to surface frequently for air, food and scenery. In a word, people believe that if the water monster really exists, it must have been observed by human beings. As a result, hundreds of tourists and water monster lovers held long guns and short guns at the lake, and many research institutions even used sonar technology to search for traces of water monsters. However, in the past century, all the search activities have not made substantial progress. We didn't even catch the monster's hair except for a few photos that were hard to distinguish between true and false.

In contrast, the team of Gemehl, a professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand, is a bit "biased". They didn't look for the true body of the monster like others, but drove the boat to catch water everywhere in the lake. However, what are they doing?

It turns out that the team at the University of Otago is collecting "environmental DNA". The principle is that if the monster really exists, it will eat and drink Lazarus, live and die. So the monster's body, secretion, excrement, dander or scales on the body surface will be left in this lake, and DNA will be released in the environment. If the monster was the size of a plesiosaur, the biological sample would be very large. In other words, if the monster really exists, the whole Loch Ness is like a giant DNA library floating with monster biological samples.

From this point of view, even if we can't find the real body of the monster in these years, if we can detect its DNA in the lake, wouldn't it prove that there are monsters in the world?

To this end, the researchers extracted 250 water samples from various areas of Loch Ness and sequenced the DNA samples. Statistics show that there are at least 3000 kinds of gene fragments in lake water. There are not only all kinds of fish, insects and plants, but also some DNA of cattle, sheep, pet dogs and birds living by the lake ... This shows that the sampling work of the researchers is very perfect and the samples are very representative. Almost all biological DNA that comes into contact with Loch Ness has been detected. It stands to reason that if monsters also live in Loch Ness, their gene fragments should also appear in water samples.

But there is no DNA from unknown mysterious creatures in the sample, and there is no DNA sample left by marine reptiles such as plesiosaur. At this point, we can only regret to say that the so-called Loch Ness monster should not exist.

Everything in Loch Ness looks like a monster.

Seeing such research results, many people will be unconvinced. If there really is no Loch Ness monster, how did those previous witness reports and photos come from? Is this a fabrication?

Yes, a lot of previous evidence was forged. Take the most classic photos of Loch Ness Monster as an example. The black-and-white photo taken by 1934 is actually a gesture. Before he died, the photographer admitted that the so-called water monster was just an artificial model, but he didn't expect to fool people all over the world for decades.

In eyewitness reports, the most common form of Loch Ness monster surfaced.

There are also many photos and witness reports, and only the parties admit their mistakes. In Loch Ness, which is full of vegetation and soldiers, some driftwood, stones and cultural relics may be forcibly mistaken for water monsters by passers-by, staring at the lake in the swaying waves. However, this kind of still life does not explain the source of all eyewitness reports. There are also some "water monsters" who swim as fast as snakes in the report. What animals are they?

According to the research team of the University of Otago, these so-called monsters are probably eels. There are abundant eels in Loch Ness, and the DNA of eels in the water samples tested this time is extremely rich. Eels can grow very big, and the largest single-jaw eel (Monognathus) is more than 4 meters long, which can basically meet the size standard of Loch Ness monster. More importantly, the eel is slender, which is consistent with the "thin neck" and "small head" reported by witnesses.

Of course, eels are not the only answer. Some people say that the water monster is the elephant's nose, because there used to be a circus around the lake to raise elephants and let them swim in the lake. Some people think that monsters are just otters, but the long neck and back we see are actually otters' bottoms and tails.

In short, there are no monsters in Loch Ness. All kinds of "mysterious creatures" people see in Loch Ness are nothing more than phantoms magnified by the imagination of some people and the vanity of others who want to be famous through counterfeiting.