Lariosauro
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| Grouping | Legendary creature |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Lake monster |
| First attested | 20th century = |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Lake Como |
| Details | Found in water |
In Italian folklore, Lariosauro is a lake monster said to live in Lake Como in Italy, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Milan. Como is one of the deepest European lakes, at about 410 m (1,300 feet) at the deepest location.
In 1946, eyewitnesses allegedly reported seeing a reptile-like animal swimming in the waters of the lake. It was called lariosauro, the same name used a century before to name a prehistoric reptile whose fossilized remains were found by the lake (Lariosaurus balsami). A weekly of Como, a week after the first article, wrote it was a sturgeon, but the sturgeon as well as the monster appear to be more simply a hoax invented by the press.[citation needed]
There were other sightings, or alleged sightings, in Lake Como.
- In 1954 in Argegno a creature with round muzzle and back and webbed paws.
- In August 1957 an enormous monster in the waters between Dongo and Musso.
- In September 1957 a strange animal whose head was described as similar to a crocodile head.
- In 2003 a giant eel, 10–12 m (33–39 feet) long, in Lecco.
Skeptic researcher Giorgio Castiglioni, who studied these cases, thinks that the animal of 1954 was an otter, the monster of August 1957 a hoax, the beast of September 1957 possibly a pike, and the 2003 eel was a group of fish swimming together.[citation needed]