Scientists
Many scientists from around the world have shown interest in the claims made about the giant snake found during the expedition but only two were invited to analyse all the data and give independent comment. Those scientists were:
Professor Paul LeBlond & Professor Ian Montgomery
Although we may not agree with everything that they have said, we have the greatest respect for them and sincere gratitude for their time and efforts to support our project. Some of their recommendations have been implemented already and much of what Paul & Ian have shared during our dialogue will be used during our second expedition to help collect conclusive evidence of Yacumama, the giant snake.
Out of respect for the professors we have not edited any of their comments or been selective in the text that favours our view. Rather we have published their statements in full.
Click on the links below ¿
Professor Ian Montgomery
Professor Paul LeBlond
New Species?
Names Around the World
Giant Anaconda, Black Boa (S. America), Yacumama translated ‘mother of the water’ (S. America), Sachamama translated ‘mother of the jungle/earth’ (S. America), Sucuriju Gigante (Brazil), Matadora translated ‘the bull killer’ (S. America), Dormadera translated ‘the sleeper’ (S. America), Incanyamba (S. Africa), Lau (Africa), Minhocao (Cryptid), Leviathon (Old Testament). There are other similar references such as the Naga (Far East), Nabau (Borneo).
Species
The exact species of this creature is unknown but we believe that the physical characteristics and behaviour are that of a snake with behaviour similar to a caecilian.
Yacumama has many of the characteristics associated with eye-witness accounts of the Minhocao, a South American cryptid reported widely around the late 19th & early 20th centuries and more recently described as a giant species of caecilian.
Commonly thought to be a giant anaconda the body of evidence suggests that this is a species of snake previously unknown to science.
Dr Fritz Müller, Brazil - Journal Zoologische Garten, 1877
Müller revealed that the channels excavated by the minhocão are so deep that the courses of entire rivers have been altered, roads and hillsides have collapsed, and orchards have fallen to the ground
Dr. Karl Shuker - The Caecilian Theory
Dr Shuker wrote a paper on the Minhocao and was the first to theorise that this animal was a giant caecilian and references Prof. Auguste de Saint Hilaire
Hilaire published a paper in the American Journal of Science in 1847 that first brought the minhocão to Western attention. Revealing that its name is derived from minhoca - Portugese for 'earthworm' - he stated:
Prof. Auguste de Saint Hilaire says:
"...the monster in question absolutely resembles these worms, with this difference, that it has a visible mouth; they also add, that it is black, short, and of enormous size; that it does not rise to the surface of the water, but that it causes animals to disappear by seizing them by the belly."
Dr. Shuker says:
"...their readily visible mouth and a pair of sensory tentacles on their head ,that resemble horns or ears when protruded, corresponds perfectly with the minhocão's...the minhocão's deep trenches mostly appear after continued rain, and seem to start from marshes or river beds...terrestrial caecilians often emerge above ground after heavy rainstorms...In a detailed letter, published by the Gaceta de Nicaragua (10 March 1866), Paulino Montenegro included accounts of a similar creature from Nicaragua said to be covered with a skin clad in scales or plates... it is described in general as a large snake and called 'sierpe,' on account of its extraordinary size, and living in chaquites [pools or ponds]"
Although the caecilian theory makes for a compelling argument, the Black Boa (Yacumama/Sachama/Minhocao) can grow to enormous proportions (40M) capable of levelling large areas of trees and creating channels/trenches 5M wide suggesting that caecilian biology does not fit.
An animal capable of producing these powerful effects on its habitat would be of a size that makes it logical to assume that it has a heart and lungs. This points towards snake rather than caecilian.
A summary of Dr. Shuker's study can be found at: http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html and in his book "In Search of Prehistoric Survivors"
‘Carries its water with it’
Both the indigenous tribes of Africa and South America describe a snake that ‘carries its water with it’.
This may have one or all of the following functions:
I. Stunning prey or dislodging them out trees (the Yacumama reportedly engorges water and shoots it at its prey like a water canon)
II. As it ‘carries its water with it’ it is possible that it may use this water pressure to support its skeletal structure as it moves through the jungle.
III. Mike’s hypothesis is that it can also use water as an instrument for burrowing.
Behaviour & Habitat
These creatures are both aquatic and capable of burrowing deep into the earth. Physical evidence of a network of major and minor watery channels exists at the Napo/Amazon.
Due to this snake’s enormous proportions and weight this area makes it ideally suited as a natural habitat. It is understood that this snake is capable of engorging and discouraging water at a velocity that makes it possible to use the water as an instrument for hunting and burrowing.
The indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon testify to a loud boom that can be heard when the Yacumama is hunting during the wet season.
Food Supply & Cannibalism
This snake favours confluences, a place where two rivers join to become one. A constant food supply given that if one river fails to produce food, at a given time, the chances are the other river will. When both are supplying then the food source would be almost unlimited. It stands to reason that an important part of its diet includes fish (some of which grow to 2M in length) as well as other local animals including caiman, monkeys, manatee, otters, tapirs, capybara and even other snakes.
An animal this size would have no natural predators and any mammal, reptile or fish, in theory, could form part of its food supply.
Mike’s hypothesis is that this snake eventually will grow to be so large that it becomes immobilised in the jungle, thereupon becoming ‘Sachamama’ (mother of the jungle/earth).
At this point it may release pheromones to attract snakes of the same species and thus feed on them. This process may even restrict the population of this species in a given area.
Eyes
Eyes are large and several eye-witness accounts including the most recent sighting known to the Warner’s at Moronocha describe the eyes as being as large as the search lights on a boat (consider the type of search lights common to Amazonian vessels).
Also, there are many reports describing them as glowing or phosphorescent.
Physical Characteristics
The eyes are large. The skin of the body and head is dark brown and may even be black.
The head is large and triangular in shape and may possess other attributes described in the research material as ‘antennae’, ‘horns’ or ‘ears’. Size varies but an adult can reach 40M in length and approximately 2M in width.
Evidence exists at the Napo/Amazon that suggests that another snake of monumental proportions exists at the confluence capable of creating large snake-shaped lagoons.
Photographic evidence exists of two such lagoons of conspicuously similar proportions.
Size (folklore)
Indigenous tribes describe ‘Yacumama’ as being ‘50 paces (125 feet) long’ and ‘anything that passes within 100 paces (250 feet) enters its mouth’
Warner Amazon Expedition 2010
The expedition aims to collect conclusive photographic evidence & DNA samples (for scientific verification) in at least 4 locations where we have established Yacumama activity. No research team has ever established established this level of 'hard evidence' before an expedition in search of the giants snakes of the Amazon.
Professor Paul LeBlond & Professor Ian Montgomery
Although we may not agree with everything that they have said, we have the greatest respect for them and sincere gratitude for their time and efforts to support our project. Some of their recommendations have been implemented already and much of what Paul & Ian have shared during our dialogue will be used during our second expedition to help collect conclusive evidence of Yacumama, the giant snake.
Out of respect for the professors we have not edited any of their comments or been selective in the text that favours our view. Rather we have published their statements in full.
Click on the links below ¿
Professor Ian Montgomery
Professor Paul LeBlond
New Species?
Names Around the World
Giant Anaconda, Black Boa (S. America), Yacumama translated ‘mother of the water’ (S. America), Sachamama translated ‘mother of the jungle/earth’ (S. America), Sucuriju Gigante (Brazil), Matadora translated ‘the bull killer’ (S. America), Dormadera translated ‘the sleeper’ (S. America), Incanyamba (S. Africa), Lau (Africa), Minhocao (Cryptid), Leviathon (Old Testament). There are other similar references such as the Naga (Far East), Nabau (Borneo).
Species
The exact species of this creature is unknown but we believe that the physical characteristics and behaviour are that of a snake with behaviour similar to a caecilian.
Yacumama has many of the characteristics associated with eye-witness accounts of the Minhocao, a South American cryptid reported widely around the late 19th & early 20th centuries and more recently described as a giant species of caecilian.
Commonly thought to be a giant anaconda the body of evidence suggests that this is a species of snake previously unknown to science.
Dr Fritz Müller, Brazil - Journal Zoologische Garten, 1877
Müller revealed that the channels excavated by the minhocão are so deep that the courses of entire rivers have been altered, roads and hillsides have collapsed, and orchards have fallen to the ground
Dr. Karl Shuker - The Caecilian Theory
Dr Shuker wrote a paper on the Minhocao and was the first to theorise that this animal was a giant caecilian and references Prof. Auguste de Saint Hilaire
Hilaire published a paper in the American Journal of Science in 1847 that first brought the minhocão to Western attention. Revealing that its name is derived from minhoca - Portugese for 'earthworm' - he stated:
Prof. Auguste de Saint Hilaire says:
"...the monster in question absolutely resembles these worms, with this difference, that it has a visible mouth; they also add, that it is black, short, and of enormous size; that it does not rise to the surface of the water, but that it causes animals to disappear by seizing them by the belly."
Dr. Shuker says:
"...their readily visible mouth and a pair of sensory tentacles on their head ,that resemble horns or ears when protruded, corresponds perfectly with the minhocão's...the minhocão's deep trenches mostly appear after continued rain, and seem to start from marshes or river beds...terrestrial caecilians often emerge above ground after heavy rainstorms...In a detailed letter, published by the Gaceta de Nicaragua (10 March 1866), Paulino Montenegro included accounts of a similar creature from Nicaragua said to be covered with a skin clad in scales or plates... it is described in general as a large snake and called 'sierpe,' on account of its extraordinary size, and living in chaquites [pools or ponds]"
Although the caecilian theory makes for a compelling argument, the Black Boa (Yacumama/Sachama/Minhocao) can grow to enormous proportions (40M) capable of levelling large areas of trees and creating channels/trenches 5M wide suggesting that caecilian biology does not fit.
An animal capable of producing these powerful effects on its habitat would be of a size that makes it logical to assume that it has a heart and lungs. This points towards snake rather than caecilian.
A summary of Dr. Shuker's study can be found at: http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html and in his book "In Search of Prehistoric Survivors"
‘Carries its water with it’
Both the indigenous tribes of Africa and South America describe a snake that ‘carries its water with it’.
This may have one or all of the following functions:
I. Stunning prey or dislodging them out trees (the Yacumama reportedly engorges water and shoots it at its prey like a water canon)
II. As it ‘carries its water with it’ it is possible that it may use this water pressure to support its skeletal structure as it moves through the jungle.
III. Mike’s hypothesis is that it can also use water as an instrument for burrowing.
Behaviour & Habitat
These creatures are both aquatic and capable of burrowing deep into the earth. Physical evidence of a network of major and minor watery channels exists at the Napo/Amazon.
Due to this snake’s enormous proportions and weight this area makes it ideally suited as a natural habitat. It is understood that this snake is capable of engorging and discouraging water at a velocity that makes it possible to use the water as an instrument for hunting and burrowing.
The indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon testify to a loud boom that can be heard when the Yacumama is hunting during the wet season.
Food Supply & Cannibalism
This snake favours confluences, a place where two rivers join to become one. A constant food supply given that if one river fails to produce food, at a given time, the chances are the other river will. When both are supplying then the food source would be almost unlimited. It stands to reason that an important part of its diet includes fish (some of which grow to 2M in length) as well as other local animals including caiman, monkeys, manatee, otters, tapirs, capybara and even other snakes.
An animal this size would have no natural predators and any mammal, reptile or fish, in theory, could form part of its food supply.
Mike’s hypothesis is that this snake eventually will grow to be so large that it becomes immobilised in the jungle, thereupon becoming ‘Sachamama’ (mother of the jungle/earth).
At this point it may release pheromones to attract snakes of the same species and thus feed on them. This process may even restrict the population of this species in a given area.
Eyes
Eyes are large and several eye-witness accounts including the most recent sighting known to the Warner’s at Moronocha describe the eyes as being as large as the search lights on a boat (consider the type of search lights common to Amazonian vessels).
Also, there are many reports describing them as glowing or phosphorescent.
Physical Characteristics
The eyes are large. The skin of the body and head is dark brown and may even be black.
The head is large and triangular in shape and may possess other attributes described in the research material as ‘antennae’, ‘horns’ or ‘ears’. Size varies but an adult can reach 40M in length and approximately 2M in width.
Evidence exists at the Napo/Amazon that suggests that another snake of monumental proportions exists at the confluence capable of creating large snake-shaped lagoons.
Photographic evidence exists of two such lagoons of conspicuously similar proportions.
Size (folklore)
Indigenous tribes describe ‘Yacumama’ as being ‘50 paces (125 feet) long’ and ‘anything that passes within 100 paces (250 feet) enters its mouth’
Warner Amazon Expedition 2010
The expedition aims to collect conclusive photographic evidence & DNA samples (for scientific verification) in at least 4 locations where we have established Yacumama activity. No research team has ever established established this level of 'hard evidence' before an expedition in search of the giants snakes of the Amazon.
