Monster of Lake Tota

The Monster of Lake Tota is a legendary aquatic animal known in many works diablo ballena. The monster is an inhabitant of Lake Tota in present-day Colombia, according to the Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The earliest reference in modern history was made by the conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. He described the monster as "A fish with a black head like an ox and larger than a whale" (Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita, 1676) and Antonio de Alcedo, 1788)). The monster was also defined as "a monstrous fish", "a black monster", and even as "the Dragon" and as a "divine animal archetype" (2012). The description of the monster of Lake Tota is limited to historical references and what is known within the study of Muisca mythology. A report of an alleged sighting took place in 1652. The legend of the monster of Lake Tota also analyzed using cryptozoology, a pseudoscience with ties to cases such as the Loch Ness monster (Nessie) in Scotland, the monster of Lake Nahuel Huapi (Nahuelito) in Argentina, or "The Hide" of the Mapuche mythology in Argentina and Chile (a serpent monster made of various animal hides). In 1676 (August 12), the Colombian priest and historian Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita (Bogotá, 1624 - Panama, 1688), as requested by the Bishop of Santa Marta, presented his General History of the Conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada: the SCRM d. King Charles II of Spain and the Indies, in which Chapter I, paragraph 13, contains the following statements of a monstrous being on Lake Tota: "Refer to it Lake Tota but calls it a Laguna in the text as a place in which a fish with a black head like an ox and larger than a whale was discovered. When referring to a sighting, an additional citation brings certainty to the matter: "Quesada says that in his time, trusted persons and the Indians affirmed that it was the devil; and for the year six hundred and fifty-two [1652], when I was at the place, Doña Andrea Vargas, lady of the country, spoke about having seen it.