Mongolian death worm

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The Mongolian death worm (Mongolian: олгой-хорхой, olgoi-khorkhoi, "large intestine-worm") is a cryptid of Mongolian folklore, said to live in the Gobi Desert. Tales of the alleged animal first came to Western attention as a result of Roy Chapman Andrews's 1926 book On the Trail of Ancient Man. The American paleontologist described second-hand tales of the monster that he heard at a gathering of Mongolian officials: "None of those present ever had seen the creature, but they all firmly believed in its existence and described it minutely." In 1983, a specimen of Tartar sand boa (Eryx tataricus) was shown to locals who claimed to have seen "olgoi-khorkhoi" and they confirmed that this was the same animal.

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