Professor Patrick J. Schembri: Over the last two or three weeks, I have been sent the accompanying picture at least nine times by different persons who had received it over the Internet and who wanted more information about the creature depicted. A number of versions of this picture seem to be doing the rounds. The most common has accompanying text that says that this creature occurs at Il-Maghluq in Marsascala, while another version says that this animal was photographed at Bahrija. I am invariably asked if this is a real discovery or if it is a hoax, whether such an animal actually exists, whether it is a salamander or a lizard, and whether this is a native or an alien species.The short answer to all these queries is that yes, this is a hoax, but the animal shown really exists, or rather, it has existed, since it became extinct about 270 million years ago.The picture itself is a hoax that seems to have originated overseas, although I have not been able to trace where. The image might be of a model or it might be a doctored image created digitally.

The animal shown is a type of early amphibian called Diplocaulus that is distinguished by two elongated bones at the back of the skull that in life gave the animal a very odd, boomerang-shaped head.Diplocaulus lived some 270 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs appeared, and its fossils have been found in North America. Although not a salamander but rather a member of a now extinct group of amphibians called nectridians, Diplocaulus very much resembles a modern salamander apart for its head.

View: Full Article | Source: Times of Malta

i think i have seen one like this when i was a boy.

Other than their word, what makes them think this is fake?

It's not out of the realm of possibility.

Agreed. I do think its a possibility. But there are a few hard core photoshoppers these days. And its all over the net, where did the lizard itself go? I mean, these hairless foxes have been reported. People take pictures THEN give it to science. Where is this thing?


also, notice the pic is small. If there was a large version, I'd be easy to see a photoshop job.

I hope this finally settles it. I'm so tired of that picture...

I could say this is fake but i have seen one like this when i was a boy. I always roam the rivers, the muds, anything that has water because i liked catching tadpoles and it reminds me that i caught one of this. And also 2 headed tadpoles and 2 tailed tadpoles.

haha...cool...a hammerhead....errr i mean cresenthead..hahah
Well it looks fake to me, not real at all..yes not real at all

Can't you read properly ?




my analysis tells me it is digitally altered.










( the most abused word on this forum : FAKE ! )

omg thats awsome!,,hope its real cos im gonna buy 1!

it is interesting looking-
and cute at the same time!

I'm a huge skeptic, and I'm uncertain.

For a few reasons -

1) As I said, it's a possibility something that small could have survived millions of years, or perhaps layed dormant (some reptiles can do that, much like bacteria).

2) It looks asthough it has weight and definition.

3) I can't spot any photoshopping...perhaps someone could point out to me something?

4) Look at it, it's about the size of a cat. It could easily hide from humans. Especially in the jungles of say, South America, or Indonesia.

5) It looks land based and water based...like a turtle. So maybe it's a deepsea creature? A decendant of the original?

It looks more like a model than a photoshop pic

Very good point Mad manfred I agree with you.And,it has WAY too much defenition to be photoshopped.If it was photoshopped,then there would be a blur to make it look natural.But,there is no blur,the pic is very clear.The coelacanth was thought to be extinct for 300 million years,but it isn't extinct.I believe that this lizard is real.Weirder things have been real and true anyways...

Here is a coelacanth for those of you that don't know what it is,or,if you just want some cool pics ...

uhh.. You're not talking to me are you?! I was stating the picture looks fake, which it specifically states..."The picture itself is a hoax that seems to have originated overseas," well, obviously it WAS real, but i was refering to the picture itself...SHEESH

Ye i think its REAL !!!
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Anyone can create duplicates...the question is, IF it is fake, how did they create it?

If it was real, wouldn't the original photographer have come out in public by now?
Maybe the person who had the thing, does not have knowledge of the pic on the internet, but the person that originally put it on the net would know.

Just something to think about.

If it was indeed taken from South America the photographer would have been after a quick buck. He would have sold the photograph and film and it eventually wound up on the Net.

Maybe he cares more about the creature itself than money.Maybe the guy is a scientist that is secretly studying it by himeself,or with others.Maybe the creature died after.Maybe he did sell it to someone for money,we wouldn't have heard about any of that,so we can't know for sure...

BTW,i do not believe that it is a duplicate,it too damn well defined.Why is it so hard to believe that this creature exists?New species of creatures are always being discovered.Like thousands of new sea creatures have just recently been discovered in Canada.I believe that there is still many creatures on land(not just water) that have still not been discovered

I sort of go by Occam's Razor type logic with stuff like this. A nice model in a bucket is so much more likely than a coelacanth-type survival which produces only one highly suspicious photograph and no other evidence.

i had a close encoutner with one of these animals when i was a boy...i held it in my hand for a few seconds but it was so slippery i couldnt hold onto it and it escaped...i'm not sure if the creature in the picture is real or not but there are..or atleast were animals relativly similar to this one living in south carolina

When I was in the 7 th grade science class we put an egg in a cheese cloth, tied it off, and put in in a fresh water stream. The nest day the bag was covered with some little worm critters (forget their name) that has a head simular to the picture. But with no legs. We use to cut them in half and watch each half grow to become two individuals.
But I have never seen anything like whats pictured.