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Friday, September 11, 2015

Loch Ness Monster was almost named after Queen Elizabeth

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Famed British conservationist Sir Peter Scott, who gave the Loch Ness Monster the scientific name of Nessiteras rhombopteryx as part of an effort to protect it as an endangered species in case it's real, originally tried in 1960 to get Queen Elizabeth to approve the name Elizabethia Nessiae.
From The Scotsman:
Her Majesty was so interested in the eminent conservationist’s search she asked to be kept personally informed about it.
But Palace officials were dubious. They wanted proof Nessie existed, and questioned if it was appropriate to name a “monster” after the Queen.
The extraordinary documents were uncovered in an archive at Cambridge University.
A letter from Martin Charteris, the Queen’s assistant private secretary at the time, read: “If there is any suggestion of naming the animal after the Queen, there must of course be irrefutable evidence of it’s existence. It would be most regrettable to connect Her Majesty in any way with something which ultimately turned out to be a hoax."
More on this matter at The Independent: "The Queen and the Loch Ness monster: a murky tale of myth, nature and spin"
And regarding the name Nessiteras Rhombopteryx, this from the Museum of Hoaxes:
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Sir Peter Scott of the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau participated in the 1972 expedition that produced the flipper photo. Feeling that the photo provided proof that some kind of large creature existed in the loch, he decided to give the animal a scientific name: Nessiteras Rhombopteryx (which meant "the Ness wonder with a diamond fin"). But London newspapers soon pointed out that if you juggled around the letters in this name, you got the phrase "monster hoax by Sir Peter S." Was this evidence that the flipper photo had been a deliberate hoax? Scott denied it. Dr. Rines came to his rescue by pointing out that if you juggled the letters around a bit more, you could spell "Yes, both pix are monsters. R."  
Above, "The Surgeon's Photo," known to be a hoax.

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