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Plesiosaur?

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    12856
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    The most common speculation among believers is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs (illustration on the left).  The scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as including misidentifications of more mundane objects, outright hoaxes, and wishful thinking.  Despite this, it remains one of the most famous examples of cryptozoology. The legendary monster has been affectionately referred to by the nickname Nessie since the 1940s.

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