Identifying the... Sachamama

Mata mata head.
Image credit Wikipedia.

 Perhaps one of the least well known of all Amazonian cryptids is the Sachamama. Although it is described by local peoples as a giant snake with a shell, its appearance and behaviour suggest a very different identity.

The following text on the Sachamama is taken from http://www.elmundomagico.org, a folklore website.

From the Quechua “spirit mother of the jungle”, the Sachamama is a huge eared boa believed to dwell in the same place for a very long time. Vegetation grows on its body and makes the snake easily be mistaken by a fallen tree. It may devour the unaware hunter who has accidentally stepped on its body.

The description of the Sachamama really fails to create a mental image of a snake. However, it does accurately match the description of some kind of giant turtle.

Let's start with the behaviour. Predatory turtles, like the alligator snapping turtle or the mata mata (actually an Amazonian inhabitant itself) will remain motionless underwater for hours on end, waiting to ambush any prey that comes along. As reptiles, they are unable to stay submerged for so long that vegetation grows on their backs - but many species of turtle do usually end up with algae growing on their shells simply from spending too much time in the water.

Obviously the physical attribute of the shell is indicative of some form of turtle, but the "snake threaded through a shell" does not. Few turtles really have snake-like heads and long necks, although the mata mata does have a fairly long neck. However, a few ancient types of South American turtles from the Eocene were "side-necked", which means they would have had rather long necks. So a relict giant turtle, such as Carbonemys or Puentemys, matches the Sachamama physically, too, as would an undiscovered giant form of mata mata. A giant mata mata might actually make more sense than a prehistoric turtle, since mata matas look like plants naturally, covered in spines and lumps.

Of course, there is the possibility that stories of the Sachamama are simply based on sightings of regular mata matas, exaggerated for dramatic purposes.