Tatzelwurm: The "Paw Worms"

I was Googling around when I happened to find the following image on a Czech Web site:


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/77859adf654c.jpg[/atsimg]


Intrigued, I plugged the site into Google Language Tools and got the following description:

Tatzelwurm 30. 30th 2009 v 11:57 | May 2009 at 11:57 am | Mysterious Animals Himalayas may have snow, Scotland has the Loch Ness and the Alps are Tatzelwurma. The creature is described as a thin black-colored with two paws behind his head and poisonous skin. Although his name means paw worms is as described amphibian recalls. Many people regarded tatzelwurma but never provided conclusive proof that there really is. Several times it happened Tatzelwurmové observers also attacked. Nearby cities Unken be a farmer so terrified of unknown creatures that died on the spot - a memorial that commemorates the day in Unken. If tatzelwurm there could be some kind of salamander that might survive in the Alps.

Here's the Google translated page:

translate.google.com...


And here's the original:

deinonych.blog.cz...


Anybody ever heard of this thing before?

There is a wiki page for it, although it's not overly packed with info.

en.wikipedia.org...

Here is a better one.
www.monstropedia.org...

And it's even on Cryptomundo.
www.cryptomundo.com...

Never heard of it before though.

Pazcat, what sort of animal is that in the image you linked to?

Meanwhile, the photo on the Cryptomundo page is frustratingly small, but interesting.

To be honest I'm not sure, I figured it was just another representation of it. It could be some kind of skink or salamander but I think it is just artistic license.

Pazcat, that looks to me like an actual photograph, and not something that's been Photoshopped. I'll run this by a guy I know who's an avid herp enthusiast and see what he has to say....

I didn't even have to bug him about it. A TinEye.com reverse image search reveals that the creature in your pic is an ajolote, also known as the Mexican mole lizard:

Wikipedia entry for Mexican mole lizard

Note that "ajolote" can also refer to this very different species of aquatic salamander:

Wikipedia article about axolotl