Mongolian Death Worm (1983)

The Mongolian death worm (Mongolian: олгой-хорхой, olgoi-khorkhoi, "large intestine-worm") is a creature alleged to exist in the Gobi Desert. Investigations into the legendary creature have been pursued by amateur cryptozoologists and credentialed academics alike, but little evidence has been found to support its existence. It can be considered a cryptid or a mythological animal.

Tales of the creature first came to Western attention as a result of Roy Chapman Andrews's 1926 book On the Trail of Ancient Man. The American paleontologist described second-hand tales of the monster that he heard at a gathering of Mongolian officials: "None of those present ever had seen the creature, but they all firmly believed in its existence and described it minutely." In 1983, a specimen of Tartar sand boa (Eryx tataricus) was shown to locals who claimed to have seen "olgoi-khorkhoi" and they confirmed that this was the same animal.

Source Title

Wikipedia: Mongolian death worm

Source URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_death_worm

Source Notes

Imported from Wikipedia REST, MediaWiki, and Wikidata sources on 2026-07-12. Review article citations and edit details before saving. Wikimedia image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Allghoikhorkhoi.jpg. Coordinates inferred from location context using OpenStreetMap Nominatim query: Mongolia. Date note: Only a year was found; the event date defaults to January 1 at 12:00.

1. Occurred Jan 1, 1983 12:00 PM UTC
2. Submitted Jul 12, 2026 8:02 PM Historical Archive created
3. Approved Jul 12, 2026 8:02 PM Moderator reviewed
4. Media Uploaded Jul 12, 2026 8:02 PM 1 media file