Death Worms: Fact or Fiction? | Monstrum
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Rumored to roam some of the world’s most desolate places the poisonous, killer death worm can trace its history in folklore back thousands of years. Made more famous and frightening with science fiction series like Dune and Tremors, killer worms are part of our cultural knowledge-but does any creature like them exist in the real world? This episode looks at the possible inspirations behind some of history’s most famous death worms, like the Mongolian death worm of the Gobi Desert, and takes a look at the creatures that wiggle, slither, and creep their way across our planet. #deathworms #mongoliandeathworm #dune #MonstrumPBS
Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Illustrator: Samuel Allen
Editor: Ray Lux
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn’t afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster in each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans' unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature, and film and digs deep into the history of those mythologies.
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Bibliography
Andrews, Roy Chapman. On the Trail of Ancient Man. G.P. Putnam’s Sons: New York & London, 1926.
Andrews, Roy Chapman, et al. The New Conquest of Central Asia; a Narrative of the Explorations of the Central Asiatic Expeditions in Mongolia and China, 1921-1930. 1st. ed., American Museum of Natural History, 1932.
Beck, Daniel D. Biology of Gila Monsters and Beaded Lizards. University of California Press, 2005.
Coram, Robert A. & Jonathan D. Radley. “Devon’s desert ‘worms.’” Geology Today, vol. 32, no. 2, March-April 2016, pp. 65-69.
Ctesias. Ancient India as Described by Ktêsias the Knidian; Being a Translation of the Abridgement of His “Indika” by Photios, and of the Fragments of That Work Preserved in Other Writers. By J.W. McCrindle. With Introduction, Notes and Index. Thacker, Spink & co. etc., 1882.
Dusen, S., et al. “Nematode Parasites of the Two Limbless Lizards: Turkish Worm Lizard, Blanus Strauchi (Bedriaga, 1884) (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae), and Slow Worm, Anguis Fragilis Linnaeus 1758 (Squamata: Anguidae), from Turkey.” Helminthologia, vol. 47, no. 3, 2010, pp. 158-63.
Eriksson, Mats E., Luke A. Parry, and David M. Rudkin. "Earth's Oldest 'Bobbit Worm' - Gigantism in a Devonian Eunicidan Polychaete." Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), vol. 7, 2017, pp. 43-61.
Hanson, Jeffrey O., et al. “Feeding across the food web: The interaction between diet, movement and body size in estuarine crocodiles.” Austral Ecology 40, 2015, pp. 275-86.
Herbert, Brian. Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert. United States, Tor Book, 2004.
Karttunen, Klaus. India in Early Greek Literature. Helsinki: Studia Orientalia, 1989.
Misra, Ria. “The Real-Life Animal Inspirations Behind Movie Monsters.” Gizmodo, June 30, 2014.
The Metaphor of the Monster: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding the Monstrous Other in Literature, edited by Keith Moser, and Karina Zelaya, Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2020.
O’Malley, Bairbre. Clinical Anatomy and Physiology of Exotic Species: Structure and Function of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, and Amphibians. New York: Elsevier Saunders, 2005.
Pan, Yun-Yun, et.al. “The 20-million-year old lair of an ambush-predatory worm preserved in northeast Taiwan.” Scientific Reports 11 (1174), 2021, pp. 1-9.
The Science of Dune: An Unauthorized Exploration Into the Real Science Behind Frank Herbert's Fictional Universe, Ed. Kevin R. Grazier. United States, BenBella Books, 2007.
Sharma, R. K. Nāga in Indian Iconography and Art: from the Earliest Times to c. 13th Century AD . Aryan Books International, 2014.
Staff Writers. "400 million year old gigantic extinct monster worm discovered in Canadian museum." Space Daily, February 27, 2017.
Stoneman, Richard. The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2019.
Wilson, H.H. Notes on the Indica of Ctesias. Oxford: The Ashmolean Society, 1836.
The Alaskan bull worm clearly doesn't get enough credit in the world of death worms.
beat me to it
It's big, scary, and pink! But so is Patrick's belly button.
I was hoping someone would comment this.
I was going to make a comment that this video reminds me of that Spongebob episode, but thank you for making a mention about the Alaskan Bull Worm.
Exactly
Being an ancient Greek geographer must have been so fun. Just being able to sit around and make up stuff about other countries. "Yeah, man, there's a big worm in India that eats horses. Source? C'mon, man, just trust me."
The days when no one bothered fact checking because they were gullible enough to swallow everything.
@@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980 I don't think it was about fact checking. The average Ancient Greek person couldn't just pack up and move to India to look for a Big Worm, so believing it without evidence was kind of their only option.
I saw a gorgon once.turned my brother to stone. He got better
@@bennycostello2472 It's true. Your sister-in-law had to buy this magical charm for just 3 francs. He was lucky she got it to him in time. Supplies are limited, so buy yours today, while you can!
@@bennycostello2472 I smell a Monty python reference or maybe that’s just the elderberries
"How do we make the Death worm more terrifying?"
"Make it Mongolian..."
nice
Sfgj
😂😂
And make it pink and Alaskan.
@@Raccon_Detective. Don't forget to add a Bull in front of it's name
The crocodiles mistaken for giant worms theory is interesting since THAT'S the etymological meaning of crocodile.
"Middle English cocodrille, cokadrill, from Old French cocodrille, via medieval Latin from Latin crocodilus, from Greek krokodilos ‘worm of the stones’, from krokē ‘pebble’ + drilos ‘worm’."
Oddly enough, there is another New Latin word for crocodile, "suchus" used in paleontology/biology to denote crocodilians and similar animals (in fact many creatures with the suffix in their name are not true crocodilians) that is derived from the Greek word "Soûkhos" which was used to refer to the Egyptian crocodile headed god Sobek
makes sense as in wyrm
Thanks for the knowledge
Ahh the endless game of telephone that is linguistics. I love tidbits like this.
@@flightlesslord2688 pretty sure thats just a respelling.
In german we have wurm (and I think norwegian and dutch also call it smth like that). Literally meaning worm.
Lindwurm, (idk if thats a common english word), is a name for a type of dragon that would have its burrow among and below the roots of trees (Linde being a type of tree).
(iirc Lindwuermer have no wings, two front legs and sometimes spit hostile substances).
Fun fact: some Mongolia desert locals were shown a picture of a sand boa and directly referred to it as a death worm. The dude who showed the picture was Russian zoologist Yuri Gorelov
This is something I read about too. It would seem that serpents and other reptiles like crocodilians are often the inspiration for dragons, wyrms and other mythic creatures.
that's funny because sand boas are so tiny (and harmless).
I watched an unrelated doco about Mongolian tribes people, and they were adamant the Death Worm exists, in fact they claimed a family member (sorry I cannot recall the relation, was years ago) died just the week earlier from a bite from death worm.
Not saying it's real or not but watching the conviction of the tribal people had me thinking maybe, but without evidence of its existence I remain sceptical.
@Hernando Malinche Oh I apologise, the doco was so convincing they never mentioned it as a mythical creature just a snake or similar that was highly venomous (hypothesised to take down yak's) but yeah obviously I'll accept I'm wrong sorry Hernando.
PS. do you recommend any good (accurate doco on Mongolia/Tribal) I find those people so strong, bonded by a family unit and from what I've seen those children are raised to survive helping with everything. If you were/are a tribesman man just know this keyboard fake-warrior couldn't do anything you can do. Keep that tradition alive Brother. Love from Australia
And chumbacabara is really
Looks like I picked the wrong day to have leftover spaghetti for lunch.
Lame joke man
😂🤣😂🖖
You're everywhere!
Solidarity, I showed up with rice.
Its worth keeping in mind that Europe, where many scholars that told of grand monsters "in the east" came from, does not have any crocodiles. These monsters would be all new, and would be rather terrifying to see.
Also many people would base their descriptions on animal books. So some guy would say. "Yeah down in Africa they got camels with spots.
"LIKE a leopard camel."
I don't know what a camel is.
Oh that's okay. I don't know what a leopard is.
there's also lampreys/hagfish. While they are technically fish, they do resemble the mythical death worms...complete with toothed, circular mouth. Also, leaches.
I can't believe they didn't mention hag fish or lampreys! Lampreys have the circular mouth that is so often associated with death worms, and hag fish have even creepier lateral mouths that move horizontally (rather that the vertical movement found in gnathostomes). Plus they feed on animals much larger than they are (albeit, many are scavengers). Missed opportunity to mention these crazy jawless fishes.
The Mongolian Death Worm seem to be a victim of shounen power creep. Bigger, more poisonous and now it spit lightning.
"It's not even my final form!"
Today I learned that the word "crocodile" comes from the Greek words that means lizard, but it's homophone with the word that means "Pebbles worm" so it might really be a relationship between crocodiles and river worms.
Lol, I remember that bonkers Animal Planet show "Lost Tapes" had an episode on the Mongolian Death Worm. It mostly mentions the old Mongolian legends, but then half way through the show claims they might be mutated lizards from Chinese nuclear tests, which... if they were created in nuclear tests in the 50s... where did the stories from before that come from? :-P
Ah, you see, those lizards just further mutated until they became hyper-intelligent and learned how to time travel. They then traveled back in time, subtly altering the timeline to ensure China does nuclear tests near Mongolia. That way the lizards get mutated, so that they can then go on to mutate lizards.
@@MatthewSmith-sz1yq Of course! It all makes sense now!
@@MatthewSmith-sz1yq EXACTLY what I'd come to post.
For a while there, Animal Planet in prime time was fact-free dressing 🥗
"Before it was fiction but OUR reports are real!!!"
I love your show! Specially how you manage to tie monsters origins with biology, psychology, history and culture.
Monstrum is my favorite type of videos on this channel. I learn new things about stories and get inspiration for some monsters for the pen and paper sessions:D
And: Worms (the pink ones) are really cute.
I thought Dune was a desert planet primarily because the Sandtrout (larval sandworms) encapsulate any free water as part of their biological process (which also produces the Spice.)
Yes that is true lol
That's what I remember also. Open water is the only way to stop a full grown worm from a settlement (in the later books).
*whispers*- The SPICE MELANGE!
@@armandowillem it must flow!
@@mokspr He who controls the Spice, controls the universe!
"...digests everything but the intestines." So. That's what we're going with. Seems legit. Should have gone with bones, but hey, cool story bro.
I mean its picky worm dude. My sister is 21 years old and still doesnt eat the crust on a pbj. Let him push the intestines on the floor to the worm dog.
Well even if you’re a worm sometimes you don’t want to eat crap all the time, which you’d find in the intestines.
Many animals are desing to eat only a few thing out of what they find. Bearded vulture only eat bone and tendons of carcasses.
It's because the intestines kinda look like worms themselves and they don't want to eat their own kin
@@dubbingsync yeah worms live in the intestines so even the worm doesn't like worms 😳
I remember reading about mythical giant death worms that live in Mongolia. This book also had a good chapter about the Mothman.
2:50 I would also argue as a science geek that the description of the Indus Worm sounds like an exaggerated account of polychaete worms of the family Onuphidae, some of which can grow up to 2 or 3 metres. They similarly live in the sediment and have two large mouthparts, and have been known to bite humans. Though not mortally dangerous, they could easily inspire fear if glimpsed briefly by those unfamiliar with them.
While reading The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales I learned about Osedax the bone devouring worms that live in the abyss.
The word abyss makes it sound like you're talking about fiction rather than science. Maybe just use deep see
@@styrax7280 “Abyss” is in fact the proper term for a specific level of the deep sea, with the vast majority of the ocean floor taking the form of “abyssal plains”.
@@d3in0nychu5 my bad. Should have dug a little deeper
@@styrax7280
👍🏿😎
Nice
CZcams is mainly a ‘before bedtime’ nightly thing for me, and it always makes my day so much better and happier when I find Monstrum has dropped a new episode. It’s like my wonderfully brilliant friend Dr. Zarka is telling me a bedtime story that is right up my creepy/freaky yet wonderful alley!
Every Monstrum episode: "Yeah they used to exist, but not anymore. Maybe."
What? In all Monstrum episodes I saw it is made very clear that these creatures are are only myth and folklore. Monstrum has a more scientific approach to these things and not the dumb and infantile "they may exist(ted) somewhere" approach that many other channels follow that deal with these topics.
Holy quality... The animation on these episodes just keeps getting better and better. Great job on this one, Doc and the team!
10:36
*"Australia also happens to have a few species of burrowing beach worms that can grow quite long. Because of course they do."*
*~Dr Z*
ROTFLMAO! 🤣
Welcome to Australia the land of Nope when it comes to nightmare creatures! 🇦🇺
I always forget how terrifying most animals in Australia are
Australians stereotypically always seems so chilled out and lovin life
I'd be probably shittin my pants every time I'd do anything
Put my shoes on? Vacuum the inside first.
Go to bed? Double check the whole bed and vacuum the entire room first.
Go outside and see a kangaroo? Mentally prepare to lose a horrifying boxing match and try to blend into the surroundings to hide.
Well, these worms have never been reported to eat people. Of course, there were several expeditions sent to examine them that never came back. Dunno what happened to them.
I swear the more I learn about Australia
The more terrified I am of nature
@@littleloner1159 And don’t even think about swimming in the ocean nor in the rivers.
@@Dinoslay Outside of the Northern Territory (Crocodile country) the most dangerous thing in a river in Australia is a strong current. Occasionally a Bull shark will swim up a river. But that happens in the US as well. So its not an Australian exclusive thing.
"Shai-Hulud. Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people."
- Frank Herbert's Dune -
the way dr emily pronounces "Ptolemy"... absolutely groundbreaking
Hey, Storied, I noticed a small mistake: At 5:08 the subtitles read [put meters on screen] haha
Happens to the best of us. It's supposed to be 0,6 meters by the way.
I do so love the subtitles, like giving the scientific name of animals, translating sizes and off course "Because Australia"
I LOVE THE TREMORS SHIRT! Literally, PERFECTION!
I'm just mad I had to scroll down so far to see a comment about it!
I remember they made something like that in spongebob the Texas Bull Worm episode.
Alaskan Bull Worm
It's *BIG!* *SCARY!* and *PINK!*
@@thatguy2756 oh right lolz my bad XD
Instantly my head goes to alaskan bull worm from spongebob.
It's *BIG!* *SCARY!* and *PINK!*
Same lol
One of my favorite novels, 新世界より (Shinsekai Yori) uses the bobbit worm as inspiration for one of its giant monsters.
It was an image that stuck with me after descriptions in the book led me to the real thing.
"It's so poisonous that even just looking at it will cause instant death."
Woah, that sure does sound poisonous. Calling it a "Death Worm" was the right call.
10:40 "Because of course they do"
Best sentence. 😄
I see that Primeval reference!
Finally a new monstrum videoo!
one of the most curious myths about worms is the Tatzelwurm the feline like dragon with cobra coils from the Alpine Region of Europe
If you look at the crazy worms from the Cambrian. You can see how they inspire the lore. As the worms back then were much more crazy!
The fact that you referrenced Tremors warms my soul 😄
If I didn't love this channel already, I would definitely start now. A self-professed "Tremors" lover has my unconditional adoration!
"Real-life three metres long worms-" WHAT???? "-in Australia." Aahhh...
I have never started watching a Monstrum video this early, I would like to commend the makers of the show for doing it so well and would also like to request that an Indian monster be covered, such as Vetalas
I'm writing a book series about dragons whose fallen spawn are essentially botfly larvae. So vile and disgusting awful things.
This was awesome ideas Doc! Thanks as always. And why do your videos always give me bugitis as I'm scratching everything!!!
"Worms with jaws... THAT ARE REAL."
Anyone remember this epic friv game where you control a desert deathworm that goes underground and eats camille,humans etc? That's literally the first thing that came to my mind when i saw the thumbnail 😂😂❤️
Finally something for a under-appreciated cryptid! I LOVE the Mongolion death worm sooo much
Same
What if it spat acid at you and electrocuted you to death not even 5 seconds later
and then jeff bezos comes in and absorbs the worm, gaining its powers and growing in size again
Criminally under subscribed channel. I've been subbed to numerous pbs channels over the years, but I've only now just stumbled across this channel. Fantastic analysis and cross reference of species and human psychology. Can't applaud this enough.
My favorite worm like Monster is the Creature from Bram Stokers Story „The Lair of the white Worm“ even if this creature is closer to a dragon. I love this story
Watching this thinking of the Molduga from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, though they are more like giant sand sharks
I’d like to add Gusano Grande, Were-worms, and Dungeon Worm to this list.
Hold up... wereworms like a worm variant of werewolves? o_O
Also Worm-That-Walks, which should be in more Dungeons & Dragons stories.
@@gwyndolinds-en8yt One of Tolkien’s creatures. They made a huge appearance in Battle of the Five Armies.
@@Hallows4 Yeah, I researched and it is cited in the Hobbit books. But anything from the Hobbit movies, I erased from my mind because of sheer horror from that adaptations.
Thanks for the answer!
Was that a reference to the Primeval show? Man, now I have to subscribe just for THAT.
Well, that and that your videos are genuinely good and educational.
I remember my basketball rolling onto the yard while I was playing and I hopped from rock to rock to get it after watching tremors way too young as a kid haha.
Great video, but I missed the most uncanny of all worms in literature: H.P. Lovecrafts body-replacing maggots and worms, towering up to human size, in his short story "The Festival"! I always have loved all kinds of creatures and never felt icky about worms and related crawlers, but after reading this story as a child, a bunch of maggots would give me the heebie-jeebies for a long time :-))
Just want to cite:
While the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, “Man,”
And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.
Props for the 'Termors' T-shirt Emily.
Poor forgotten Chthonians! Apparently, they wanted to use them for Tremors but couldn't get the rights, so instead, we got the Graboids
Kudos to you for an interesting and entertaining video about monsters of myths and legends... one of my many favorite interests. I'm glad you mentioned giant worms of modern movies (Dune Worms and Graboids), but surprised that the Purple Worms from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons RPG weren't included. Of course many people who aren't familiar with the AD&D games might not be aware of their existence. There's also the enormous Space Slug seen in Star Wars - Ep.5: The Empire Strikes Back back in 1980. True, it was more slug-like than worm, but it was enormous enough to live inside an asteroid the size of a small moon. Of course, the Dune Worms and Graboids are more memorable than my examples. Just adding my 2 bitcoins worth of fun knowledge to the mix. In closing, you're doing a great job entertaining use CZcamsrs/subscribers who greatly enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the great work!!!
There's also the sand-swimmer snake, which can be seen moving just under the desert surface, the sand lifting and pushing forward as the serpent slithers below.
You briefly mentioned maggots and I think that's a good point. I think fear of worms has not only to do with them being slithery invertebrates, but perhaps some association with maggots and death, and also the fact that they live right under your feet without you knowing.
Anyway, this was a real quality episode. I love when mythology ties into real world animals.
Finally another Monstrum video
Thank you, Dr. Zarka. More Monstrum, please!
Thank you for another awesome episode with Dr. Z!
I love monsters! I hope you do videos on the Kitsune and the Kappa of Japan.
I love the concept of this channel! Subscribed :-).
3:56 - the lady (with a cat on her head) on the left is from Minoan Crete, which is in the Mediterranean, not the Indus valley.
You beat me to it, I just saw the original in Crete!
Nice tremors reference. I liked those first three movies growing up.
Wooooo!! I'm always ready for another Monstrum episode! Excited to see more about Death Wurms, hopefully the Mongolian Death Wurm makes an appearance. The MDW fascinated (and scared) me when I was younger, and a part of me hoped that it was real. If it was, that meant there was a greater, mysterious world out there
One of my favourite channels great job guys
Some creature suggestions:
huaka'i pō
Jubokko
Khalkotauroi
Yacuruna
Carcolh
Curupira
Ammit
Grootslang
Garuda
Ahuizotl
Troll
I love the scope of your research and presentation 🦉
"I fell I was denied critical need to know information." Burt Gummer tremors.
Yes
My hypothesis for gargantuan worms is the discovery of giant neck vertebrae from long extinct sauropods or plesiosaurs . BTW love your shirt , Go Graboids !
Deathworms are one of my favs, awesome to see you finally got to them! Also love to see a Primeval reference
"Actually 🤓👆" Skoléx is a species of dragon (also called Skolikas) and from what I've read a Skoléx is the dragon that could have killed Beowulf. Not sure about that last one but it's awsome how everything is just connecting together!! 🙌
Scolex is also the name of the hook that tapeworms have
JUST WHEN I BINGED THE ENTIRE SERIES TODAY- PERFECT TIMING!
You're voice is amazing. Keep up the good work 😃
Love the fact that you mentioned Dune, both a great book and a great movie (2021 adaptation). I can see the similarities between the death worms of Mongolia and the sandworms of Arrakis.
My inner geek is disappointed that the D&D purple worm didn't get a mention. ;)
Whereas my inner Greek is disappointed with the pronunciation of Ptolemy.
Lowly Worm, Scary. I see what you did there. Love it!
I was gonna make the same comment but in this busy town you got here first.
Awesome Video 🙌🏽
Tremors will forever be my favorite movie 🥲
Great video. And totally awesome you wore that Tremors shirt. 🙂🙂❤
I heard in a magazine that something with, like, yellow-and-pink spots, can ward off Mongolian Death Worms
Love your show!
Doc, you make me so happy.
Oooohhhh! A new video. Thank you! 😄
Thank you so much I've been waiting for so long
Nice, I've been waiting for a new Monstrum
I know they don't fit in your definition of what a worm is, but could leaches have helped to inspire some of these stories?
Leeches are absolutely worms and I bet you're right that they inspired some of those monster stories.
That Tremors shirt is-- what else--perfection👌🏻
Sandworms, you hate ‘ em right?! I hate ‘ em myself!
Great background music!!!
Yet another video that reminds me that bobbit worms exist
That shirt!!! Yes! I saw Perfection and thought “wish they made shirts from the Tremors series” then I got a closer look… so awesome! That’s definitely something I haven’t seen before.
I wonder if this was to tie in to the upcoming Dune Movie.
"Are there actually enormous terrifying worms roaming the earth?" The moment you said that I thought you'd mention the Dracunculus or some other parasitic worm
Thank you for teaching me that the P in Ptolemy isn't silent. You learn something new every day...
STORIED: Death Worms: Fact or fiction
DEATH WORM: Don't mind me, I'm just chilling under the ground.
the subtitles are AAA! thanks!
Thank you Dr. Zarka.
Her shirt choice makes this video 1000% more perfect 👌
another great video
The t-shirt is a nice touch.
Reference to Tremors, Dune, and Primeval. 10/10.