Itzcuintlipotzotli

The Itzcuintlipotzotli is a mysterious animal first described in 1780 in the work "Ancient History of Mexico" by the Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero. It inhabited the Tarascan region of Michoacán in western Mexico and was comparable in size to a Maltese dog.

The mysterious animal first attracted attention in 1780 thanks to the book Ancient History of Mexico by the Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero, a highly regarded scholar of the New World. The animal reportedly inhabited the Tarascan region of Michoacán in western Mexico. It was the size of a Maltese dog, with a small, wolf-like head, a very short neck, a wrinkled muzzle, and small, pendulous ears. Oddly enough, its forelimbs were disproportionately short compared to its hind legs. Most striking, however, was the almost grotesque hump (probably fatty, not bony) running the length of its back, from shoulder blades to thighs.

The last mention of Izcuintlipotzoli dates back to 1843. In her book Life in Mexico, Frances Calderon de la Barca describes a dead animal hanging on a hook by the door of an inn in the Guajimalco Valley. Unfortunately, the specimen likely did not survive.