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From 1838 Albert Koch exhibited a skeleton across America and Europe he named the 'Missourium' which he'd assembled from several Mastodon specimens, bulked up with wood to make it appear even larger.

James Pedder, editor of The Farmer's Cabinet and American Herd Book, reinterpreted it as a giant tortoise and sent a letter and sketch to Petty Vaughan dated November 20, 1841 outlining his ideas:

"After minute investigation, and repeated opportunity for examination of the Skeleton of the Missourium, I have been led to conclude that the animal was a Monster of the Tortoise Tribe 32 feet long and correspondent width, with the power of with-drawing its head within its shell; the tusks then forming a mail of defense around its edge to ward off obstruction."

Sketch published in Simpson, G. G. 1936. Misconstructing a mastodon. Natural History, 37: 170-172.

https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/items/535025b6-b184-41a9-8fdb-86ca5d56b849

#mastodon #james pedder #1841 #Missourium #palaeoart #vintage palaeoart

Albert C. Koch – Scientist of the Daay

Albert C. Koch, a German/American naturalist, showman, and entrepreneur, was born May 10, 1804, near Leipzig, Germany.

Missourium

The Incognitum © Asher Elbein

[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord. The Missourium is another gaffed skeletal mount by Albert Koch, this one incorporating multiple mastodon skeletons. A lot of inspiration came from the pamphlet Koch released promoting his skeleton, wherein he compares it to the Leviathan and calls it King of the Beasts.]

Missourium CR 12 NE Magical Beast This shaggy mountain of flesh is vaguely elephantine, but its fingers and toes are both webbed and clawed, and it possesses no trunk. Instead, its enormous tusks curve out and upwards from its head, and two smaller spikes grow downward from its large and muscular jaw. Nodules of bone are visible from underneath its long pelage.

Some call the missourium the true king of beasts. It is a foul tempered and violent carnivore that views animals as its vassals and commands them to its bidding. As such, it only preys upon them as a necessity, preferring the taste of humanoids and other sapient lifeforms. Regions where animals are unusually violent and territorial towards humans, or an upswing of predatory attacks by animals on humanoids may be signs of a missourium in a region. They prefer grassy environments, including marshes, where they hold court in a wallow frequented by animals of all types, even natural enemies.

A missourium is fearsome in combat. Its gaze illuminates and strips creatures of their invisibility, allowing its animal allies to attack them easily. It bolsters itself and its minions with magic before tearing into opponents with tooth, tusk and claw. It especially enjoys picking on creatures much smaller than it, charging through the front ranks of its enemies to assault their weak and vulnerable. Missouriums are wise enough to flee from a fight that is going poorly—a missourium not confident of its chances against a foe may save its blinding flash for a retreat, hoping to slow pursuit.

A missourium is about forty feet long and twenty feet at the shoulder. They walk on their knuckles, but rear up on their hind legs when battling. They are decent swimmers, but are large enough that they often simply walk along the bottom of rivers and lakes.

Missourium CR 12 XP 19,200 NE Gargantuan magical beast Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +10, scent Defense AC 27, touch 9, flat-footed 24 (-4 size, +3 Dex, +18 natural) hp 189 (14d10+112) Fort +17, Ref +12, Will +10 DR 10/piercing; Immune disease, fear, poison Offense Speed 50 ft. Melee bite +21 (2d8+11), gore +21 (3d6+11 plus push), 2 claws +21 (2d6+11/19-20) Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (15 ft. with bite) Special Attacks blinding flash, push (gore, 10 ft.), trample (DC 28, 2d6+16) Spell-like Abilities CL 14th, concentration +17 Constant—pass without trace, speak with animals 3/day—dominate animal (DC 16) 1/day—animal growth, mass bull’s strength Statistics Str 32, Dex 16, Con 26, Int 5, Wis 17, Cha 17 Base Atk +14; CMB +29; CMD 42 (46 vs. trip) Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack, Stand Still Skills Climb +17, Intimidate +17, Perception +10, Swim +21; Racial Modifiers +4 Swim Languages Sylvan, speak with animals SQ hold breath, revealing light, wild empathy +17 Ecology Environment temperate marshes and plains Organization solitary or court (1 plus 2-12 mixed animals) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Blinding Flash (Su) When a missourium’s revealing light is active, the creature may cause the intensity of the light to increase as a standard action. All creatures within the 60 foot cone must succeed a DC 20 Fortitude save or be permanently blinded. A creature that succeeds this save is dazzled for 1d4+1 rounds, and cannot be affected by the blinding flash of that missourium for the next 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma based. Revealing Light (Su) A missourium can emit a 60 foot cone of bright light as a swift action or repress this cone as a swift action. All invisible creatures and objects within the area are visible so long as they remain in the area. Wild Empathy (Ex) A missourium has the ability to use wild empathy as a druid of its Hit Dice.

#missourium #leviathan #pathfinder rpg #commissions #hoax

In 1840, fossil showman Albert Koch bought up all the mastodon bones in one Missouri farmer's field and built them into a fearsome, exaggerated specimen called a "Missourium". Again in 1845, he bought up bones of the prehistoric whale Basilosaurus cetoides. Bones of the whale were often turned up by slaves working the fields in the south and were sometimes used to make furniture or the foundations of houses. He built parts of six different whales into a massive sea serpent he called "Hydrargos sillimani", or Hydrarchos, that was first exhibited in a New York salon.

Koch's fossil mounts frustrated early paleontologists. Koch sold his sea serpent to Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who exhibited it at Berlin's Royal Anatomical Museum over the strenuous objections of the scientific community. A second Hydrarchos was built and sold to Colonel Wood's Museum in Chicago. It was lost in the Chicago Fire of 1871. The Hydrarchos in Berlin was mostly lost during World War II, but some parts remain in the Humboldt Museum.