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Mongolian death worm: myth or reality of the deadly Gobi desert legend [1]
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Date: 2025-06-27
A two-foot-long sausage-shaped worm that kills with a touch or electric discharge may sound like science fiction, but tales of this urban legend have persisted for nearly a century in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. The Mongolian death worm, known locally as "olgoi-khorkhoi" (meaning "large intestine-worm"), first captured Western attention in 1926 through Roy Chapman Andrews' book On the Trail of Ancient Man.
According to Wikipedia, Mongolian Prime Minister Damdinbazar described it in 1922 as "shaped like a sausage about two feet long, has no head nor leg and it is so poisonous that merely to touch it means instant death." Despite multiple expeditions to find the legendary creature, no concrete evidence has emerged.
In 1983, locals who claimed to have seen the death worm identified a Tartar sand boa as the same creature, suggesting a possible real-world inspiration for the legend. The creature reportedly lives underground, creating visible sand waves as it moves, and emerges after rainfall near water sources.
See also: Have you ever heard of the superstition 'Don't Pee on the Worm'?
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