Firefighters in Paraguay found the decomposing body of a creature that none of them could identify. This being South America, the immediate reaction was “Chupacabra!” but others thought it might be a space alien or a new and different kind of Paraguayan cryptid. What is it?

According to many local reports, the body was found on October 21 near the shore of the Parana River in Carmen del Paraná, Itapúa. It’s not clear whether they discovered it, but a group of volunteer firefighters were among the first to examine the body. Their initial speculation was that the creature was part human or possibly an ape not from the local area. A medical examiner who examined the photos was unable to determine what it might be.

Local witnesses who viewed the body and those who saw it on the Internet speculated it might be a Chupacabra, an alien, an unknown cryptid, an ape or some sort of humanoid. As of this writing, they were waiting for a formal autopsy to be conducted to determine what the volunteer firefighters had found.

If it’s not an ape, Chupacabra or extraterrestrial, what could the creature be? South America is home to a number of cryptids that might match this creature. The Maricoxi is said to be an aggressive ape-like creature living in the jungle and ranging in height from 2 to 6 feet, although there are a few claims of it reaching 12 feet tall. Explorer Peter Fawcett claimed to have seen a group of them in 1914.

Another possibility is the Mono Grande (Spanish for “large monkey”), a monkey-like creature that is much larger in size than the New World monkeys. Sightings of these go back to the late 1500s when explorers Pedro Cieza de León and Sir Walter Raleigh wrote about them. A photograph from 1920 of a Mono Grande or another ape-like cryptid named the De Loys’ Ape for its discoverer, François de Loys, is believed by most to be a spider monkey, but other sightings occur periodically.

As of this writing, the body found by firefighters in Carmen del Paraná has still not been identified. Monkey? Cupacabra? Alien? Mono Grande or Maricoxi? A completely new cryptid? Something else? What do you think?