Probably one of the most successful video game franchises in recent years, Monster Hunter has always been a series that has captured the imagination of many people with its fantastical yet realistic creatures. From the scary Vaal Hazak to the goofy...
Throughout our history there have been thousands of cultures, with each of them being unique in their own ways; however, there is one thing that they all have in common. No matter the time or place, we have always invented monsters.
Coming in every possible shape and size, we imagined monsters for many reasons. Some like the thunderbird were made up to explain natural events, others, such as the wendigo, discourage committing taboo acts, and then there are those who were created to simply give a face to our fears, and of course, sometimes they're simply just invented for entertainment.
However, sometimes the line between fiction and reality can become blurred, and allow the monsters from our legends to cross into our world. This scenario has happened many times before, but the legend of the Three Lords of Elgado stands out amongst them.
The story tells of three brothers who battled each other for their deceased father's kingdom: Elgado. Eventually the trio transformed themselves into monsters to destroy the others. The first became an armoured colossus with the elements of fire and water, the second morphed into a wolf with the power of ice, and the third morphed into a life stealing dragon. But even with their new forms and abilities, the triplets were never able to best each other. Due to their selfishness and desire to conquer, the three lords lost all semblance of their humanity and became little more than beasts.
At first glance this may seem like another cautionary tale; however, paleontological finds in the heart of Europe have revealed that the three lords were real and coexisted with each other during the early Pleistocene. Unfortunately, as civilization evolved, expanded, and encroached on their habitats, these animals were driven out or became extinct.
Sadly, this was likely one of many reasons why one of the three lords, Petradermopithecus árchonti, and its many subspecies have gone extinct. However, in New Guinea, one subspecies, Petradermopithecus árchonti austrosus, has managed to escape their cousins' fate by just being lucky.
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Known as Garangolm in the tale of the Three Lords, these Pelagi are the largest Primates to have ever existed, with the largest, P. a. gigat, growing to be 3 meters in length and 2.1 in height when standing on all fours. But when they stood up on their hind legs, these European titans would have been 3.3 meters tall.
P. a. austrosus on the other hand are typically 2.3 meters in length and stand 1.8 in height when knuckle walking, though they reach 3 meters when fully erect. Similarly to most species of Primates, female Garangolms are usually smaller than males; however, this size discrepancy isn't that noticeable, as they can still look you in the eye without getting on their hind limbs.
Even though this enormous size is more than enough to protect these Primates from predators, Garangolms are still clad in thick, heavy armor, made from keratin. Although somewhat redundant now, there's a good reason why these animals are so well protected.
Today, Garangolms have little to worry about, but it wasn't always like that. When the genus was still living in Europe and Asia, they would have had to deal with all sorts of predators, such as large Felids, bears, Pseudo/Foot Wyverns, Neotyrannids, Neotherapsids and even Eosdracons. However, it wasn't just hunters who posed a possible threat to them. Herbivorous megafauna like Elephantidaes, rhinoceroses, and bisons could seriously wound them. With so many things capable of doing damage to them, it becomes clear why these goliaths needed more than size and strength.
