The Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtle was believed to be extinct; however, researchers from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo claimed they’ve found one of the rare, mythical beasts in northern Vietnam. The giant turtle is the only known specimen in the wild, though three others are in captivity — two in Chinese zoos and one that is cared for in a lake in downtown Hanoi.

“This is an incredibly important discovery because the Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtle is one of the most critically endangered species of turtle in the world,” said Doug Hendrie, the Vietnam-based coordinator of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo program. “This species has legendary status among the people of Vietnam, so this is perhaps an opportunity for the legend to live on.”

The creature’s cultural significance is a result of a Vietnamese legend that depicts a golden turtle that bestowed the people of Vietnam with a magical sword that helped them defeat Chinese invaders in the 16th century.

The wild Swinhoe’s is currently chilling in the lake where it was found, and the Vietnamese government has been notified about the discovery. The giant turtle can reach 3 feet in length and weigh in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. Though this is the only specimen known in the wild, it may still be a long time before the Swinhoe’s makes a graceful exit from the planet earth; the turtles can live up to 100 years.

A rare find in Utah has biologists stumped. A mysterious fanged critter (pictured above) was found in Utah after some ice melted.

The strange creature was found after about 4,000 fish were discovered dead in a Brigham City pond, according to officials.

Officials said the pond may have been poisoned or the water may have run out of oxygen due to the thick ice.

While checking the pond, the creature was spotted.

“When we first saw that fish, we thought what in the ….. is that thing?” Utah Divison of Wildlife Resources Ben Boyce said.

The aquatic chupacabra-looking thing was found with carp and goldfish that had been stocked in a Brigham City pond. Biologists haven’t a clue what the fuck the thing is, but they postulate that it may be a trout that has decomposed in such a way that the teeth became more prominent. That sounds like bullshit to me, but whatever. Clearly, it’s some kind of underwater demon. Researchers are waiting for it to decompose entirely so they can study the bone structure. More pictures of the creature can be found here.

Recently, the Chinese “goddess of the Yangtze,” the Yangtze or baiji dolphin, was believed to be extinct. But on Aug. 19, a resident of the Anhui province, Zeng Yujiang, spotted one of the rare beasts frolicking in the river of Tongling and recorded video of it on his digital camera. Yujiang told Xinhua news:

“I’ve never seen such a big thing in the water before, so I filmed it. It was about 1,000 meters away and jumped out of water several times.”

A team of 25 international scientists embarked on a 38-day search last year to find the elusive baiji, but were unable to find any. Earlier this month, the animal was declared extinct, but thanks to this footage, another expedition will be conducted in September. However, even though this sheds a glimmer of hope for the seemingly doomed river critter, the scientists who led the last expedition still consider the dolphin “functionally extinct.” Ouch. Godspeed, noble baiji.