Aloés

As European explorers and military expeditions ventured to the New World, they returned with numerous reports of unusual creatures. Among these was the Aloés, documented in the sixteenth century by Thevet in his Cosmography and later cited by the surgeon Ambroise Paré (1517–90) in his treatise On Monsters and Marvels.

Accounts described the Aloés as a marine hybrid combining features of both fish and waterfowl. It possessed a bird-like head and body with an elongated neck, but rather than legs, it propelled itself through the water using four substantial flippers. Witnesses claimed to have spotted this creature in the waters surrounding the "Spanish Isle," likely referring to the newly discovered island of Hispaniola.