Nessie, meet Dumbo.

A new theory by Glasgow paleontologist Neil Clark suggests the Loch Ness Monster was more circus elephant than pink elephant. “‘It is quite possible that people not used to seeing a swimming elephant — the vast bulk of the animal is submerged, with only a thick trunk and a couple of humps visible,’ thought they saw a monster, Clark said in an interview Tuesday.” Adding fuel to the fire is the 20,000 pound reward for Nessie’s capture put forward by circus impresario Bertram Mills, who may well have rested his traveling circus animals along the banks of Loch Ness, in 1933.