Bicharraco: The dino ‘monsters’ of Patagonia—and the hermit who found them
By Nicholas St. Fleur National Geographic Published May 22, 2026 Deep in the desert of southern Argentina, in a tiny two-room cabin above a small canyon, a lone shepherd turns a radio on each day at noon to hear the regional news. A recluse without phone or internet, the little old black radio is Dionide Mesa’s lifeline to the world. It delivers personal messages—from traders coming to buy wool or family and friends planning to visit. Twenty years ago, it also brought a paleontologist. He had gotten word of the reclusive shepherd in Patagonia who had discovered giant fossilized bones on his ranch—“bicharracos,” as he called them, Spanish slang for “big beasts,” or “strange-looking monsters.” “If you want to find him in the middle of the morning, he will not be there. You may go in the afternoon, he will not be there,” says Diego Pol, the paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer best known for finding the largest known dino...
