Minhocão
Minhocão may mean:
Minhocão (animal)
The minhocão ("big earthworm" in Brazilian Portuguese) is a large earthworm or serpent-like cryptid that allegedly exists in the forests of South and Central America.
Appearance
The Minhocão is said to resemble a giant, 20 to 50 meter worm or serpent, with scaly black skin covering its entire body. A member of the Serpentes suborder, this serpent is reported to be ectothermic and have highly mobile jaws and is thought to be a burrowing animal, dwelling in enormous trenches or caves beneath the jungle floor.
Identity
Cryptozoologist Karl Shuker has suggested that this animal may be an example of a giant caecilian, which fits the description of the minhocão well. However, known caecilians do not even begin to approach the supposed size of this animal.. Superficially similar to the caecilians are the Amphisbaenia or worm lizards, which are distributed throughout much of South America, although most known species are less than 150 mm in length. In On the Track of Unknown Animals, Bernard Heuvelmans suggests that the animal may be a surviving glyptodont. Others have suggested the giant serpent may actually be a descendent of the Titanoboa, a titanic size snake that once roamed the same region during the prehistoric era, specifically the Paleocene Epoch.
Minhocão (São Paulo)
The Minhocão, officially Via Elevada Presidente Costa e Silva, is a 3.5-kilometre (2.2-mile) elevated highway in São Paulo, Brazil. Between 21:30 and 06:30 on weekdays and all day on Sundays, the highway is closed to car traffic, allowing dedicated use by pedestrians and cyclists. The road is named after the minhocão, a quasi-fictitious earthworm-like creature. Local urban planners have long advocated tearing down the road in order to promote urban renewal.
History
In 1969, an elevated roadway was proposed by the administration of São Paulo Mayor Paulo Maluf to help relieve traffic congestion in central São Paulo. Work on the highway, the largest infrastructure project of its time in Latin America, was completed in 1970.
Because of the noise and disturbance caused to residents—in many places the roadbed passes within 5 metres (15 feet) of apartment windows—in 1976 the municipal administration decided to close the highway to automobile traffic on Sundays and holidays. In the 1990s, residents and the administration also brokered an agreement to close the highway between the hours of 21:30 and 06:30.
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