Curinquean

Curinquean is the appellation for an unknown peoples reputedly resident around the Mato Grosso region of Brazil, referenced by the Portuguese Jesuit priest Simão de Vasconcelos (1597-1671) in his 1668 book Notícias Necessárias e Curiosas da Cousas do Brasil, in which he briefly mentioned a "nation of gigantic men who are sixteen feet tall, much adorned with gold on their heads and noses, to which all others pay their respects." The name is more commonly used today to describe regional crypto-hominids that are accused of slaughtering local ranchers' cattle, wrenching the tongues out but abandoning the remainder of the carcass.