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Overview
The Biblioteca Nacional's catalogue describes a man who transforms by means of a feline skin acquired in a pact with the Devil. Rolling on it reverses the transformation when performed in the opposite direction. An educational retelling published by San Juan presents Andrónico in Santiago del Estero: after receiving the skin, he becomes a mixed human-feline figure with a bare forehead and humanlike extremities. Lost livestock prompts a hunt, but an extraordinary leap allows the pursued being to escape.
An earlier Capiango narrative was already printed by Ambrosetti in May 1896, who credits Leopoldo Lugones with telling it and associates its circulation with northern Córdoba, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero. Two brothers live in a woodland hut. One notices that a human-eating feline appears whenever the other disappears. Watching secretly, he sees his brother use a hidden skin and become the animal; the creature’s raised fur turns bullets aside. He burns the hidden bundle to stop the attacks, but finds his brother gravely ill on returning home. The sufferer begs for an unburned scrap. Pity moves the brother to recover one, whereupon the sick man throws it across his back, changes again and escapes into the forest. The attempt to destroy the transformation therefore fails through the rescuer’s compassion. This is Ambrosetti’s complete prose witness, not a claim to have read the complete 1938 poem.
The catalogue connects the figure with Leopoldo Lugones' El tigre capiango, where a man discovers his brother's transformation. That literary family revelation differs from a community tracing livestock losses to a feared animal. The name tiger in these Argentine texts is a regional usage, and does not establish an Asian tiger lineage. Its overlap with Uturunco and Capiango varies by witness; the neighbouring Litoral Yaguareté-abá accounts are compared separately.
Origins & earliest records
Ambrosetti's 1917 collection cites earlier Lafone Quevedo observations of human-feline transformation in the northwest. Lugones' 1938 poem is a later authored appearance, and the modern San Juan lesson is an educational adaptation rather than its original oral source. These inspected witnesses establish circulation and reception, not the first telling or a single migration route. Ambrosetti’s article closes with May 1896 and gives the Capiango episode on printed pp. 332–333, providing an earlier named Lugones transmission than the later poem.
Records & interpretation
The national-library catalogue supports the skin and reversible transformation and identifies the Lugones work. San Juan's worksheet supplies the Andrónico, livestock and pursuit episode. Neither is a complete transcript of all northwestern beliefs. Exact meaning of regional names and feline imagery depends on the narrator; prehistoric rock art is not automatically evidence for this particular modern story. The complete 1896 Capiango episode and its ending were inspected directly. Ambrosetti’s proposed Guaraní invasion and ritual-origin explanation are his historical speculation, not established transmission.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Bestiario nacional: Criaturas del imaginario argentino
Exhibition catalogue; named profile pages and selected literary excerpts inspected.
- 02
El tigre capiango, in Romances del río seco
Biblioteca Nacional reproduces a located literary excerpt; the complete poem was not independently inspected.
- 03
Lengua y literatura — La leyenda del hombre tigre o el runauturunco
Worksheet with explicitly differing educational versions; inspected indexed narrative passage.
- 04
La leyenda del Yaguareté-Abá: contribución al estudio del Folk-Lore comparado
Anales de la Sociedad Científica Argentina 41, pp. 332–333; complete Capiango episode credited to Leopoldo Lugones. Article dated May 1896.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- ReferenceBiblioteca Nacional: Runa Uturunco, printed p. 53Research access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textSan Juan education: Andrónico retellingResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textAmbrosetti: earlier northwestern transformation comparison, p. 99Research access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textLa leyenda del Yaguareté-Abá: contribución al estudio del Folk-Lore comparadoResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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