Scotland's fabled Loch Ness monster could possibly be a giant eel, scientists said on Thursday after an intensive analysis of traces of DNA in the Loch's icy waters.

The results ruled out the presence of large animals such as dinosaurs, they said.

But there was a lot of eel DNA in the Loch, Professor Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from New Zealand's University of Otago, told reporters.