New Animal Discoveries!

[mudshark]

^^ Damn, that book seems to be out of print.

You can get it from Amazon, looks like (even has a version for your Kindle.) It appears to be a revision of or follow-on to an earlier book by the same author.

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, I saw the used copies. I might go for it. I'm always conscious of the fact that free shipping doesn't apply to the marketplace sellers.

[RJDiogenes]

And here are the updates:

The giant, fanged Crustaceans.

A previously unknown Songbird in Laos.

New Bacteria that lives in unearthly condition. They're not extraterrestrial, but they certainly have implications for extraterrestrial life.

A new Whale!

And a list of ten new species discovered last year. Well, nine. One is extinct. And one is a Caffeine-Free Coffee Plant. What next, a Chocolate Cow?

[Lupine]

^Actually milk's flavor can be influenced by what the animal eats. When we used to milk the goats we always had to be careful of their diet when we used the milk. So I suppose it would be possible to manipulate the diet of a cow to give "chocolate" milk.

[mudshark]

The giant, fanged Crustaceans.

(Pictured at roughly ten times actual size. )

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Heh. I meant to say "Eyeless." Got a little carried away there.

^Actually milk's flavor can be influenced by what the animal eats. When we used to milk the goats we always had to be careful of their diet when we used the milk. So I suppose it would be possible to manipulate the diet of a cow to give "chocolate" milk.

I think that's worth a government grant.

[Lupine]

Here's a weird one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... China.html

Real or not? I have my doubts since I wonder how the animal got to be that old with that kind of birth defect.

[RJDiogenes]

Very interesting. I did a little search and discovered that atavistic hind legs on snakes have been observed before-- and on whales as well. I wonder if it could breed true if it turned out to be an advantage.

I remember reading in a book about cryptozoology when I was a kid (although I don't think the term existed then) about sightings of snakelike reptiles with front legs but no back legs. This makes it seem like that could be true, too.

[Lupine]

I'm familiar with atavistic features (legs on snakes and whales) and my mother even had a horse once that had three toes. But the thing that bothers me about that snake is how well formed the leg is and the fact of how much it resembles the limbs of Chinese dragons. I'd like to see some confirmation of this.

[mudshark]

I remember reading in a book about cryptozoology when I was a kid (although I don't think the term existed then) ...

Coined in the early 1940s by Ivan Sanderson, says here, though also frequently credited to Bernard Heuvelmans (who says he got it from Sanderson.)

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Interesting. Maybe it just wasn't in common use back in the 60s and 70s. I don't remember the first time I ever heard it, but it was some time in 80s at the earliest.

I'm familiar with atavistic features (legs on snakes and whales) and my mother even had a horse once that had three toes. But the thing that bothers me about that snake is how well formed the leg is and the fact of how much it resembles the limbs of Chinese dragons. I'd like to see some confirmation of this.

Good point. There's nothing on Livescience or Science News, so it may be a gag.

[Lupine]

Speaking of crytozoology, here's a pic that will have you saying "what the hell?"

http://skepchick.org/blog/2009/09/the-p ... a-monster/

Interesting what it turned out to be though.

[mudshark]

^^ Interesting. Maybe it just wasn't in common use back in the 60s and 70s. I don't remember the first time I ever heard it, but it was some time in 80s at the earliest.

I probably didn't hear the word until the 80s or 90s, either, but word history/etymology is one of my geek areas, so I had to look it up.

I'm familiar with atavistic features (legs on snakes and whales) and my mother even had a horse once that had three toes. But the thing that bothers me about that snake is how well formed the leg is and the fact of how much it resembles the limbs of Chinese dragons. I'd like to see some confirmation of this.

Good point. There's nothing on Livescience or Science News, so it may be a gag.

I've seen a couple of comments about how the foot doesn't appear to be casting a shadow and some suggestions it might be someone's idea of a gag.

http://www.popsci.com/environment/artic ... ound-china

A different photo here:
http://austriantimes.at/news/Around_the ... _throwback

Another (somewhat more amusing) comment came from someone who may not have noted all of the details:

I am not convinced. Looks suspiciously like the Python has eaten a small lizard and the snake's belly has ruptured enough to allow the lizard's leg to pop out. Pythons often rupture when they bite off more than they can chew (if they could chew, which they can't, but work with me here!)

Posted by: (xxxx) | Sep 15, 2009 3:17:10 AM

Edit:

Speaking of crytozoology, here's a pic that will have you saying "what the hell?"

http://skepchick.org/blog/2009/09/the-p ... a-monster/

Interesting what it turned out to be though.

Knowing what it is, though, you look at the pictures and say "Well, of course! Anyone can see what that is." (The story behind the 'Montauk Monster' I hadn't seen before, and 'Kanye interrupting Darwin' was good for a chuckle.)

[RJDiogenes]

Heh. The hairless sloth picture is creepy. And kind of funny since he does look slothfully zonked.

Jury is still out on the one-footed snake, though. I wonder if anybody will cough up the asking price.

[Lupine]

Meet your new overlord....

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badas ... otoad-irl/