May 08, 2008
Platypus: Perfect Storm of Incredulity
Now, more than 200 years later, a team of scientists has determined the platypus' entire genetic code. And right down to its DNA, it turns out, the platypus continues to strain credulity, bearing genetic modules that are in turn mammalian, reptilian and avian.There are genes for egg laying — evidence of the animals' reptilian roots. Genes for making milk, which the platypus does in mammalian style despite not having nipples. Genes for making snake venom, which the animal stores in its legs. And there are five times more sex-determining chromosomes than scientists know what to do with.
"It's such a wacky organism," said Richard Wilson, director of the genome center at Washington University in St. Louis, who led the two-year international effort, described online Wednesday in the journal Nature.
(via feednews, chicagotribune)
Posted by Groonk at 04:31 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
May 02, 2008
Fur Seals are Randy Little Bastards
Good Afternoon. Seals are raping penguins now.
An Antarctic fur seal has been observed trying to have sex with a king penguin.The South African-based scientists who witnessed the incident say it is the most unusual case of mammal mating behaviour yet known.
The incident, which lasted for 45 minutes and was caught on camera, is reported in the Journal of Ethology.
The bizarre event took place on a beach on Marion Island, a sub-Antarctic island that is home to both fur seals and king penguins.
(At first glimpse, we thought the seal was killing the penguinNico de Bruyn, University of Pretoria)Why the seal attempted to have sex with the penguin is unclear. But the scientists who photographed the event speculate that it was the behaviour of a frustrated, sexually inexperienced young male seal.
Have a nice day.
(vai warren ellis, bbc news)
Posted by Groonk at 01:38 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
March 05, 2008
Beelzebufo Might Have Eaten Dinosaurs
A frog the size of a bowling ball, with heavy armor and teeth, lived among dinosaurs millions of years ago -- intimidating enough that scientists who unearthed its fossils dubbed the beast Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad.[...]
"This frog, if it has the same habits as its living relatives in South America, was quite voracious," Krause said. "It's even conceivable that it could have taken down some hatchling dinosaurs."
Krause began finding fragments of abnormally large frog bones in Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, in 1993. They dated back to the late Cretaceous period, roughly 70 million years ago, in an area where Krause also was finding dinosaur and crocodile fossils. But only recently did Krause's team assemble enough frog bones to piece together what the creature would have looked like, and weighed.
(via neilgaiman.com, cnn news)
Posted by Groonk at 06:13 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Dinosaurs
February 21, 2008
Burmese Pythons are Coming for Our Alligators, Me
"Global Warming Will Make Southern States More Habitable," is the article's official title. I guess *something* would find The South bearable eventually.
(via the daily green, ponzu)
Posted by Groonk at 11:24 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, USA, Versus
February 18, 2008
New Zealand Aims to Damage My Calm with Dog Record
They have an album made only for dogs. And it's a chartbuster. One dog didn't take to kindly to the tune. He went beserk. Mad as a Reaver, some might think.
This has me thinking, New Zealand made an audible version of The Pax for dogs.
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - It's a doggone chartbuster -- a song audible only to dogs has topped New Zealand record charts, and is looking to go global.A Very Silent Night, recorded at a frequency only dogs can hear, was so popular among owners it hit number one at Christmas, but has been receiving mixed responses from listeners.
"The most violent one was a dog that physically attacked the radio when it was played and went quite berserk and totally destroyed it," said Bob Kerridge, chief executive of animal welfare group, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
"On the other side of the scale, they just lie down and did nothing." The charity CD, priced at NZ$4.99 ($3.93), contained an instrumental and a vocal version of the song, but Kerridge said he did not know what kind of music dogs would hear.
Joss Whedon is a prophet.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 03:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
February 16, 2008
Frog Eats Snake Eats Frog Eats Snake
"Who Eats Who" by David Maitland (United Kingdom)
I like how the frog has that snake by the neck. He ain't giving up. No, sir. He's going out fighting.
(via telegraph)
Posted by Groonk at 08:40 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Just Freaking Neat, Photos2, Versus
January 30, 2008
The Insanity Continues with Another Surprised Fur Bearing Critter
(via college humor, ponzu)
Posted by Groonk at 07:14 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Intertube Madness
January 25, 2008
Some Dolphins are Attacking Porpoises to Death
No matter how intelligent or cuddly you think they are, they are wild animals. Their reasons are always their own.
Film taken of gangs of dolphins repeatedly ramming baby porpoises, tossing them in the air and pursuing them to the death has solved a long-term mystery of what causes the death of so many of these harmless mammals - but has left animal experts baffled as to the motive.Another mystery is that the animal 'murders' have only been reported in two parts of the world - along Scotland's East Coast and in America off the beaches of Virginia, where even more alarmingly, the victims were scores of the dolphins' own young.
The first clues to solving the riddle came in 1997 when, by coincidence, marine biologists in Virginia were finding young, dead dolphins with horrific internal injuries at the same time as young porpoises were washing up on Scotland's north-east coast with identical causes of death. The body count was growing in both locations.
And that video is more sensationalist than it should be. Where are the proper scientists? When they start screaming, "Dolphins are tired of porpoisecide and want to use our blood for bathwater!" That's when I tie the boat to the dock and run for the rockies.
(via dunc!, telegraph.co.uk)
Posted by Groonk at 05:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Research, Video
January 22, 2008
Tuesday Zen: Chuck Norris vs a Bear
Cracked.com has a list(don't they always) of the 5 Martial Artists that Lost a Deathmatch to Diginity. As you see, Chuck Norris made number 1. Rightly so, I must say. The Cash Cow has been thoroughly milked to death when the script calls for you to stare down a grizzly bear and win through the magic of the native american flute sting that accompanies such TV moments.
(via cracked.com, the magic bear stare down You Tube)
Posted by Groonk at 11:14 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Martial Arts, Versus, Video
January 21, 2008
Wild Monday: Japanese Hornets vs Japanese Honeybees
European honey bees are weak and soft and die swiftly. While Japanese honey bees surround their enemy and roast them with the heat from their own bodies.
Not kidding.
(via ectomo, educating You Tube )
Posted by Groonk at 06:50 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Only in Japan, Versus, Video
January 11, 2008
Chimps Eat Dirt to Stay Healthy
Krief collected the dirt along with leaves from one of the chimps' favorite foods, the Trichilia rubescens plant. She found that when eaten alone, the leaves had no pharmacological effect, but when combined with soil, the mixture had clear anti-malarial properties.[...]
Krief also compared the dirt chimps eat to that used by nearby human healers to treat diarrhea. The samples shared many similarities, including a high concentration of the mineral kaolinite, the main ingredient of some anti-diarrheal medicines.
"Local people around Kibale use soil in traditional medicine, associated to different plant parts," Krief said. "It may potentialize the properties of plant or attenuate their toxicity by adsorbing noxious compounds."
(via yahoonews, the complete study to be published in the journal Naturwissenschaften )
Posted by Groonk at 07:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Research
December 17, 2007
World Not as I Left It, Glow-in-the-Dark Cats Made
By demonstrating that it's possible to clone an animal with a manipulated gene, the research could help scientists better understand human genetic diseases. For example, scientists may be able to reproduce cloned animals suffering from the same diseases as humans. Cats have about 250 of the same kinds of genetic diseases that affect humans.The ability to clone genetically altered cats may also help to develop new stem cell treatments for humans. And, using the same technology, researchers may be able to clone endangered animals like tigers, leopards and wildcats.
(via geekologie, nightvisioned you tube)
Posted by Groonk at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science, Video
December 13, 2007
Drunken Monkeys Invade a Beach. Make Me Laugh.
Should be studying. Should be studying.
Haha! Look at that damn monkey. He's druuuunk!
No, damnit.
Should be studying. Should be studying. Should be studying.
(via amateur gourmet, legally drunk you tube)
Posted by Groonk at 06:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Video
December 11, 2007
5 Year Old Boy Kills Bear. Bear Nation Beyond Upset
Tre Merritt, a descendant of Davy Crockett, was hunting with his grandfather Mike Merritt when a black bear happened upon their stand."His 10th great-grandfather was Davy Crockett," Mike Merritt said. "And Davy supposedly killed him a bear when he was three. And Tre is five and really killed a bear. I really doubt if Davy killed one when he was three."
Mike Merritt was in the stand at the time but said Tre did it all by himself.
You've been stuck in the woods 7 days and need food, the zombie apocalypse has finally come, or you're on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney. Those are the only reasons a 5 year old child should be walking the woods with a loaded weapon.
And I'll bet you dollars to donuts Davy Crockett didn't have a high powered 21st century rifle when he "killed" his bear.
(via medicmike, espn outdoors)
Posted by Groonk at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Quotables
October 19, 2007
Woman Owns GIGANTIC Cat. Lets it Kill Things.
I'm not lying about the killin'. Clicky the link and scroll.
(via popbitch and some, i'm guessing russian, site)
Posted by Groonk at 08:39 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
September 24, 2007
Man Decapitates Duck in Hotel. Eats it Like Sushi.
Scott D. Clark allegedly cornered the duck before grabbing it and decapitating it with his hands in front of a security guard and other onlookers.Mr Clark then said: "I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat it."
He was allegedly drunk, AP said.
Drunk?
Do tell.
(via digg and daily telegraph)
Posted by Groonk at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Quotables, Research
Wearing a Dead Mouse Says a Lot About You
As the story goes, Courtney Love gave a dead mouse to some guy and the fool wore it.
Sidenote: Pete Doherty, inspired by Love, gave a dead rodent to Kate Moss.
What in fuck, people?!?
(via ontd)
Posted by Groonk at 03:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
September 21, 2007
Very Clever, those Crows
Aesop wasn't wrong, yes?
(via james gunn blog)
Posted by Groonk at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Video
September 14, 2007
You Can't Deny Your Monkey/Bird Love
(link via dunc)
Posted by Groonk at 06:30 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
July 26, 2007
Nursing Home Cat Predicts Your Death
Or as Ponzu tells me, "finally a cat that's good for something."
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live."He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa...
[...]
The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.
After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.
[...]
Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
(via buzzfeed)
Posted by Groonk at 02:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Quotables, Research
July 21, 2007
BIG DOGS landing on My Face!*
She was born with a genetic defect which has left her looking like the Incredible Hulk of Hounds.She weighs 4st4lb - twice as much as she should - and has bulging neck muscles, burly shoulders and haunches like a baboon. And unlike ordinary whippets known for their lithe and narrow frame, this four-year-old pedigree doesn't just have a sixpack stomach, she has a 24-pack.
Sadly, her mixed-up genes mean she may have a shorter life expectancy than most breeds.
I joke but really, how sad.
(via ectomo and Daily Mail)
(*A No-Prize to those who figure out where that's from.)
Posted by Groonk at 03:11 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
July 16, 2007
BLIND CLICK 12: Nature FTW
Posted by Groonk at 10:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Just Freaking Neat, Photos2
July 05, 2007
Chinese Villagers are Eating Dinosaur Bones...for Sexual Healing
The article didn't say that but you just know they were.
BEIJING - Villagers in central China dug up a ton of dinosaur bones and boiled them in soup or ground them into powder for traditional medicine, believing they were from flying dragons and had healing powers.Until last year, the fossils were being sold in Henan province as "dragon bones" at about 4 yuan (50 cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds), scientist Dong Zhiming told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Dong, a professor with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said when the villagers found out the bones were from dinosaurs they donated 200 kilograms (440 pounds) to him and his colleagues for research.
"They had believed that the 'dragon bones' were from the dragons flying in the sky," he said.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 06:29 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Myth, Research, Science
June 06, 2007
Flying Humpback Whales, Yes?
No?
(via daily mail)
Posted by Groonk at 03:37 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
June 03, 2007
DID YOU KNOW: Tigers Can Strike Underwater
Son of a bitch, are you kidding me?
Six years old, and at the prime of his life, Odin lives at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Zoo in Vallejo, near San Francisco. He is about 10ft long from nose to tail, and is an excellent swimmer.
Odin learned to swim by diving after meat chunks. Are you seeing this? Zoologosts, hear me. We do not need fearsome, yet majestic, creatures learning new mediums in which to hunt.
(via garrett farrelly, daily mail)
Posted by Groonk at 04:35 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Photos2, World
June 02, 2007
HAHAHAHA!
(via adventures of accordian guy, lolcats, )
Posted by Groonk at 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Funny, Science
May 11, 2007
BLIND CLICK 9: A 7 Foot Long "Nemertean Worm" Says What?
I say it's the remains of a Shoggoth invasion. Who's right? Only science can decide.
(via geekologie)
Posted by Groonk at 03:55 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Video
April 12, 2007
iPod Indicator and Congo Critter
The true story of this bullet-ridden iPod is the soldier was shot, the armor protected him, and he didn't realize he was shot until he pulled out his iPod in the safety of his bunk.
This Congo river critter turns out to be a tiger fish or Hydrocinus goliath. I would have called it Terrifying River Monster but again, not a scientist.
(via fishy geekologie and battle damage geekologie)
Posted by Groonk at 04:54 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, War
March 09, 2007
Russian Fishermen Catch and Eat "Alien" Fish...
Turns out to be only an Atlantic Guitarfish.
Village residents from the Rostov region of Russia caught a weird creature two weeks ago after a strong storm in the Sea of Azov. The shark-looking creature was producing strange squeaky sounds. The fishermen originally believed that they had caught an alien and decided to film the monster with the help of a cell phone camera. The footage clearly shows the creatures’ head, body and long tail. The bizarre catch was weighing almost 100 kilograms, the Komsomolskaya Pravda reports.
However, ufologists and scientists were greatly disappointed when they found out that the fishermen had eaten the monster. They said that they were not scared of the creature so they decided to use it as food. One of the men said that it was the most delicious dish he had ever eaten.
Both theories amused me greatly.
(via neil gaiman, pravda)
Posted by Groonk at 04:49 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Funny
February 27, 2007
Prepare Yourselves for Remote Controlled Harbingers of Doom
BEIJING (Reuters) - Scientists in eastern China say they have succeeded in controlling the flight of pigeons with micro electrodes planted in their brains, state media reported on Tuesday.
Scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Center at Shandong University of Science and Technology said their electrodes could command them to fly right or left or up or down, Xinhua news agency said.
You know what this means, right? Remote manned bird-flu on the wing.
You just wait and see.
UPDATE: Sweet merciful fuck. There are pictures.
(via the engine, yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
Global Warming Uncovers Ancient Critters in Melting Ice Caps
The end of human civilization brings forth a great bounty from the sea.
Next, there will be Shoggoths.
There are always Shoggoths.
An expedition to an area of seabed recently exposed by melting ice in Antarctica has discovered several previously unknown species of marine life, including deep sea lilies, gelatinous sea squirts, glass sponges, amphipod crustaceans, and orange starfish. The findings were announced Sunday by the Census of Antarctic Marine Life, a 10-year effort to map the biodiversity of the world's oceans.
“The breakup of these ice shelves opened up huge, near pristine portions of the ocean floor, sealed off from above for at least 5,000 years, and possibly up to 12,000 years in the case of Larsen B,” said Julian Gutt, a marine ecologist at Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and chief scientist on the Polarstern expedition.
[...]
“This is virgin geography. If we don't find out what this area is like now following the collapse of the ice shelf, and what species are there, we won't have any basis to know in 20 years’ time what has changed, and how global warming has altered the marine ecosystem,” said Gauthier Chapelle, a biologist at the Brussels based International Polar Foundation.
(via rocketboom, mongabay.com)
Posted by Groonk at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
January 17, 2007
Scientists Go on Limb, Label New Arctic Ocean Critter "Bizarre"
An entirely new group of tiny and bizarre marine algae has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean.A team of European researchers found the new organisms while analyzing DNA sequences in samples of seawater. (Related: "Extreme New Species Discovered by Sea-Life Survey" [December 11, 2006].)
Genetic evidence pointed to the presence of an unknown type of microalgae, which the researchers named picobiliphytes ("pico" means "a trillionth of a part of") because of their miniscule size.
But the discovery may be huge—scientifically speaking.
"These organisms represent a new evolutionary lineage," said team member Fabrice Not. Not is a marine biologist at the Institut de Ciències del Mar, a part of Spain's National Research Council.
"The discovery didn't provide any sister relationship to any other groups of organisms known to date. It means that this new group is probably a high-rank taxon [group] in terms of classification," Not added—hinting at the huge amount of diversity in sea life.
"In fact, the divergence of this group from known organisms is as great as the difference between land plants and animals," Connie Lovejoy, a biologist at Universit Laval in Canada and another member of the research team, said in a statement.
(via national geographic)
Posted by Groonk at 08:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
January 11, 2007
RoboPanda Likes the Good Touch
(via chip chick and non-video sharing engadget)
Posted by Groonk at 04:16 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Robots, Video
January 07, 2007
Tree Goats are So Ridiculous They're True
Geekologie tells me this image is not the least bit photoshopped. The Flickr link backs up their claim a bit more. I've never seen more bizarre goat action in my life. Goats climbing the argan tree to get at its hard to reach tasty fruit?
"Get outta here!" is what I'd say.
And what I'd say would be probably wrong.
(via geekologie and flickr and flickr's sanj b)
Posted by Groonk at 01:28 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Weird
December 19, 2006
Borneo is Chock Full of "new" Critters
By "new" I'm sure the article meant "new to us." For the critters always were what they needed to be. Just cause we never saw them before doesn't mean they were newly placed on the Earth yesterday.
I guess my baseline today is scientist/philosopher:
GENEVA - Scientists have discovered at least 52 new species of animals and plants on the southeast Asian island of Borneo since 2005, including a catfish with protruding teeth and suction cups on its belly to help it stick to rocks, WWF International said Tuesday."The more we look the more we find," said Stuart Chapman, WWF International coordinator for the study of the "Heart of Borneo," a 85,000-square-mile rain forest in the center of the island where several of the new species were found. "These discoveries reaffirm Borneo's position as one of the most important centers of biodiversity in the world."
Much of Borneo, which is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and the sultanate of Brunei, is covered by one of the world's last remaining rain forests.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 07:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
December 14, 2006
Petrified Dino Eggs Perserved Mid-Split
The first fossils of half-billion-year-old clusters of soft-shelled eggs have been found preserved in a strange new way in south China — some of the eggs were even caught in the act of dividing.The three-dimensional clusters of petrified eggs from invertebrate animals that lived in a sea 501 million to 510 million years ago are preserved in silica — glass essentially. Jih-Pai Lin, an Ohio State University paleontologist, explained this is a totally unexpected way for soft eggs to fossilize and survive for eons.
Lin is the lead author of a report on the egg clusters published in the December issue of the journal Geology.
(via discovery news)
Posted by Groonk at 09:13 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, History, Science
December 07, 2006
Humpback Whales has Brainz..."Human" Brains!
BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. marine scientists say they've found humpback whales have a type of brain cell that is also seen in human brains.Researchers of the Department of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York studied the brains of humpback whales and discovered a type of cell called a spindle neuron in the cortex, in areas comparable to where they are seen in humans and great apes.
The function of spindle neurons, which is not well understood yet, may be involved in cognition -- learning, remembering and recognizing the world around oneself.
The finding may help explain some of the behaviors seen in whales, such as intricate communication skills, the formation of alliances, cooperation, cultural transmission and tool usage, the researchers report in The Anatomical Record.
(via warren ellis and china view news )
Posted by Groonk at 01:03 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
December 04, 2006
WATCH: An Octopus Slip through a 1 inch Hole
If I were a lesser man, I would make a joke about the handiness of this skill in escaping the random coyote ugly experience.
If I were a lesser man. That would happen.
(via geekologie)
Posted by Groonk at 05:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Video
November 06, 2006
Dolphin Had Feet
Another nail in the coffin of that silly belief that I will not mention and give unneccessary notice to:
"I believe the fins may be remains from the time when dolphins' ancient ancestors lived on land ... this is an unprecedented discovery," Seiji Osumi, an adviser at Tokyo's Institute of Cetacean Research, said at a news conference televised Sunday.
The second set of fins - much smaller than the dolphin's front fins - are about the size of human hands and protrude from near the tail on the dolphin's underside. The dolphin measures 8.92 feet and is about five years old, according to the museum.
Hayashi said he could not tell from watching the dolphin swim in a musuem tank whether it used its back fins to maneuver.
A freak mutation may have caused the ancient trait to reassert itself, Osumi said. The dolphin will be kept at the Taiji museum to undergo X-ray and DNA tests, according to Hayashi.
(via myway news and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 04:50 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
October 30, 2006
The Dog Who "Did Kermit"
Best quote in the audio interview(and there are many), "...winter was gonna come and we were gonna have a dog who didn't have toad:"
"We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our backyard," Laura Mirsch recalls.
Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and glassy-eyed.
"Then, late one night after I'd put the dogs out, Lady wouldn't come in," Laura Mirsch says. "She finally staggered over to me from the cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting toad."
It turned out the toads were toxic -- and, if licked, the fluids on their skin provided a hallucinogenic effect.
(via NPR)
Posted by Groonk at 12:18 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, USA, Weird
October 15, 2006
Fin Walking Sharks and Other Freaky Creatures
Tons of new undersea critters found off the coast of Indonesia:
"Above and below water, it's simply mind blowing," (said Mark Erdmann of Conservation International.)
Feel that, people. Just when you think it's gone, evolution knocks on your door and returns your cup of borrowed sugar.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 06:48 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
September 20, 2006
Zhang Forgot to Let Sleeping Pandas Lie
So many odd/surreal quotes in here. It's difficult to keep up.
The panda, who was asleep, was startled and bit Zhang, 35, on the right leg, it said. Zhang got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued, the paper said.
"I bit the fellow in the back," Zhang was quoted as saying in the newspaper. "Its skin was quite thick."
[...]
This next part uneases me:
I think it comes from being an American. If I do something wrong my government seeks to "press charges" or "put me under arrest." Or if you're the current President, you have that lovely option of secret prisons scattered about the world.
"Considering punishing him," has that extra wicked ring to it. It makes whatever government that says it turn instantly into a scolding parent ready to lock you in your room or run into the yard and pick a switch and it better be a good strong switch or you're really gonna get it then.
(via 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 04:22 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Quotables, Weird, World
September 13, 2006
Steve Irwin Fans Possibly Lose their Shit, Cut Off Stingray Tails
Mr Irwin, a TV personality known as the "Crocodile Hunter", was killed while diving in Queensland when a stingray's barb stabbed him in the chest.
Since then, 10 stingrays have been found mutilated on Queensland beaches.
Government officials said they were investigating the deaths and there could be prosecutions.
Two stingrays were found at a beach north of Brisbane with their tails cut off, while eight were found on another beach on Monday, The Australian reported.
Wayne Sumpton of the state fisheries department said it was not clear if the incidents were connected to Mr Irwin's death.
He said fishermen who inadvertently caught stingrays sometimes cut off their tails to avoid being stung, but such a practice was uncommon.
Ok, people, that's counterproductive to the whole idea of conservation and being a naturalist. If it's true and all that.
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 02:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Culture, Weird
September 12, 2006
A Pace of Asses; An Unkindness of Ravens
I have it in my head to know how scientists group animals.
A sampling of groupings.
A TRIP of dotterel.
A COWARDICE of curs.
A CONGREGATION of eagles.
A FLAMBOYANCE of flamingoes
(via Hints and things
Also see Thomas' Animal Groupings name List.
Posted by Groonk at 02:37 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
September 07, 2006
Maxakalisaurus topai was One Big Mutha
Scientists on Monday unveiled a replica of a skeleton scientists said was from the largest dinosaur species yet discovered in Brazil — a mid-sized herbivore that roamed central Brazil some 80 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period.
A scientific description of the dinosaur, which represents a previously unknown species and measured some 13 yards from head to tail, was published on Aug. 11 in Brazilian National Museum's bulletin.
Scientists named the dinosaur species Maxakalisaurus topai in homage to the Maxakali Indian tribe, which inhabits the region of Minas Gerais state where the bones were found.
[...]
(via discovery channel)
Posted by Groonk at 01:00 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
August 23, 2006
Ancient Whale Rexes, Demon Ducks, and a Dead Mystery Critter in Maine
The fossil is the latest in a list of ancient creatures including sabre-toothed kangaroos, horned "devil wallabies" and the unlikely-sounding "demon duck of doom" that are reshaping views of Australia's prehistoric past.
The 25-million-year-old whale fossil has forced scientists to rethink the evolution of baleen whales, the placid giants which feed by using fine hair-like fibres in their mouths to filter plankton from the sea.
"The fossil proves the baleen whale, including toothless filter-feeders like the blue whale, often thought of as gentle giants of the sea, were not always so giant or gentle," Monash University graduate researcher Erich Fitzgerald told AFP.
While baleens are large -- with the blue whale reaching up to 30 metres (98 foot) -- the prehistoric predator was a swift hunter-killer only 3.5 metres (11.5 foot) long that fed on fish and small sharks, Fitzgerald said.
Scientists in Australia have discovered a fossilised ancient relative of the blue whale, seen here, with a fearsome razor-toothed appearance that has seen it dubbed 'the T-rex of the oceans'
He said it also had large eyes, like a modern great white, to compensate for its lack of sonar.
(via phys org)
Let that beastie kiss you at Seaworld.
A 12-million-year-old giant thunder bird called Bullockornis had a massive head with large powerful jaws. Although thunder birds were long thought to be plant-eaters, features of this bird's skull suggest that Bullockornis may have been a flesh-eater. Scientists have nicknamed this huge bird for its suspected meat-eating habits and its possible distant relationship to waterfowl - the 'Demon Duck of Doom'.
Evil quacks.
TURNER, Maine --Residents are wondering if an animal found dead over the weekend may be the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and been the subject of local legend for half a generation.
The animal was found near power lines along Route 4 on Saturday, apparently struck by a car while chasing a cat. The carcass was photographed and inspected by several people who live in the area, but nobody is sure exactly what it is.
Michelle O'Donnell of Turner spotted the animal near her yard about a week before it was killed. She called it a "hybrid mutant of something."
"It was evil, evil looking. And it had a horrible stench I will never forget," she told the Sun Journal of Lewiston. "We locked eyes for a few seconds and then it took off. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I've never seen anything like it."
For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal with chilling monstrous cries and eyes that glow in the night. The animal has been blamed for attacking and killing a Doberman pinscher and a Rottweiler the past couple of years.
(via boston.com)
People love their legends.
Posted by Groonk at 08:54 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Myth, Science
July 24, 2006
The Houyhnhnm are Plotting
(via rebekka "lol")
Posted by Groonk at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Flickrlicious
July 17, 2006
The Case of the Half Baked Lobster
(via 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 02:49 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Weird
June 20, 2006
Bloodthirsty PTSD Elephants, Rats with a Sense of Humor
The elephants mentioned below witnessed their families being slaughtered. And in turn they apparently became murderers themselves. I already knew about chimpanzee infanticide via some Jane Goodall documentaries seen decades ago. Didn't know there were proven cases of other animals with what is considered "uniquely human" qualities.
Until recently, these types of behavior have been almost unheard of, leaving conservation biologists searching for an explanation. Habitat destruction, starvation, social breakdown from poaching and culls, and the loss of herd coherence are factors known to severely threaten elephant survival. But the levels and types of atypical behavior being observed suggest an added dimension to the problem. Some biologists think that increased elephant aggression might comprise, in part, revenge against humans for accidental or deliberate elephant deaths. Could it be that elephants, like humans, also suffer psychological trauma as a result of violence?
Until a few years ago, making such inference and diagnosing elephants with PTSD would have been dismissed as anthropomorphism. But no longer. Elephant psychopathology, chimpanzee infanticide and other un-animal-like behaviors are part of a growing body of research that suggests science is building toward a radical paradigm shift. Streams of new data and theories, critically from neuroscience, are converging into a new, trans-species model of the psyche. Humans are being reinstated back into the species continuum that Darwin articulated, a continuum that includes laughing rats, octopuses with personalities, sheep who read emotions from the faces of their family members and tool-wielding crows.
We now understand that all vertebrates, and it is argued even some invertebrates, share many biological structures and processes that underlie attributes once considered uniquely human: empathy, personality, culture, emotion, language, intention, tool-use and violence.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 04:41 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Research, Science
Just What is the Deal with Whales and Flatulence?
Does everything that involves those sea mammals have to require something rushing out of an ass?
[...]
While whales often are successful, some herring escape. The study's authors perhaps say it best: "Farting may save their lives."
"The (herring) bubbles are released through the anal duct when the air expands as the fish ascend,” explained Malene Simon, who worked on the research. "We do not know if the fish release air when staying at one depth as a reaction when meeting a predator. However, it is very likely that the bubble will confuse or scare the predator in such a way that the herring will have a better chance of escaping."
Simon, a researcher at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, added, "This effect would probably be much less significant for one lonely fish than when it is a large school of fish. The air bubbles reflect sound and make it difficult (for the whales) to locate the fish with echolocation."
Undaunted by flatulent fish, killer whales dive — often several hundred feet — to drive herring up to shallower waters, Simon told Discovery News. As they dive, they emit a cacophony of clicks and whistles that seem to scare and tighten the fish schools.
The whales also slap their tails underwater in a way that can kill or disorient stunned fish, which the whales then leisurely munch one by one.
Simon said Icelandic killer whales have refined this technique. They herd and tail slap like their Norwegian relatives, but also emit an intense siren-like sound that appears to force terrified fish into an even tighter ball.
(via discovery channel)
Posted by Groonk at 12:52 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
June 19, 2006
Multi-Servo Realistic Animal Suits for Rent
First animal flavor up is a panda suit. Who in fuck rents high-tech animal suits? Outside of Big Hollywood movie types. What man or woman wakes in the morning and thinks, "Gee, It'd be nifty to have a fully realized and motorized Panda suit to frolic about the woods all mamby pamby-like."
On second thought, I don't wanna know.
Japanese multimedia production company Buildup Co., Ltd. has announced that it will begin renting high-quality animatronic suits this month. The first suit they will rent is a panda suit that contains various technological features to help it achieve a more realistic look. The panda's face contains 14 remote control servo motors, which let the panda make facial expressions ranging from "pleasant smiles to angry grimaces" at the will of its controller. The suit contains a CCD camera system and a pair of video goggles for the person inside, removing the need for an unsightly peephole on the suit and increasing the range of vision for the wearer. The suit also comes equipped with a system that will set the suit on fire if it detects that it's being used for perverse sexual desires. Okay, it probably doesn't, but it should. I watched the video. That has to be the most retarded idea ever.
It's days like these I weep for humanity.
(via geekologie)
Posted by Groonk at 02:31 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Only in Japan, Robots
June 08, 2006
Europasaurus holgeri the tiny "Terrible Lizard"
DESPITE their giant reputation as the largest dinosaurs and largest land animals ever - sauropods actually came in all sizes, as a newly discovered 6-metre-long dwarf species proves.
The first fossil evidence for dwarf dinosaurs was unearthed at the end of the 19th century, but no one was quite sure whether the fossils were dwarf adults or merely juveniles of normal-size dinosaurs. Now, an analysis of fossilised bones from 11 individuals of this new species (Europasaurus holgeri) shows conclusively that they were adults.
"It's the first time we've really proven [that the fossils are from a dwarf species]," says Martin Sander, a palaeontologist at the University of Bonn, Germany, and one of the team who described the new species.
(via new scientist)
Posted by Groonk at 01:27 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, History, Science
June 07, 2006
FACT: Lions are "Godless Killing Machines"
Colbert thinks it's the bears that are dangerous. This man from Kiev proves the bears have competition.
"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."
The incident, Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an "animal island" protected by thick concrete blocks.
You gotta be hating life something awful lot to swim to an island, crawl into a lion enclosure, and shout grandiose challenges to the heavens. Other folks jump in front of trains or overdose on over-the-counter sleepy pills. Not that guy. Some would say that he spit in the face of the Almighty and the Almighty blinked. I say that lioness simply had a taste for fools.
(via 7d via myway)
Posted by Groonk at 01:20 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Religion, Weird
May 26, 2006
"Dracorex hogwartsia" is a Silly Name
boingboing says:
A dragon-like dinosaur unearthed in South Dakota has been named "Dracorex hogwartsia" (Dragon King of Hogwarts) with the help of a group of kids at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The name has received the blessing of JK Rowling, who says it will give her more cred with her "science-loving family."
discovery.com says:
The newly described horny-headed dinosaur Dracorex hogwartsia lived about 66 million years ago in South Dakota, just a million years short of the extinction of all dinosaurs. But its flat, almost storybook-style dragon head has overturned everything paleontologists thought they knew about the dome-head dinos called pachycephalosaurs.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 01:02 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, History
May 12, 2006
Loner Monkeys are Alcoholics
May 9, 2006-Monkeys drink more alcohol when housed alone, and some like to end a long day in the lab with a boozy cocktail, according to a new analysis of alcohol consumption among members of a rhesus macaque social group.
[...]
The study, recently published in the journal Methods, also found that booze affects monkeys much the same way it affects people.
Posted by Groonk at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
April 19, 2006
FOUND: Old snake fossil with legs and hips
Sebastian Apesteguia at the Argentine Museum of Natural History and his team found the snake fossil in a terrestrial deposit in the Rio Negro province of north Patagonia, Argentina, in 2003. Unlike a handful of legged fossils found in marine deposits and identified as snakes over the past decade, the new fossil, named Najash rionegrina, has a well-defined sacrum supporting a pelvis and functional hind legs outside of its ribcage.
The creature's skeletal structure suggests it was evolutionarily closer to its four-legged ancestor than previous fossils. And since the scientists found it in a terrestrial deposit, it is near certain that the animal lived on land.
"This snake is an important addition because it is the first snake with a sacrum. This represents an intermediate morphology that has never before been seen," says Hussam Zaher, curator of herpetology at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, and part of the research team.
The fossil was found in a deposit from the late Cretaceous period and Zaher says the snake is at least 90 million years old. "This fills an important morphological gap of information regarding the early evolution of snakes," he says.
(via new scientist)
Posted by Groonk at 06:56 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
The Mapusaurus was One Big, Bad Mutha
Remains of an enormous species of carnivorous dinosaur, which was longer than all other previously identified meat-eating dinos, have been found in western Patagonia, according to a news conference held there on Monday.
Researchers announced that the newly discovered meat muncher, Mapusaurus roseae, belongs to a group of gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs called carcharodontosaurids. This group includes Giganotosaurus, the largest meat-eating dinosaur to ever walk the earth.
The discovery is published in the latest issue of the journal Geodiversitas.
[...]
"This is arguably the nastiest thing ever found, as it is the first pack found for giant meat-eating dinosaurs," said "Dino" Don Lessem, who participated in the Patagonian dig and helped to fund it.
Lessem, a dinosaur expert who served as a consultant on the film "Jurassic Park," told Discovery News that Mapusaurus would have been contemporaneous to the largest animal that ever lived, Argentinosaurus, which was a 125-feet-long, plant-eating dino.
"In a pack, (Mapusaurus) could take down this herbivore despite its weight — 10 times (more than) even this largest of meat eaters," he said.
Philip Currie, who also worked on the excavation and is a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, told Discovery News that the new dino somewhat resembled Tyrannosaurus rex.
"Mapusaurus looked something like T. rex but had a longer, narrower skull," Currie explained. "Its teeth were shorter and more blade-like. The teeth and long skull were better adapted to biting big chunks of meat out of sauropod dinosaurs. T. rex, on the other hand, had longer, thicker teeth for biting through the bones of its prey."
The paleontologists therefore think the newly discovered carnivore both scavenged and hunted for meat.
"Intelligent Design" be damned. Dinosaurs, my first childhood passion, are damn cool and existed billions on trillions of years ago.
I once wanted to be a paleontologist, ya know?
(via rocketboom)
Posted by Groonk at 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
March 30, 2006
A tiger walks in Cullman, Alabama
I keep forgetting about this bit of news:
Residents of the Berlin community were surprised Thursday night when they spotted a tiger roaming the neighborhood.[...]
Blackwood said Lt. Phillip Patterson and Cpl. Keith Marbut responded to the scene.
"They talked to several neighbors who also saw the tiger," Blackwood said.
They searched the area, he said, but never came in contact with the tiger that Blackwood said was described as a full-grown animal coming to about waist-high on an adult male.
Cullman County Animal Control Officer Tim McKoy said he spent the better part of Friday at the scene, looking for signs of the animal and talking to witnesses.
He said the woman who called in initially described the animal as a Bengal tiger, with reddish-orange coloring and black stripes.
If it is a fully adult male, it could weigh anywhere from 300 to 600 pounds, McKoy said.
He said that he could not find any concrete evidence of the tiger at the scene — no tracks, hair or markings on trees. One reason he might not have found markings, he said, is because many domesticated exotic animals like tigers are usually declawed and have their canine teeth removed. That could affect how the animal would search for food, possibly even causing it to starve, McKoy said.
McKoy added that the Bengal tiger is a nocturnal animal, meaning it moves mostly at night.
Posted by Groonk at 07:52 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Alabama, Animals
March 12, 2006
Urban Coyotes are here
Until the 1990s, the farthest that coyotes had ventured into Chicago was to forested reserves near the city limits. But "something happened," says Stan Gehrt, a wildlife biologist at Ohio State University, "something we don't completely understand." Within ten years the coyote population exploded, growing by more than 3,000 percent, and infiltrated the entire Chicago area. Gehrt found territorial packs of five to six coyotes, as well as lone individuals, called floaters, living in downtown Chicago. They traveled at night, crossing sidewalks and bridges, trotting along roads and ducking into culverts and underpasses. One pair raised pups in a drainage area between a day care facility and a public pool; a lone female spent the day resting in a tiny marsh near a busy downtown post office. Perhaps most surprising to Gehrt, Chicago's urban coyotes tended to live as long as their parkland counterparts. No one knows why coyotes are moving into cities, but Gehrt theorizes that shrewder, more human-tolerant coyotes are teaching urban survival skills to new generations...
Should the urban coyote be viewed with trepidation? "Some people have fears that kids are going to be the next ones to be eaten," says (biologist John) Way. "I tell them coyotes have been at the edges of their neighborhoods for years." Way emphasizes coyotes can be an asset to urban ecosystems, keeping a check on deer, rodents, Canada geese and other animals that thrive on the suburbs' all-you-can-eat buffet.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 06:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Research
Congolese chimps solve all problems with sex
Unfortunately, bonobos are prized by Congolese for their tasty meat, and many villagers who are illegally hunting the wiry, wizen-faced apes don't realize how close their prey is to extinction.
"Bonobos are an icon for peace and love, the world's 'hippie chimps,'" said Sally Coxe of the Washington-based Bonobo Conservation Initiative. "To let them die off would be a catastrophe."
The animals are known for greeting rival groups with genital handshakes and sensual body rubs. Bonobo spats are swiftly settled - often with a French kiss and a quick round of sex.
Despite all the sex, however, female bonobos give birth to a single infant only once every five years, making the species especially vulnerable.
It's no damn wonder they can solve problems with sex. No danger of population bursting going on there.
Maybe all that love makes them extra tasty.
(via 7d via myway)
Posted by Groonk at 05:39 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
March 04, 2006
Sharkborgs, kids. I shit you not.
Researchers hope such implants will improve our understanding of how animals interact with their environment.
The Pentagon hopes to exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted.
Another fine bit of science brought to you by DARPA.
(via warrenellis)
Posted by Groonk at 12:46 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Robots
February 14, 2006
Watch pandas get their love-on
Bow down and suck my knees Valentine's Day.
(via 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 07:01 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Holiday
January 19, 2006
When Echizen kurage rule the oceans
I don't have enough pee in me to heal a wound from this sucker.
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- A slimy jellyfish weighing as much as a sumo wrestler has Japan's fishing industry in the grip of its poisonous tentacles.
Vast numbers of Echizen kurage, or Nomura's jellyfish, have appeared around Japan's coast since July, clogging and ripping fishing nets and forcing fishermen to spend hours hacking them apart before bringing home their reduced catches.
[...]
Cutting up and disposing of the giants can turn a three-hour fishing trip into a 10-hour marathon, while valuable fish are poisoned or crushed under the weight of the unwanted catch.
And what a catch. One Echizen kurage can be up to 2 meters (6 feet, 7 inches) in diameter and weigh up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds).
[...]
Spikes in population have occurred in the past, notably in 1958, but consecutive outbreaks in 2002 and 2003 prompted the government to seek reasons and solutions.
Scientists have suggested global warming might be a factor.
Also:
Go figure.
(via medicmike)
Posted by Groonk at 02:02 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Only in Japan
January 13, 2006
Humans taste like dirt...
(Originally uploaded by The Cats Jungle.)
Posted by Groonk at 07:44 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Flickrlicious
December 17, 2005
Youngling Yoda wishes to greet you
Happy Holidays to all!
Yes...hrrmmmm.
Posted by Groonk at 04:17 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Flickrlicious, Holiday
December 13, 2005
Labradoodle
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 02:33 PM | Comments (2) | Ministry of Animals
December 12, 2005
Honey bees know who you are and what you look like
Honeybees may look pretty much all alike to us. But it seems we may not look all alike to them. A study has found that they can learn to recognize human faces in photos, and remember them for at least two days.
The findings toss new uncertainty into a long-studied question that some scientists considered largely settled, the researchers say: how humans themselves recognize faces.
The results also may help lead to better face-recognition software, developed through study of the insect brain, the scientists added.
Many researchers traditionally believed facial recognition required a large brain, and possibly a specialized area of that organ dedicated to processing face information. The bee finding casts doubt on that, said Adrian G. Dyer, the lead researcher in the study.
He recalls that when he made the discovery, it startled him so much that he called out to a colleague, telling her to come quickly because “no one’s going to believe it—and bring a camera!”
[...]
Dyer said that if bees can learn to recognize humans in photos, then they reasonably might also be able to recognize real-life faces. On the other hand, he remarked, this probably isn’t the explanation for an adage popular in some parts of the world—that you shouldn’t kill a bee because its nestmates will remember and come after you.
Francis Ratnieks of Sheffield University in Sheffield, U.K., says that apparent bee revenge attacks of this sort actually occur because a torn-off stinger releases chemicals that signal alarm to nearby hivemates. Says Dyer, “bees don’t normally go around looking at faces.”
I knew it! I knew those bees from my childhood had it out for me.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 05:19 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
Free Willy's kin are full of toxic chemicals
Norwegian scientists have found that killer whales - or orcas, as they are sometimes known - have overtaken polar bears at the head of the toxic table.
No other arctic mammals have ingested such a high concentration of hazardous man-made chemicals.
(via bbc)
Posted by Groonk at 05:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
December 06, 2005
New Critter in Borneo!
The discovering team was lead by a man named Stephan Wulffraat.
You can't make that shit up.
In the dense central forests of Borneo, a conservation group has found what appears to be a new species of mammal.
WWF caught two images of the animal, which is bigger than a domestic cat, dark red, and has a long muscular tail.
Local people, the WWF says, had not seen the species before, and researchers say it looks to be new.
The WWF says there is an urgent need to conserve forests in south-east Asia which are under pressure from logging and the palm oil trade.
The creature, believed to be carnivorous, was spotted in the Kayan Mentarang National Park, which lies in Indonesian territory on Borneo.
The team which discovered it, led by biologist Stephan Wulffraat, is publishing full details in a new book on Borneo and its wildlife.
At first glance I was sure that critter was some sort of tiny dinosaur. Then I realized I was looking at it's ass(tail).
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Research
November 11, 2005
Gigantic Apes Lived Among Humans Millions of Years Ago
Science said it. So that makes it true.
For now anyway.
Fortunately for the early humans, the huge primate's diet consisted mainly of bamboo.
Scientists have known about Gigantopithecus blackii since the accidental discovery of some of its teeth on sale in a Hong Kong pharmacy about 80 years ago. While the idea of a giant ape piqued the interest of scientists – and bigfoot hunters – around the world, it was unclear how long ago this beast went extinct.
Now Jack Rink, a geochronologist at McMaster University in Ontario, has used a high-precision absolute-dating method to determine that this ape – the largest primate ever – roamed Southeast Asia for nearly a million years before the species died out 100,000 years ago during the Pleistocene period. By this time, humans had existed for a million years.
If you read the rest of the