New species of bloodsucking leech with three jaws and 59 teeth found outside Washington

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

A newly discovered bloodsucking, olive-green leech with three jaws and as many as 59 teeth has been found about 40 miles outside of downtown Washington.

A team led by a researcher at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History discovered the new species, Macrobdella mimicus, in the swamps of southern Maryland’s Charles County. It’s the first time since 1975 a new leech species has been found in North America.

Anna Phillips, the museum’s curator of parasitic worms, led the team that made the discovery. She waded in murky waters for days wearing shorts — with bare legs and sandals — looking for leeches under wood, grass and trash in swampy, algae-covered ponds near Nanjemoy, a small community southwest of Waldorf.

The researchers’ findings of the new species, which is about the size of a cigarette, were published this month in the Journal of Parasitology.

The jokes write themselves...

[snowybirdie]

1. Ha, ha

You got me! Thought it was about the Orange One.

[AJT]

2. I thought this a joke about 45 appointees.

[irisblue]

3. From the article...

Snip-"Anna Phillips, the museum’s curator of parasitic worms, led the team that made the discovery. She waded in murky waters for days wearing shorts — with bare legs and sandals — looking for leeches under wood, grass and trash in swampy, algae-covered ponds near Nanjemoy, a small community southwest of Waldorf."


Snip-"Phillips said she spent hours with ticks, flies, mosquitoes and chiggers around her, walking in squishy, mucky water while trying to find leeches in ponds. She was unfazed when a leech would grab on to her leg. Leeches bite only when they’re hungry, she said."



nope nope nope nope nope

[CaptYossarian]

4. I thought the punchline would involve Paul Ryan, Spicer or Scaramucci.

[COLGATE4]

5. And it's Republican

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. rename the leech: GOPer mimicus

[Blue Owl]

6. The Curator of Parasitic Worms -- man, that job must suck

n/t

[dawg]

8. And if it's our nominee, I'm voting for it!