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Related: About this forumPenis Snake is neither penis nor snake, but looks like both
Penis Snake is neither penis nor snake, but looks like both
When a crew of engineers stumbled across this critter while building a dam in the Amazon, many dubbed it the "penis snake," and it's easy to see why. But this phallic squirmer isn't a snake at all but an extremely rare, limbless amphibian.
Last year, a group of engineers draining a portion of the Madeira River in Brazil discovered six of these creatures, which biologist Julian Tupan identified as Atretochoana eiselti. A. eiselti is a caecilian, one of the oder of amphibians that resembles worms and snakes due to its lack of limbs. It's also the largest known tetrapod to possess no lungs; it's believed that it breathes through its skin, but it's still unclear just how the amphibian manages to intake sufficient oxygen to survive.
What's especially interesting about A. eiselti (aside from its resemblance to human genitalia) is that, until last year, the species was known only from two preserved specimens. In fact, before A. eiselti was discovered in the warm, turbid waters of the Madeira River, it was theorized that they lived instead in the cold, oxygen-rich waters of an elevated region. So this discovery has offered biologists a unique opportunity to study the species. However, given that the species is likely rare, it's a bit distressing that the species was discovered during the drainage of its habitat. In discussing the conservation of the Amazon, won't somebody please think of the penis snakes?
http://io9.com/5931784/penis-snake-is-neither-penis-nor-snake-but-looks-like-both
Kurovski
(34,655 posts)"Purple People Eater" automatically springs to mind.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Last edited Mon Aug 6, 2012, 02:08 PM - Edit history (1)
The one eyed trouser snake.
Yep. A line from said song: " ...one-eyed, one- horned..."
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)WillParkinson
(16,862 posts)I'm sorry, but we will need photographs as evidence.
Skittles
(153,160 posts)please...just say "THAT BIG" and be DONE with it
And this is why we love Skittles.
Skittles
(153,160 posts)THANKS KURVOSKI!!! You want I should kick your complimenting ass?
Kurovski
(34,655 posts)Skittles
(153,160 posts)2on2u
(1,843 posts)make us believe in things that never existed. Please do not confuse this creature with the Korean penis fish, the likeness is only in your mind.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8d8_1326736023
WillParkinson
(16,862 posts)Quite cool.
eppur_se_muova
(36,263 posts)progressoid
(49,990 posts)formercia
(18,479 posts)who is both a Prick and a Snake.
Kurovski
(34,655 posts)Ding-dong.
longship
(40,416 posts)And does Viagra have anything to do with this?
Given its apparent limpness, maybe they ought to call it "Bob Dole".
(rim shot)
I'll be here all night. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)That's the Financial Times crossword puzzle.
formercia
(18,479 posts)or something Moses might pick up to impress the locals.