My thoughts on anything & everything

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Evolutionary Throwback Snake With Foot Discovered [Monsters Among Us]

Evolutionary Throwback Snake With Foot Discovered [Monsters Among Us]:


A woman in China discovered a snake clinging to the wall of her bedroom with one clawed foot. It turned out she'd discovered an incredibly rare mutation - it's actually more common for snakes to have two heads than feet.

Unfortunately, Duan Qiongxiu of Suining, China, killed the snake before it could be captured and studied by scientists. She said "the monster" was crawling along her wall using its foot and she beat it to death.

According to the London Telegraph:

The snake – 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger – is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China's West Normal University in Nanchang.

Snake expert Long Shuai said: "It is truly shocking but we won't know the cause until we've conducted an autopsy."

Creatures can re-evolve old features. Maybe this snake is the first mutation in a series that will bring back snakes with legs? Perhaps as the snakes' environments disappear, it will be better for them to have legs with claws. All the better for climbing around in cities.

via Telegraph

No comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

Blog Archive