Tentacled prophet and four-legged oracles for World Cup 2010

Paul predicts Spain’s victory against Germany, at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen July 6, 2010. — Reuters pic

In a World Cup of droning vuvuzelas, dodgy balls and substandard favourites, nothing has fascinated the public as much as the octopus named Paul.

So far, the seemingly precognitive Paul has correctly predicted the results of all German matches during the tournament, even their losses to Serbia and Spain.

Tomorrow, according to his handlers, Paul will predict the winner of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. If he is not tired.

Residing in the Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium in Germany, the two-year-old cephalopod “predicts” the results of matches by picking one of two clear boxes bearing the flags of the competing countries. The boxes are arranged according to Fifa’s arrangement of flags for each match, and filled with food like mussels or oysters.

Previously, he has correctly predicted five out of six results from Germany’s campaign in Euro 2008.

After predicting Germany’s exit at the hands of Spain in the semi-final, Paul has since received death threats from many Germans who wish to see him served on their dinner tables.

Some punters and booking agencies have made money from following his advice, while animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) is urging for his release from his “imprisonment”.

Paul might be the first octopus to have done so, but he is surely not the first animal to tell fortunes or read minds. In 1927, a horse in Virginia, US named Lady Wonder was claimed to possess psychic powers and extra-sensory perception (ESP), and communicated by pushing toy letter blocks.

For the price of a dollar, one could ask the horse three questions, and over 150,000 people had taken up the offer. The horse also supposedly predicted the result of a boxing match, discovered oil, and solved a missing person case.

Another horse in 1900 in Germany, Clever Hans, was shown as having the ability to solve arithmetical and intellectual problems. Having a multi-talented owner who was a mathematics teacher, amateur horse trainer and phrenologist bestowed Hans with various abilities such as telling time, differentiating musical tones and understanding German.

In the 1980s, a dog called Harass II was purported by its handler, John Prestons, to be psychic. Harass II could supposedly find cold trails and human scent — even months or years later. He could also track underwater and after hurricanes, using his psychic powers.

Historically, humans have relied on observing animals for divination since thousands of years ago. Alectryomancy, practised by Etruscans in ancient Italy 2,400 years ago, enables people to tell fortunes by seeing roosters pecking at scattered grains.

The ancient Romans practised augury, divination by studying the flight of birds: whether any noise was made, whether they flew alone, their directions, etc. These duties were held by a special order of priests whose role was interpreting the gods’ messages.

This divination by observation extends to various other animals such as cats (felidomancy), horse (hippomancy), fish (ichthyomancy), spider and snakes (ophiomancy).

In the cases of Lady Wonder, Clever Hans and Harass II, it has been proven that the animals were unconsciously or unintentionally cued by their owners. In fact, this observer effect has been called the “Clever Hans Effect” and has been used to debunk many “intelligent” or “talented” pets over the years.

As for Paul, it is still not proven if he reacts to his trainer Oliver Walenciak’s cues or the expectant German fans. Although he has predicted 11 out of 12 matches correctly so far, it is noted that Paul chose Germany nine times out of 12. Considering Germany was the favourites in those nine matches, Paul had consequently better odds to be correct.

Being a common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), it has also been suggested that Paul has a preference for flags with bright horizontal stripes like Germany and Spain, instead of England or Argentina, despite not being able to see in colour.

The species is naturally found in shallow tropical and semi-tropical seas around the world and can grow up to 25cm, with tentacles up to a metre.

Common octopi are well-known for being highly intelligent and responsive. They have been observed to unscrew bottle caps and manipulating other tools.

Whether Paul really possesses supernatural abilities or is just extremely lucky, there is no doubt that he or his owners should capitalise on his popularity quick.

Even if he does not end up in furious Germans’ tummies, Paul is nearing the end of his life —his species has a life expectancy of just two years.

For now, Paul has been immortalised in the minds of many World Cup watchers, even garnering two Twitter accounts for himself, which you can find here and here.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Museum offering to buy Cockroaches

A Houston museum is offering 25 cents per cockroach to fill an exhibit about the wonders of insects that eat decomposing things.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science wants 1,000 American cockroaches, which grow to 2 inches long, can fly and thrive in the city's sub-tropical climate, said museum entomologist Laurie Pierrel on Wednesday.

They will be part of an exhibit polishing the image of bugs that feed off decaying organic matter and in so doing add to the general cleanliness.

"They're decomposers, a bit like a trash disposal," Pierrel said. "If we didn't have cockroaches, there'd be so much more trash around."

Roaches are widely believed to be dirty, disease-carrying creatures, but that is unfair, she said.

"They are very clean like a cat," Pierrel said. "They clean themselves all day."

There is the matter that they often enter houses through the sewer system, and that troublesome organic matter from there can stick on their feet, but only until they clean it off, she said.

The Houston Chronicle on Wednesday had a frontpage illustration of a homemade roach trap to capture the bugs without touching them.

Pierrel said she will be outside the museum the next three Saturdays with a bucket for the bugs and money for the sellers.

What will the museum roaches eat? Pretty much what they would get scavenging in the average home.

"We usually throw in a box of cake mix, some pieces of apple, some pieces of orange, cat food, dog food -- our insects eat well," Pierrel said.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Duck penises show "arms race" between sexes

Several species of ducks have evolved complicated genitals in what appears to be an "arms race" between the sexes, researchers reported on Tuesday.

And females may be coming out ahead, said the team of biologists at Yale University in Connecticut and the University of Sheffield in Britain.

Their findings not only open a window into a little-studied area of biology, but could help shed light on how evolution works to help both males and females control their own breeding, the researchers said.

Patricia Brennan of both Yale and Sheffield was trying to figure out why some species of birds have penises and some do not.

"Birds are the only group where it mostly has been lost -- 97 percent of birds do not have phalluses at all," Brennan said in a telephone interview.

"So if it is such a handy tool, why don't they have them any more?" Brennan asked.

Instead, they mate using what biologists call a "cloacal kiss" -- a brief touch of the single opening that birds of both sexes have for disposing of waste and that both eggs and sperm come out of.

Brennan noted that in many species, females choose a mate after he puts on an elaborate courtship display, and breeding pairs are often monogamous.

An exception is ducks -- especially mallards. Although mallards pair off to mate, females are often raped by stray males.

Yet studies show that these rapes do not pay off for the males. "Even in a species where 40 percent of the copulations are forced copulations, the ducklings still are mostly sired by the mates," Brennan said.

"That implies the females may have some kind of mechanism that allows them to keep control of the paternity."

So Brennan's team looked at a lot of duck bottoms.

What they found surprised them -- corkscrew-shaped oviducts, with plenty of potential dead-ends.

"Interestingly, the male phallus is also a spiral, but it twists in the opposite, counterclockwise, direction," said Yale ornithologist Richard Prum in a statement.

"So, the twists in the oviduct appear designed to exclude the opposing twists of the male phallus. It's an exquisite anti-lock-and-key system."

Brennan believes females evolved convoluted oviducts to foil the male rapists.

"You can envision an evolutionary scenario that, as the male phallus increases in size, the female creates more barriers. You get this evolutionary arms race," Brennan said.

Only if the female is relaxed and cooperative can the male's sperm get anywhere near the unfertilized eggs, the researchers suggest.

"What I think is really cool is this does speak a lot about the ability of the female to have these cryptic mechanisms of choice," Brennan said.

And it may mean something for people. "We can expect that these types of antagonistic traits are probably widespread and are likely part of the reproductive interactions of all sorts of animals, including humans," Brennan said.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Postmen find poison snakes in express mail

Postal workers in a Brazilian border town knew there was something suspicious about the shipments from Argentina and were stunned to find scorpions and poisonous snakes in the express mail.

The contraband animals, which also included iguanas, tortoises and lizards, were discovered when the workers had the boxes X-rayed.

A spokesman for the federal police in Foz do Iguacu, the town on the border with Argentina and Paraguay where the incident occurred, said animals shipped into the country often end up in Europe "where they charge three, four, five times as much."

Television stations broadcast images of brightly colored tropical snakes coiled and stuffed into plastic containers, the kind typically used for take-away orders at the deli counter.

The contraband animals had crossed the border from Argentina and were being express-mailed to Brazilian cities, police officer Emerson Rodrigues told TV Globo.

Animals are trafficked in from several countries and often cross into Brazil from Argentina or Paraguay in the tri-border region near Foz do Iguacu, authorities said.

"Traffic also goes the other way, which is to say the animals come from Brazil and go to other countries, including to Europe," Rodrigues told Globo.

Police suspected the express mail case was linked to an international trafficking ring and were using the addresses on the boxes as leads.

Animal trafficking is common in South America, where the Amazon rain forest alone is estimated to hold some 15 percent of all plant and animal species on earth.

Foz do Iguacu is south of the Amazon at the edge of the Pantanal wetlands, which are famous for giant otters, alligators and various birds including storks and South America's endangered blue Hyacinth Macaw.

In Brazil, macaws and other parrots are among the most commonly trafficked animals. They are often found dead or dying in boxes and crates when trafficking rings are broken up.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Drunk Deposits Horse in Bank for Night

A German man called on his bank for an unusual service when he was too tired and drunk to go home -- he bedded down there for the night with his horse.

The man, identified as Wolfgang H. by German media, went to sleep next to cash machines in the local branch of the Mittelbrandenburgische Sparkasse in Wiesenburg southwest of Berlin after unsaddling his horse Sammy and closing the door.

A spokeswoman for the bank said that aside from an undesirable deposit made by his horse inside the building, the 40-year-old account holder had not breached any house rules.

"The horse was otherwise very well behaved and kept a good watch on his master," she said Wednesday. "Perhaps we should have a supply of oats and water on the premises in future."

Another customer discovered the horse and rider as he slept and informed police, who asked the man to leave.

A police spokesman said that since the horse's droppings had been removed, the matter was now closed.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

A T-Rex would have tasted like Chicken

Protein extracted from a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex bone has provided further evidence of a direct evolutionary line between dinosaurs and birds.

The soft tissue was removed from a fossilised thigh bone belonging to one of the giant predator dinosaurs unearthed in the US state of Montana in 2003. It lay under more than 1,000 cubic metres of rock.

Scientific analysis showed the tissue, which belongs to the elastic fibres known as collagens, was similar in structure to chicken protein, say scientists writing in the journal called Science.

The tissue is thought to have survived because it did not come into contact with atmospheric or groundwater contamination.

The same researchers hit the headlines two years ago with the discovery that the fossil seemed to contain soft tissues, including blood vessels. Both operations on the T. Rex bone were performed at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Collagen is a fibrous, elastic protein that also helps to keep skin looking young. It also makes up most of the organic material in bone, which consists of both minerals and protein.

The process of fossilisation takes place over millions of years when organic remains are replaced by minerals from water and rock.

"For centuries it was believed that the process of fossilisation destroyed any original material, consequently no-one looked carefully at really old bones", said Dr Mary Schweitzer, who led the North Carolina team.

Final confirmation came from the laboratory of Dr John Asra, director of a mass spectrometry facility at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston.

Mass spectrometry is a sensitive technique that identifies chemicals by their atomic mass. It was able to show the T. rex material contained sequences of amino acids. These are the protein building blocks typical of collagen.

The sequence pattern looked like that of chicken collagen, and there were also similarities with frog and newt protein. "The similarity to chicken is definitely what we would expect given the relationship between modern birds and dinosaurs," said Schweitzer.

"This data will help us learn more about dinosaurs' evolutionary relationships, about how preservation happens, and about how molecules degrade over time, which could also have some important medical implications for treating disease", said Schweitzer. dpa mb pb ds

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Trawler Seized with 220 Rare Turtles

Malaysian marine police have seized a trawler carrying about 220 rare sea turtles and arrested 17 Chinese men for poaching, their second such seizure this week, a police chief said Thursday.

In the two seizures, both involving chases through Malaysian waters, almost 300 turtles were recovered. Most were dead, caught for use in making Chinese medicines. Their shells and skins are also used to make fashion accessories.

"We chased them for about half an hour," said Assistant Commissioner Mohd Sueb, head of marine police for Sabah state, referring to the second seizure Wednesday.

"They refused to stop their engine so we were alongside and we jumped over and managed to stop the engine."

Armed police, acting on tip-offs, intercepted both trawlers in waters off Sabah, Borneo island, Mohd Sueb said by phone. The turtles were mostly green turtles and hawksbills, both listed as endangered by the Swiss-based World Conservation Union.

Only 20 of the roughly 220 seized Wednesday were still alive, Mohd Sueb said. Of the 78 turtles recovered in the first seizure Monday, only five were alive, a local newspaper said. All the turtles were handed over to Malaysia's fisheries department.

Nineteen men were arrested in Monday's seizure.

Under Malaysia's fisheries law, the skippers of the trawlers face a maximum fine of 1 million ringgit ($289,000) and the crew could each be fined up to 100,000 ringgit.

Asked if police suspected any more turtle poachers were still trawling waters off Sabah, Mohd Sueb said: "So far, no news. It depends on the intelligence that we get."

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Monster Cane Toad Found

A huge cane toad the size of a small dog has been captured in the Australian tropical city of Darwin, startling environmentalists who are fighting to stop the poisonous reptiles from spread across the country.

"It's a monster toad," said Paul Cowdy from FrogWatch which captured the cane toad Monday night.

"We've never seen a cane toad this big," he said on Tuesday. "It's a male and normally females are bigger."

The cane toad, regarded as a major pest in Australia, was one of 39 caught by a group from FrogWatch near Lee Point in Darwin. It measures 20.5 cm (8 inches) in length and weighs 840 grams (1.8 pounds) -- twice the normal weight.

Cane toads are one of Australia's worst environmental mistakes. The spread of the toads, whose skin is poisonous, has led to dramatic declines in populations of native snakes, goanna lizards and quolls, which are cat-sized marsupials.

"We capture them, put them in plastic bags, freeze them and turn them into liquid fertilizer," Cowdy said of the cane toads.

Cane toads were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in a failed bid to control native cane beetles. There are now more than 200 million.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

New Type of Crocodile Belt

A Palestinian woman wearing a strangely bulging robe was caught at the Gaza-Egypt border trying to smuggle three baby crocodiles strapped to her waist, an official said Monday.

The reptiles, their jaws tied shut, were apparently bound for a Gaza zoo, said Maria Telleria, a spokeswoman for European observers who run the Rafah crossing.

"She looked strangely fat," Telleria said, explaining why the woman was ordered by a policewoman to submit to a search as she tried to enter Gaza from Egypt Thursday.

Surprised by the three crocodiles, the policewoman screamed, other guards raced to the scene and the reptiles were eventually turned over to authorities on the Egyptian side of the border, Telleria said by telephone.

"Two months ago, we had people who tried to cross with baby lions in their suitcases, and we have had many incidents in which travelers attempted to smuggle in exotic birds," the spokeswoman said.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Movie Pirates spraying Chemicals on DVDs to deter Dogs

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Movie pirates are spraying chemicals on their bootleg DVDs to confuse two U.S.-loaned dogs who this month helped Malaysian authorities sniff out nearly 1 million illegal discs, an official said Monday.

The two female Labradors have been trained to detect polycarbonate chemicals used in manufacturing discs. But officials received a tip-off that bootleggers are using chemical sprays to throw Lucky and Flo off the scent, said Fahmi Kassim, the Domestic Trade Ministry's enforcement chief in southern Johor state.

"The pirates are believed to be desperate because the dogs were so successful," Fahmi told The Associated Press.

Ministry authorities last week said the dogs were moved to a safe house after a source informed them that DVD and CD pirates were offering a bounty to anyone who could kill the dogs, which are on loan for at least a month from the Motion Picture Association of America.

The dogs, which began sniffing out disc shipments at Malaysia's main airport on March 13, won acclaim when they traveled south to Johor, helping officials uncover 1 million pirated DVDs, CDs and computer game discs worth $2.8 million in an office complex on March 19.

Fahmi declined to say whether Lucky and Flo were still in Johor, citing security reasons. However, the dogs have not taken part in any raids in Johor since last week's effort, he said.

The large seizure has not crippled pirates, Fahmi said, noting that authorities in Johor, which borders Singapore, found several retail outlets selling pirated discs over the weekend.

"We believe the pirates wanted to show off their strength, to show that they managed to reorganize and reopen their business even after we confiscated so many discs," Fahmi said.

Malaysia is among the world's main producers and exporters of pirated discs, the U.S. government and the MPAA have said. According to the Malaysian government, 5 million discs were seized in more than 2,000 raids nationwide last year, and 780 people were arrested.

The MPAA says Lucky and Flo's work in this Southeast Asian country is the first time authorities anywhere in the world have used dogs to detect contraband discs. Malaysian officials have said they will consider training their own canines to perform similar tasks.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Shark with Webbed Feet found in Penang

HAS anyone ever seen a baby shark with webbed feet? A worker of the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM) in Batu Maung, Penang, made this unusual find when she was given the 1.7kg fish by a fisherman at the jetty recently.

Mary Looi, 48, said she only realised the shark was different when she wanted to cook tomyam fish for lunch for her family.

“It was only when I was about to cut the shark the day after I received it that I found two webbed feet sticking out from the lower part of the body.

“The shark is one-metre long,” she said.

Unusual find:Looi showing the webbed feet of the baby shark.

Looi said she dared not cook the fish after consulting her husband Gooi Man Kaw, 57, who told her that according to Chinese belief, eating fish with unusual features could bring disaster or ill luck.

“Immediately, I returned the fish to the fisherman that night at about 10pm.

“He threw it back into the sea,” said Looi.

Looi, who has been working at LKIM for 10 years, said this was the first time she had stumbled upon such an unusual find.

When contacted, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Muka Head marine research station head Prof Dr Zulfigar Yasin said this is the first time he had heard of fish with legs found in the Malaysian waters.

“There is a possibility that the fish could have swum from other waters into Malaysian waters.

“As far as I am concerned, fish species with legs or bony fins can only be discovered in the waters of North Sulawesi in Indonesia or South Africa,” he said.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Special dogs to sniff out fake DVDs in Malaysia

Hmmm .. I wonder what does a DVD smell like?
These dogs must sure be talented! :)

SEPANG: Red-carpet treatment and six-star hotels are usually reserved for VIPs or Very Important Persons.

In the case of Lucky and Flo, it would have to be changed to VICs or Very Important Canines.

Lucky and Flo are two Labrador Retrievers on an important mission to Malaysia. They have been brought here from Northern Ireland to help authorities in the fight against DVD and CD pirates.

And befitting their status as top dogs when it comes to sniffing out optical discs, Lucky and Flo are being put up at the six-star Animal Hotel in Sepang.

"These animals are the latest addition to our armoury in the never-ending battle against optical disc pirates," said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal who was impressed with the dogs’ abilities at a demonstration at the Advanced Cargo Centre here yesterday.

The deployment of the two dogs makes Malaysia the first country worldwide to test the capabilities of dogs in detecting optical discs in hidden compartments or shipments.

The project, aptly codenamed Operation Double Trouble, will be a month-long affair, with the dogs taken to various locations, including shopping centres.

The dogs have been to several countries to give demonstrations of their prowess in sniffing and detecting hidden optical discs.

Although Malaysia is no longer the world’s number one exporter of pirated discs, steps are being taken to further stamp out the menace.

"There has been a decline in the overall seizure of Malaysian- made pirated goods worldwide, but we must not rest on our laurels," Shafie said.

"Make no mistake, those involved in piracy are ruthless criminals. They are devious and keep coming up with new ways to avoid detection.

"Last year, five million discs worth RM50 million were seized as well as other paraphernalia."

Shafie said there should be closer collaboration between enforcement agencies, such as the police and Customs, and transport companies.

At the end of Lucky and Flo’s stint, the ministry will evaluate their performance. It is considering setting up a canine unit within its enforcement division.

Also present yesterday were Federal CID director Datuk Christopher Wan and Motion Picture Association Asia-Pacific region senior vice-president Michael Ellis.


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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Mouth-to-Snout Resuscitation

CHICAGO - If a dog is man's best friend, a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran showed the feeling is mutual by saving his drowning pet with mouth-to-snout resuscitation and CPR.

Lucy, a 10-month-old English bulldog, chased ducks into a partly frozen lake near Randy Gurchin's home in Papillion, Nebraska, but quickly became paralyzed in the icy water and briefly went under.

The 50-pound (23-kg) dog was unresponsive and had a blue face and bloody foam around its muzzle when Gurchin, who flew combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, edged onto the ice.

"The ice started to crack under me. I just picked her up," he said. "I thought she was dead."

But Gurchin, 51, put his military first-aid training to use. He closed Lucy's mouth, put his mouth over her nose and started forcing air into her lungs and pushing on her chest.

Within minutes, the dog began breathing shallowly and was rushed to a nearby veterinarian.

Doctors soaked Lucy in warm water, injected steroids and muscle relaxants and put her in an oxygen chamber. She has since made a full recovery.

"Our little Lucy is back," said Gurchin's wife Kelley.

Her husband, who retired from the military with a back injury in 2005 and walks with a cane, has vowed not to let the dog out of his sight, she said.

"He would never say he loved her until this rescue mission," she said.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Teens Accused of Making Ostrich Impotent

BERLIN - Three teenagers may be on the hook for a hefty fine if a court decides that their festive firecrackers outside an eastern German farm scared the libido right out of an ostrich named Gustav.

Rico Gabel, a farmer in Lohsa, northeast of Dresden, is claiming $6,450 in damages for the alleged antics of the three youths, ages 17-18, between Dec. 27 and 29, 2005.

According to his lawsuit, the farmer claims that fireworks set off by the boys made the previously lustful Gustav both apathetic and depressed, and thus unable to perform for a half-a-year with his two female breeding partners.

Before Gustav regained his sex drive in the second half of the year, the farmer estimates he lost out on 14 ostrich offspring — worth $460 apiece.

The suit is due to be heard next Monday in a regional court in nearby Bautzen, the court said Monday. The teenagers' names were not released.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Alaska Moose brings Down Helicopter

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A helicopter is not necessarily a match for an angry moose. Instead of lying down after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, a moose charged a hovering helicopter used by a wildlife biologist, damaging the aircraft's tail rotor and forcing it to the ground.

Neither the pilot nor the biologist was injured, but the moose was maimed by the spinning rotor and had to be euthanized, wildlife officials said.

"It just had to be one of those quirky circumstance. Even dealing with bears and goats and moose and wolves, this is pretty unusual and truly a very unique situation," said Doug Larsen, regional supervisor for the Division of Wildlife Conservation.

Biologist Kevin White was aboard the chartered helicopter on Saturday for a study of moose near Gustavus, a community of 459 people about 50 miles northwest of Juneau in southeast Alaska. Moose outnumber humans there 2-to-1, White has written in an essay for the Department of Fish and Game Web site.

He shot the animal with a tranquilizer dart, Larsen said, and the pilot maneuvered the helicopter to keep the animal from slipping into a tight space or collapsing in water and drowning.

"The moose would start to move, and then the helicopter would back off and try to keep the moose out in the open," Larsen said.

But instead of moving toward open space, the moose charged the helicopter.

"As the animal got closer and closer to going down, an animal sort of loses its thinking — its ability to rationalize what's in its best interest," Larsen said.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Spiky oddball prowled ocean half billion years ago

WASHINGTON - A spectacularly quirky creature with long, curved spines protruding from its armored body prowled the ocean floor half a billion years ago near the dawn of complex life forms on Earth, scientists said.

In research appearing in Friday's edition of the journal Science, scientists identified an ancient invertebrate they named Orthrozanclus reburrus from 11 complete fossils retrieved from Canada's fossil-rich Burgess Shale rock formation.

"It's a tiny beast," Jean-Bernard Caron of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, who described the newly identified species along with Simon Conway Morris of the University of Cambridge in Britain, said in an interview.

Orthrozanclus, about half an inch (one centimetre) long, lived about 505 million years ago during the Cambrian Period. The Cambrian was an important moment in the history of life on Earth and a time of radical evolutionary experimentation when many major animal groups first appeared in the fossil record.

This proliferation of life is dubbed the "Cambrian Explosion" because of the relatively brief time span in which this diversity of forms arose.

Orthrozanclus had no eyes and no limbs and apparently moved along the ocean floor with a muscular foot, like a snail does, while dining on bacterial growths, the researchers said.

Orthrozanclus seems to have been built to prevent predators from turning it into a quick snack. It was covered in a shell and had almost three dozen long, pointy, curved spines sticking out from the edge of its body, and many smaller ones, too.

"You probably don't want to have them in your slippers. They're kind of spiky," Caron said.

EARLY ANIMAL EVOLUTION

The newly identified invertebrate helps clarify early animal evolution, the scientists said.

The scientists think Orthrozanclus may belong to a newly identified group of organisms characterized by a similar type of body armour, and that this group was related to present-day snails, earthworms and mollusks, which include snails, clams, squid and octopuses.

The researchers described the animal based on complete and beautifully preserved fossils -- nine at the Royal Ontario Museum and two at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

The Burgess Shale, an important rock layer from the Cambrian in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, has yielded a treasure trove of fossils from this critical period in the history of life.

These include such weirdos as Hallucigenia, a spiky animal so unusual that the scientists who named it seemed to think it was a hallucination, and the predator Anomalocaris with large, grasping limbs, the largest animal found in the Burgess Shale.

Some creatures found as fossils in the Burgess Shale are ancestors of animals alive today, while others have long since gone extinct and are not like any existing living thing.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Giant Colossal Squid (450kg) Caught in New Zealand

WELLINGTON - New Zealand fishermen may have caught the largest Colossal squid ever found -- weighing around 450kg (992 pounds) and with rings the size of tyres.

The adult Colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) was caught by fishermen long lining for toothfish in deep ocean off Antarctica, New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said on Thursday in announcing the catch.

The squid was still alive when caught and was eating a hooked toothfish when hauled aboard, Anderton said in a statement.

"The squid was almost dead when it reached the surface, and the careful work of the crew was paramount in getting this specimen aboard in good condition," Anderton said.

"The crew stopped winching in the longline for two hours, while the squid was manoeuvred into a cargo net and hauled aboard," he said.

The squid was frozen in the ship's hull and brought back to New Zealand for scientific examination.

"The colossal squid has just arrived in New Zealand and it is likely that it is the first intact adult male Colossal squid to ever be successfully landed," Anderton said.

Colossal squid are one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean, growing up to 12 to 14 metres (36 to 42 feet) in length. Anderton said the squid would be photographed, measured, tissue sampled, registered and preserved intact.

"On-going examination of this giant will help to unlock some of the mysteries of the deep ocean. Even basic questions such as such as how large does this species grow to, and how long does it live for are not yet known," he said.

Local media said early estimates put the squid at 10 metres (30 feet) in length and weighing 450 kg (992 pounds) -- 150 kg (330 pounds) heavier than the next biggest specimen found.

"I can assure you that this is going to draw phenomenal interest. It is truly amazing," squid expert Steve O'Shea at Auckland University of Technology told local media.

O'Shea said if calamari were made from the Colossal squid's rings it would be the size of tractor tyres.

Anderton said Colossal squid were found in Antarctic waters and were not related to Giant squid (Architeuthis) found around the coast of New Zealand. Giant squid also grow up to 12 metres (36 feet), but are not as heavy.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Rats Run Wild in KFC in New York

NEW YORK - New Yorkers are used to seeing rats where they catch their trains — not where they buy their burritos. About a dozen rats were having a grand party Friday in a locked KFC/Taco Bell restaurant, scampering around the floor, playing with each other and sniffing for food as they dashed around tables and children's high chairs.

Onlookers could not keep their eyes away from the jaw-dropping sight — a gang of urban vermin invading a restaurant that had been taking people's chicken and taco orders just a day earlier. Video of the rats was seen around the world, disseminated on TV stations and the Internet.

"All you can eat once the store is locked," one onlooker joked.

"They should handcuff them and throw the dirty rats in jail," cabbie Wilson Paul said as he pulled over to gawk.

Word spread after a TV crew discovered the rat infestation Friday morning and filmed it through a window of the Greenwich Village building.

Health inspectors arrived, and the parent company for KFC and Taco Bell, Yum Brands, Inc., was again forced into damage-control mode a few months after enduring an E. coli outbreak.

The restaurant was not open when the rats were spotted. The company said construction in the basement on Thursday appeared to have stirred up the rodents.

"This is completely unacceptable and is an absolute violation of our high standards," Yum Brands said in a statement.

Rats have long been a problem in densely populated New York City. They are frequently seen scampering through subway tunnels, rooting through trash, dashing across parks and burrowing into the walls of apartment buildings.

Greenwich Village tends to be a happy home for them because of its combination of older buildings and a tangle of subway lines converging just below street level.

Still, it is rare to see so many rats congregating in one place in such public view.

The city Department of Health had inspectors at the site on Friday for hours, and by midday had posted a sign that read "CLOSED."

"Today, this establishment had serious unsanitary conditions," said Carol Feracho, a senior health inspector. "There were issues with vermin throughout."

She said the infestation was "coming from the building," with "openings" that allowed the vermin to enter. She provided no other details.

There was no answer at the phone number displayed in neon on the store window below the words, "We Deliver." Health Department records list the franchise owner as ADF Fifth Operating Corp., agency spokeswoman Sara Markt said.

The owner could not be reached for comment, despite numerous efforts.

The franchise owner "is actively addressing this issue," Yum Brands' statement said, adding that the restaurant will remain closed until the problem is resolved.

Joel Cohen, who lives in the building next to the restaurant, had a graphic view of the situation.

"This place is a disaster," said Cohen, who works in real estate. "They throw their rubbish in the doorways. It's loaded up with food in bags that are not tied, and the rats have eaten through the bags."

Taco Bell sales have slumped since last year's E. coli scare, in which more than 70 East Coast customers became ill. Federal officials said lettuce was the most likely source, and the company has changed suppliers.

Yum Brands stock closed Friday at $60.51, down 55 cents.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Man Spears a 6-foot Sturgeon

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - The fish's long shadow slid under the ice, causing Darren Horness to blink. "I was skimming some ice off the hole, and all the sudden I thought I caught a little bit of movement, and I had to kind of take a step back," said Horness, 36, of Howards Grove. "The fish was actually coming up into the hole, I just could see part of it and could tell it was a kind of a nice fish, but I had no idea how big it really was."

The 102-pound, 72-inch sturgeon was nearly as long as he was tall.

About 8,000 fishermen spearhunt sturgeon each year on Lake Winnebago and its upriver lakes. In his seven years, Horness hadn't come close to a fish that big.

He had cut a hole through the 16 inches of ice on Lake Winnebago, and the sturgeon arched through it, coming within six inches of the surface. Horness heard the fish's back scrape the ice on the bottom edge of the hole.

"I had to get down on my knees and I had to spear almost horizontal because it was so high up into the hole," he said. "I didn't know how good of a hit that I had on it because it was such a weird throw."

The spear lodged in the fish's tail, about two feet from the end. Within minutes, the female was tiring and had moved close enough to the surface for Horness to see what he'd caught.

"My knees just almost buckled because it looked so humongous in the water," he said.

About a dozen of the 700 fish speared so far this year have topped 100 pounds, said Ron Bruch, a sturgeon biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources. The season continues through Feb. 25 or when the harvest limit is reached.

Gary Hilbert of Fond du Lac caught the heaviest sturgeon of the year so far Saturday on Lake Poygan. The female weighed 139 1/2 pounds and was 71 1/2 inches long. Mike Freund of White Lake speared a 111-pound, 72.5-inch female on Lake Winnebago Sunday.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]

Gross Looking Grouper .... Hybrid Grouper to Save Seafood Industry in Malaysia

HYBRID FISH: The new species is a cross between the giant grouper (A) and the tiger grouper (B), resulting in a hybrid species of grouper, or ‘sak pan’.

KOTA KINABALU: A hybrid species of grouper, or "sak pan" in Chinese, has been developed, which will have great commercial value and help to bring the seafood industry closer to its target for the future.

The new species is a cross between the giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) and the tiger grouper (Epine-phelus fuscoguttatus), both of which are high-value species in great consumer demand.

The fish was jointly developed by Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMIT), the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) and Kinki University Japan.

BMIT director Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa said the new species will relieve the pressure on the wild grouper due to overfishing and other illegal fishing methods.

"We are looking at helping to find solutions to the increasing demand, versus shrinking supply, of the industry through aquaculture," he said.

A consignment of 2,000 four-month-old fish will be distributed to local fish breeders and farmers through LKIM.



The juvenile fish cost RM15 per fish now, but a fully grown one can sell for RM120 a kilogramme at full market price, said Saleem, adding that the species’ full growth potential is not known yet.

"It has been well-received, and it will benefit the industry as well as help with the conservation of the species.

"Cross-breeding combines the best qualities of both parent fish, hence the premium price," he said, adding that there are plans to sell the fish on the global market.

The target for aquaculture production in the country 400,000 tonnes per year by 2010, and the current level of production is 110,000 tonnes.

"Traditional methods cannot achieve this, so a great deal of effort needs to be put into research and development to increase yield," he said, adding that the new grouper is a step in this direction.

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[tags : unusual wierd bizzare]