Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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I am an atheist because there is no evidence for the existence of God. That should be all that needs to be said about it: no evidence, no belief.
Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist (Madison, WI: FFRF, 1992), p. 87.
Digit numbering and limb development
Polar lobes and trefoil embryos in the Precambrian
No genes were lost in the making of this whale
Vertebral variation, Hox genes, development, and cancer
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« Which side will you take in the War on Cephalopodmas? | Main | Chopra, again »
Category: Creationism • Humor
Posted on: November 17, 2006 3:06 PM, by PZ Myers
We've finally got the piece of evidence they've all been asking for: a cat giving birth to a dog.
It's only a matter of time until my attempts to hatch a bird out of my fish eggs succeed.
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Comments
Wow. How creative.
Posted by: FishyFred | November 17, 2006 3:09 PM
Well, in their defense, it might actually be a little creative for a non-English speaker. Now, if the dog was named Perro (or whatever means "dog" in Portuguese), that would be really un-creative.
Posted by: MJ Memphis | November 17, 2006 3:16 PM
The Reuters article seems to claim that blood samples were taken, but I can't find any explicit mention of the results of testing.
Posted by: llewelly | November 17, 2006 3:22 PM
Gah. So this insanity made it to the international press after all.
Posted by: Greco | November 17, 2006 3:25 PM
The Reuters article omits an important point: the cat's litter died shortly after birth. Who wants to bet she took the puppies from a neighbourhood dog to compensate for the loss?
Either "cão" or "cachorro". The latter, by the way, means "puppy" in Spanish.
Posted by: Greco | November 17, 2006 3:31 PM
Perhaps not exactly on the subject, but this look at god and stuff might amuse you. A nice video.
http://freethoughtweekly.blogspot.com/
Of course you could argue that it is exploitive.
Also a funny story about human behavior. Have you got your play station 3 yet? Another example of police "brutality" sort of.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2006/11/police_called_t_1.html
I think it is time to re-read Herbert Marcuse's "One-Dimensional Man".
Posted by: bernarda | November 17, 2006 3:34 PM
That bird you're hoping to hatch better be an African Grey. Cause they are the most evolved. :)
Posted by: Shelley Batts | November 17, 2006 3:34 PM
The article states that the blood samples were taken on 17 November (today), so they very likely haven't been analyzed in whatever way they would be analyzed to produce meaningful results.
Also, greco is probably right that the 'puttens', as they were, are more likely from a nearby dog's litter.
Posted by: stogoe | November 17, 2006 3:36 PM
My money's on the bird PZ hatching being a Norwegian Blue. An egg, four million volts, and ... voom!
Plus, the Norwegian Blue has beautiful plumage.
Posted by: Rick @ shrimp and grits | November 17, 2006 3:48 PM
I dunno, those Norwegian Blues sure do like to sleep a lot. At the bottom of their cages.
Posted by: Shelley Batts | November 17, 2006 3:50 PM
Does Rick Santorum know about this?
Posted by: CJColucci | November 17, 2006 3:52 PM
The Creation-Evolution wars won't really be over until the robots rise up, steal pills from the elderly, and find Sarah Connor.
So I see your birds-from-fish-eggs and raise you a cyborg penguin from a Dell.
Posted by: Kyle Rogoff | November 17, 2006 3:52 PM
3 months gestation. 78 chromosomes vs. 38.
No way.
Posted by: jan andrea | November 17, 2006 4:02 PM
This is what comes from "cats and dogs living together!" IT'S NOT LIKE WE HAVEN'T BEEN WARNED!
CAN YOU SAY IT DID NOT HAPPEN!?
[/Criswell]
Posted by: Elayne Riggs | November 17, 2006 4:17 PM
Is it time to start the mass hysteria?
Posted by: commissarjs | November 17, 2006 4:34 PM
Supposedly the results of caryotype analysis will be announced next Tuesday. Whether the press will care to report a negative result is another matter. And there's nothing on the university's website (no English version).
Posted by: Greco | November 17, 2006 4:35 PM
A dog-cat hybrid? Well, that's not really so shocking, is it? I mean, we've all encountered dog-human hybrids in our lives before -- those troublesome son's of bitches who drive well below the speed limit in the left-most lane, for example.
Posted by: Rhampton | November 17, 2006 4:48 PM
Spay and neuter your pets, you idiots.
Posted by: junk science | November 17, 2006 4:48 PM
Bug deal. That's nothing!
Try being a girl who gave birth to rabbits:
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Gave-Birth-Rabbits/dp/1573927945/
Posted by: August Pamplona | November 17, 2006 4:50 PM
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it yet. Was the offspring officially a "dat?"
(Yes, I'm joking)
Posted by: Jeff | November 17, 2006 5:16 PM
Posted by: quork | November 17, 2006 5:25 PM
Sure. Will you pay for it? Because, if you did not notice, they can't even afford a proper house. Or maybe you should contain your self-righteousness in a situation of which you know nothing about?
Posted by: Greco | November 17, 2006 5:35 PM
I actually had a (community) college biology professor who, in all seriousness, told the class that there had been cat/rabbit hybrids.
I went up to him after class and politely expressed my high degree of skepticism about this and asked if he could provide some references that would document this "fact" of his. I got an 'A' for the class but I never did get those references.
Posted by: Troy Britain | November 17, 2006 5:52 PM
how much was the cat payed to be a surrogate or hybridize or whatever. Coz if the price is right i would certainly chime in as well, given that the market of religion is way to competitive.
Posted by: lo | November 17, 2006 5:57 PM
Pfeh. Scientists. Expressing shock at something that children have known about for years.
Posted by: Kansas Anarchist | November 17, 2006 6:12 PM
I thought your attempt was to get your wife to give birth to a cephalopod.
Posted by: Alejandro | November 17, 2006 6:57 PM
Definitely an "extraordinary claim"... My money's on "adoption", too.
Posted by: David Harmon | November 17, 2006 7:01 PM
You know, a few months ago a similar story popped up about a cat giving birth to a litter of kittens that included a rat-like member...
Anyone recall that in detail?
Posted by: SpringheelJ | November 17, 2006 7:29 PM
Are the puppies/kittens called puppens?
I just copyrighted that word, by the way. omg dun steel.
Posted by: Chinchillazilla | November 17, 2006 9:31 PM
I await the arrival of Gozer the Traveler.
Posted by: cooper | November 17, 2006 9:56 PM
But why are there pygmies and dwarves?
Posted by: idlemind | November 17, 2006 10:11 PM
Well, if they came from fish eggs, I suppose they would be pining for the fjords.
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | November 18, 2006 3:55 AM
About 30 years ago, I noticed a newspaper at the QuickieMart checkout line with the headline, "Woman raped by gorilla--baby lives!" It even had a photo of the baby. Such things have got to be true, otherwise we would not have such indisputable evidence.
Posted by: mark | November 18, 2006 9:48 AM
That's nothing...my brother's leg gave birth to a litter of "luppies".
Posted by: bargal20 | November 18, 2006 2:44 PM
no, no, no, they're Puttens. I called them that first.
Posted by: Stogoe | November 18, 2006 5:31 PM
I keep trying to evolve snails to fly by throwing them into the street, but it never seems to work....
Posted by: donna | November 18, 2006 11:29 PM
Posted by: llewelly | November 18, 2006 11:37 PM
The tests are in:
Blood tests debunk cat-puppy claim
Posted by: quork | November 21, 2006 9:30 PM