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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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« A few random thoughts as I head back home | Main | Dragooned and disgusted »
Awesome
Category: Weirdness
Posted on: April 6, 2008 9:22 AM, by PZ Myers
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TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/68750
Comments
Posted by: Ian H Spedding FCD | April 6, 2008 9:34 AM
"There's always a bigger fish."
-- Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Posted by: pandora | April 6, 2008 9:34 AM
Mmmnnn ... Angel Hair Pasta with Seafood Sauce!
Posted by: Darby | April 6, 2008 9:44 AM
Now I'm wondering what it means about my perversity level that it looks to me like the FSM is violating the fish rather than grabbing it...
Posted by: Unspeakabley Violent Jane | April 6, 2008 9:47 AM
The blogger at My Confined Space doesn't know where the pic came from. Too bad! I wanted to be first on my block to have one on her car.
Posted by: Ego, Egoing, Egone | April 6, 2008 9:50 AM
Mommy, Mommy!
What's that Flying Spaghetti Monster doing to that Jesus Fish?
Posted by: wazza | April 6, 2008 9:51 AM
Shouldn't there be a mobster further up the chain?
:P
Posted by: Seamyst | April 6, 2008 9:51 AM
..... Now I really want one for my car!
Posted by: Aris | April 6, 2008 9:56 AM
I wanted to be first on my block to have one on her car.
I wonder it is isn't a single decal, but two different ones, one from a cristianist store and the FSM one from evolvefish.com, set next to each other, photographed, and then photoshopped to make them seem like it's one big car emblem.
____________________________________________
Posted by: Anon | April 6, 2008 9:57 AM
Looks homemade. Someone having fun with their router.
Posted by: The Pale Scot | April 6, 2008 10:03 AM
Good Morning PZ,
You made Yahoo news via LiveScience.com, Dave Mosher gave it to them with both barrels, got to figure out a way to get it bumped on Memorandum, What's next, Pimp My Cephalopod?
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | April 6, 2008 10:05 AM
The organs you're thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary "fish" have external fertilization anyway...
Posted by: The Pale Scot | April 6, 2008 10:05 AM
OOPS!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080404/sc_livescience/newantievolutionfilmstirscontroversy;_ylt=Atd9qNFKU7Z2jDv5byAkhEys0NUE
Posted by: Tessa | April 6, 2008 10:33 AM
Thanks for the link Pale Scot! I'm glad Expelled is getting the reviews it deserves.
Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | April 6, 2008 11:12 AM
Since you mentioned "Expelled"... and just for fun...
http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2008/04/poe-poe-pitiful-expelled.html
Those who read the words of Myers know the fellow rarely tires,
No surprise a film desires his opinion, strongly held:
When they filmed him, on location, and they held a conversation,
It was all prevarication--lies are where Ben Stein excelled.
And producer, too, Mark Mathis, lying's where the man excelled,
For the movie was "Expelled"
[...]
Posted by: Dahan | April 6, 2008 11:38 AM
I'd rather see it set in that old "monkey turning into man" graphic used for evolution sometimes. Start with the christian fish, then the darwin fish, and finally the FSM. Seems like someone could come up with a couple others to flesh it out.
Posted by: True Bob | April 6, 2008 12:04 PM
David, perhaps fish cheeses is Poeciliidae (guppy, molly, etc).
Posted by: Lee Brimmicombe-Wood | April 6, 2008 12:14 PM
Apropos nothing: Russell T. Davies says Richard Dawkins is appearing in an upcoming episode of Doctor Who.
"People were falling at his feet. We've had Kylie Minogue on that set, but it was Dawkins people were worshipping."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/russell-t-davies-return-of-the-tea-time-lord-805255.html
Posted by: Bert Chadick | April 6, 2008 12:47 PM
We're gonna need bigger bumpers.
Posted by: tim gueguen | April 6, 2008 12:51 PM
Personally I want someone to produce one of those fish with the word fish in the centre, since I like to eat fish.
Posted by: Elf Eye | April 6, 2008 1:16 PM
As in, "You're gonna need a bigger boat"?
Posted by: David Harmon | April 6, 2008 1:18 PM
It occurs to me that the original fish-eating-fish version has a strong subtext of "we're bigger than you, nyah nyah!".
How about one where the Darwin-fish is whacking the Jesus-fish on the nose with the former's wrench?
Posted by: Mena | April 6, 2008 1:59 PM
Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, I don't know if you get Real Time with Bill Maher in the UK but according to the stuff scrolling by about the next show, "Atheist Richard Dawkins" is going to be on next week. Almost just in time for the premier of Expelled...
Posted by: Mario Panighetti | April 6, 2008 2:02 PM
I like that FSM car emblem way better than the fish-shaped one that ends up looking like a crab. Can't seem to find it anywhere, sadly.
Posted by: Avekid | April 6, 2008 3:05 PM
Mario:
http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/emblems.html
Posted by: Avekid | April 6, 2008 3:07 PM
Oh, sorry, Mario... What you're looking for isn't in that link. Reading comprehension is fun! =)
Posted by: Carlie | April 6, 2008 3:16 PM
I am now totally in love with having Richard Dawkins on a Doctor Who episode.
Posted by: Mena | April 6, 2008 3:18 PM
Carlie, as long as it isn't this episode? ;^)
Posted by: Ichthyic | April 6, 2008 3:49 PM
The organs you're thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary "fish" have external fertilization anyway...
now, David, you should know better than that.
several different families of fishes have internal fertilization.
Poeciliids (freshwater) and Embiotocidae (saltwater) come to mind readily, but there are several others, and of course, all Elasmobranchii do.
Posted by: j.t.delaney | April 6, 2008 3:55 PM
Who said anything about fertilization?
Posted by: j.t.delaney | April 6, 2008 4:00 PM
Who said anything about fertilization? From my modest understanding of biology, that's hardly the manoever where babies come from. For that matter, who's talking about "ordinary fish"? This is Flying Spaghetti Monster and JesusFish we're talking about, after all. Sheesh.
Posted by: blf | April 6, 2008 4:05 PM
Not to mention the incoming Darwin torpedo.
Posted by: Grumpy | April 6, 2008 4:23 PM
Calvin pisses on all three.
Posted by: Ken | April 6, 2008 4:47 PM
I think Jonah Goldberg just wet himself.
Posted by: Dean Booth | April 6, 2008 5:24 PM
Looks to me like they're noodling.
That's using your noodle, FSM!
Posted by: Rob {{De-lurking at last}} | April 6, 2008 5:28 PM
After seeing the FSM statue photo (... was that from here or another naturalist blog? I've been over-indulging lately...), which I followed to "Laughing Squid", I found this, which isn't quite apropos of the current thread but was rather fun.
http://laughingsquid.com/the-flying-spaghetti-monster-image-appears-on-toast/
And I suppose that a post linking to anything cephalopodish from here might be welcome.
Posted by: Bill Brock - Chicago | April 6, 2008 5:36 PM
I think it'd be funnier to have FSM eating the Darwin fish directly.
Posted by: LisaJ | April 6, 2008 5:43 PM
I love it! I feel really bad for the Darwin Fish though. Poor little guy.
Posted by: wazza | April 6, 2008 5:56 PM
But the FSM is saving the darwin fish by the grace of His Noodly Appendage!
Posted by: bio teacher | April 6, 2008 5:58 PM
Once some bible-thumper, in reference to my "Darwin fish" sticker, yelled at me in a parking lot about how fish don't walk, and the only example I could think of were Mudskippers, because I didn't know about the Snakehead fish at the time. And now there seems to be another fish that kinda walks out there. I hope the link works.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/04/science/040408Sciencepix_3.html
Posted by: True Bob | April 6, 2008 6:06 PM
Hello, bio teacher. I come from Flor E Day (from before they lost their science), and we had these little Asian invaders:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_catfish
So more for your list!
Posted by: qedpro | April 6, 2008 6:08 PM
i want the "alien" version of darwin getting eaten by the j-fish. darwin explodes out of its stomach.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | April 6, 2008 6:25 PM
bio teacher,
thanks for that link- that is one awesmoe looking little critter. He kind of looks a bit pissed about having his photo taken though...and the fossilised human turd three slides along made me gag a little on my toast.
Posted by: Quidam | April 6, 2008 6:28 PM
All you need is access to a FlowJet
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | April 6, 2008 6:28 PM
True Bob
Your link on the other hand is going to give me nightmares. They walk on dry land, they're a foot long and " It is a voracious eater which consumes food rapidly and this habit makes it a particularly harmful invasive species.".
There's a plot for an Eli Roth movie right there.
Posted by: fcaccin | April 6, 2008 6:30 PM
#41
and then to destroy Darwin they blow up the whole world.
The accuracy is scary.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | April 6, 2008 6:33 PM
It gets worse
" Some rumors suggest that these catfish use their tentacle-like whiskers to pry open wires protecting private bodies of water to enter and prey on unsuspecting fish. This rumor, although unconfirmed, is likely true for large species of walking catfish."
The bastards can GET THROUGH GUARD FENCES!! All it needs is to develop a taste for human flesh and we're all goners.
Posted by: Owlmirror | April 6, 2008 6:35 PM
Y'know, when you wrote that, I thought, "Which illustrious US politician could she be referring to? There are so many that could be described as 'fossilized human turds'...."
Then I clicked and found that you did in fact mean actual human coprolites.
Well, shit.
Posted by: thalarctos | April 6, 2008 7:12 PM
Oh, please, BoS--all the goddamn stinging, venomous, bitey, and surly things you've got in Australia*, and a freakin' *catfish* is going to give you nightmares?
If you're going to let a catfish creep you out, at least let it be a candirú.
* It's a fact that 11 of the top 10 deadliest snakes are found in Australia.
Posted by: jayh | April 6, 2008 7:21 PM
What we apparently need is a modular structure, so you can choose eaters and eatees from columns A & B
Posted by: Sili | April 6, 2008 7:27 PM
It may well have been linked by someone here as well, but I got it from the Badscience mini-blog - the link seems dead now, though:http://www.mattwardman.co.uk/2008/04/04/the-flying-spaghetti-monster-watches-them-watching-you/
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | April 6, 2008 7:56 PM
Thalarctos
Funny you should say that. I got up last night at 2 to feed the baby daughter and in the dark I stood on something that gave a slight "crunch". Sleep deprived I vaguely thought I'd stepped on a bit of biscuit or something that the kids are always dropping around the house. Woke up this morning to see a squashed redback spider in the hallway. Friggin big 'un too. First phonecall this morning was to the insecticide spraying dudes.
Funny the snakes don't worry me ( and I grew up SURROUNDED by taipans) but the spiders creep me out.
Posted by: shane | April 6, 2008 8:37 PM
Don't worry Bride, the redback is only aggressive when you've got your arse bared over the dunny.
Posted by: Janine, ID | April 6, 2008 10:53 PM
All of those nasty snakes yet an invading species, the rabbit is living large. Just how deadly is this place if rabbits have the run of the land? Though I know of a certain ex-demon who would be terrified of the land of bunnies.
As for finding strange beasties, many people keep strange pets. In the suburbs of Chicago, my mom entered her apartment to find a scorpion on the counter. The mid-west of the US is hardly a haven for scorpions.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | April 6, 2008 11:09 PM
Yeah Janine, but you haven't SEEN the rabbits here. They're eight feet tall, with fangs and a row of spines along their back. They're rumoured to eat small children and unattended old folk... and they pack heat. Oh yes, we've got ourselves baaaddd arsed bunnies down here.
Posted by: Kseniya | April 6, 2008 11:22 PM
Ah, Janine... now I'm starting to miss Anya again... sigh.
Cane spiders are cool. They're too big to hide behind wall-clocks. I think they're Hawaiian...
I'm a cane toad fan, myself. Tim Finn wrote a song about 'em...
Posted by: shane | April 6, 2008 11:26 PM
The only thing that keeps the bunnies in check are the drop bears. Nasty piece of work are the drop bears.
Posted by: wazza | April 6, 2008 11:44 PM
Well, they're fairly nasty...
but you can protect yourself with a pointy hat
to my mind, the scariest animal is the kangaroo. They've been being tied down by australians for years... and now they want their revenge...
Posted by: Janine, ID | April 7, 2008 12:03 AM
So Bride, have the rabbits and dingoes entered into an alliance to gather and eat babies? Yikes, I think I slipped an other Buffy reference in.
Wait a second, what you described sounds like this movie!
Posted by: Michael | April 7, 2008 12:11 AM
Funny picture, I wonder what's on the fish's tail, is it some sort of sea weed? lol...
Posted by: wazza | April 7, 2008 12:27 AM
It's the symbol of a viewpoint just as valid as yours, Mike
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | April 7, 2008 12:33 AM
Janine
Night of The Lepus- awesome. Possibly the worst horror movie ever made. I think it even had Janet Leigh in it. Something about a couple of evil Biologists (of course), mutant serums and rabbits. Baaaaadd arsed bunnies.
Posted by: shane | April 7, 2008 2:50 AM
Of course the only guard against killer bunnies is, *consults the Book of Armaments*, the Holy Hand Grenade Of Antioch.
Posted by: True Bob | April 7, 2008 7:17 AM
Night of the Lepus was one of the funniest "scary" movies I ever saw!
Recent weird "pet" news - guy got busted for having something like 5 - 7 rattlers, a Gaboon viper, and some non-venomous exotics. Not allowed to have the nasty ones in my county (can't even buy a tarantula or scorpion - babies).
When I was in HS, a friend of mine caught and kept a Pygmy Rattlesnake. After a time, he decided to release it. He opens the jar, and the snake whips around and envenomates him in the forearm! He lived and I learned.
Posted by: wazza | April 7, 2008 7:47 AM
What's a snake?
Posted by: True Bob | April 7, 2008 7:50 AM
Snake is a synonym for shyster
Posted by: Ranson | April 7, 2008 7:59 AM
Wanna bet?
From Wikipedia:
Five colonies of scorpions (Euscorpius flavicaudis) have established themselves in southern England ...
I'm always amazed where I've found those things.
Posted by: thalarctos | April 7, 2008 2:14 PM
but what about PYGMY rattlesnakes and DWARF rabbits!!??!?
betcha none of you smarty-pants evilutionists ever thought about THAT, didja?
Posted by: Carlie | April 7, 2008 6:15 PM
The snakes got nuthin' on the bunnies.
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | April 7, 2008 7:04 PM
These aren't ordinary fish. :-)
(That said, I really didn't have any idea there were internally-fertilizing actinopterygians. I'm not surprised, though.)
ROTFL!
And then there's the Giant Queensland Stinging Tree. It won't kill you -- but you'll wish it had...
Posted by: Peter Ashby | April 7, 2008 7:17 PM
The problem with the idea of all those highly venomous Aussies (the snakes I mean) eating their way through the bunnie problem is warm blood vs cold. Your snake only needs to eat once in a while since it is cold blooded. Meanwhile the bunnies are breeding like, well rabbits and soon the poor snakes can't go anywhere without being hopped all over by lagomorphs.
The history of biological control of Australasian lagomorphs is just tragic, first myxomatosis then Spanish Bunny Flu were BOTH released by silly farmers at the wrong time of the year so allowing your bunnies to build up immunity. Happened both in Oz and NZ. Someday someone is going to write a book, Breeding the super Rabbit, the Australasian experience.
In NZ we don't even have the potential range of predators and those that there are we try and control for what they do to the native birds. So really only the native hawk is interested and road kill is an easier meal which means they get run over....
Sometime I'll tell Y'All about the Great Easter Bunny Shoot they used to hold in Central Otago and how you cheat at a bunny hunting competition.
Posted by: shane | April 7, 2008 7:49 PM
I can out run any stinking damned tree...
Posted by: James F | April 7, 2008 7:56 PM
Douglas Adams was right, Australia is dangerous.
Posted by: Sili | April 7, 2008 8:05 PM
shane,
That's how you hit those trees in the first place. See you're running along, looking over your shoulder, making sure that tree isn't gonna get you. And then *WHAM* his partner snags you.
Posted by: Owlmirror | April 7, 2008 8:22 PM
Here, now, that's not correctly attributed! While that piece is in the style of Douglas Adams, it was actually written by DNA fan Jeremy Lee, AKA Orinoco:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ploke/Vines/vines4.html
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ploke/Vines/vines5.html
Posted by: danielgolfs | April 7, 2008 8:25 PM
It would be humorous if additional mythical creatures that atheists believe in were in the picture behind the flying spaghetti monster... i.e. aliens that evolved on other planets could be standing with their arms around Archaeoraptor, as if posing for a group photo.
Posted by: James F | April 7, 2008 8:37 PM
#74
Owlmirror,
Thank you for the catch, my friend! I always thought that was Adams's work. Thank heavens for peer review. ;-)
Posted by: LARA | April 8, 2008 1:05 AM
I do hope they know the Darwin Fish is toxic. Can't see his brightly colored warning patterns? They haven't yet evolved.
Posted by: thalarctos | April 8, 2008 2:04 AM
Hell, Peter, you've got sheep-eating parrots--that's predator enough for my tastes.
Posted by: Peter Ashby | April 8, 2008 7:41 AM
Yes NZ has Keas, intelligent, curious mountain parrots who have been known to include sheep in their diet. However though blamed for killing them, there is no evidence that they do more than take advantage of the dead and dying. Sheep are not so dozy as to allow a parrot to peck out their eyes you know.
Posted by: john | April 8, 2008 10:05 AM
I am now totally in love with having Richard Dawkins on a Doctor Who episode.
Posted by: thalarctos | April 8, 2008 3:44 PM
Well, Peter, I defer to you, as a Kiwi, in the area of sheep knowledge, after all. (My Aussie friend/labmate tells me you guys have discovered yet another new use of sheep: wool.)
But I've heard of cases where they (keas, that is) swoop in, take a chunk of the loin, fly away with a meal before the sheep even figures out what's happening, and then the sheep dies later of sepsis. That sounds pretty predatory to me, even if the keas aren't intentionally deploying sepsis.