Flora and Fauna
retrospectacle | February 19, 2007 Earlier PZ Myers disputed the claim that the recently-notorious 4-legged duck was the product of "genetic changes" as reported by the media. Taking a look at the morphology of the poor bird's extra legs, it much more likely that the duck suffers from a phenomenon known as "parasitic limb" or "parasitic twin" in humans. For example, this child was born in Detroit with an extra leg, which was actually the remnant of a twin who never properly separated during development (below).
A parasitic twin results from the same general process which results in normal identical (monozygotic) twins: the…
retrospectacle | January 24, 2007
Japanese marine biologists came across a rare frilled shark, which was sick and had moved to shallow waters. These sharks are considered "living fossils" as they haven't changed much for millions of years. They usually live around 2000-3000 feet deep, and this is the first time a live one has been caught on tape since being discovered in the 19th century.
Observation: this is the second very rare, undocumented sea creature that Japanese scientists have videotaped, along with the Giant Squid a few weeks ago.
An interesting factiod:
Reproduction is not well understood, but like many other…