Amphibian eats mother's skin
Here's an appetizing video of baby caecilians, a mysterious subterranean order of amphibians, peeling and eating the skin off their mother's tail. BBC producers recently caught the meal on video for the first time. From a BBC News article:
Link (Thanks, Kirsten Anderson!)The female caecilian's skin becomes thicker and more nutrient-rich when she bears offspring.
And the young have specialised teeth for tearing and removing it.
...The caecilian babies would only eat their mother's skin for about 10 minutes, once every three days, and often at night.
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So I sit down at my desk with my bowl of leftover fettucine, I hop over to Boing Boing for my daily browse, and WHAM! - this is what kicks off my lunch hour.
yuck.
Does this qualify for a unicorn chaser?
Unicorn Chaser. Pretty please.
Give me my unicorn chaser!
Yes, cannibal baby amphibian worms getting fat off of the their mommy qualifies for a unicorn chaser.
Actually, to be fair, it's probably the baby amphibians who could really use the unicorn chaser. After eating amphibian skin, a shot of unicorn probably tastes great.
There aren't that many birthing sceens that strike me as pretty. Maybe a butterfly, but that's about it.
And how is this different than what any mother does for her children? Not that they ever call.
Somebody has to say it...
Never go up against a caecilian when DEATH is on the line!
Oh ugh.
All this, and protrusible eyes! I wish I could link to more of that article, but that's Nature for you.
All those disgusted by this would do well to consider how pigeons feed their young.
Incidentally, "a mysterious subterranean order of amphibians" is not quite correct, as some of them are aquatic.
If you watch the video linked to in the article, it's narrated by Colin Baker, the sixth actor to play Doctor Who in the TV series.
(and honestly, it's not that bad to watch, it just looks like ambulatory pasta covered in snot.)
what? like the FSM?
Oh man, this is disgusting.
Even worse, I've heard that the young of certain creatures latch on to the thorax of the mother animal and suck liquid right out of their mother like a parasite.
Isn't that horrible?
Isn't this just the amphibian equivalent of breast milk? Give me some skin, man!
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Serously! What is it with these 'gross out" links. It's worse than the goatse. Enough!
I think this is kind of sweet. And it's not that different from nursing, is it?
Fascinating! Gross? A little. But I grew up on Wild Kingdom, NOVA and the like.
och, theyrre just wee beastie bairns wi theirr damn
Ok, that's just gave me the bloody willies. Because, if they're trained to devour sections of their own mother, they won't have any qualms about coring your eyes out while you sleep...
Unicorns, for my sanity.
now, why is it that every time I search for a likely double entendre (especially graphic),I find BoingBoing's footprints? Are you sick? Am I sick? Or is it the larger audience?
When God thought this up, was He having an off day? "Insect that eats mate after mating? Check. Parasite that eats fishes tongue and then latches on to inside of fish's mouth and eats food as it comes in? Check. Insect that paralyses prey and then takes it home to nest for mass meal for youngsters? Check. Insect that bores into brain of it's prey then takes it over and marches it back home for food? Check. What the heck, how about a bit of mother's tail for the youngsters? Check that out, babies!"
Way to go God.
The babies are actually quite sweet looking when they yawn. You know, if you're into that whole thing.
Why does The Subterranean Order of Amphibians sound like a secret society? It should probably really be something like The Ancient and Worshipful Subterranean Order of Amphibians, but it's certainly close enough.
@#9:
ROFL...excellent reference.
I find it amusing that the "chaser" to this is an article about warding off the evil eye.
@ Ari B. #12 - Can't lure me in to the icky with that Dr. Who. Everyone knows that Tom Baker is the superior Doctor. :)
I'm not sure if we're all watching the same clip because I hear David Attenborough narrating (nothing wrong with Colin Baker mind you, but Attenborough is THE gorilla whisperer), this is a clip from the new Life in Cold Blood series. Available as a pre-order from Amazon or on P2P near you (unless you live in the UK, in which case you can watch it on-line and for free, meh.) ... Colin Baker !!??
"Sometimes you get so crazy with the skin-eating that you forget about the LOVE."
That's enough to put you off your food. U.C. up front!
can i get cheese fries with that?
Isn't this just the amphibian equivalent of breast milk? Give me some skin, man!