May 23 2006
Degrees of Extinctness
“Living fossil” found in Coral Sea - Science - MSNBC.com:
PARIS - French scientists who explored the Coral Sea said Friday they discovered a new species of crustacean that was thought to have become extinct 60 million years ago.The “living fossil,” a female designated Neoglyphea neocaledonica, was discovered 1,312 feet (400 meters) under water during an expedition in the Chesterfield Islands, northwest of New Caledonia, the National Museum of Natural History and the Research Institute for Development said in a statement.
[Marine biologist Philippe] Bouchet, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, described the nearly 5-inch (12-centimeter) creature as “halfway between a shrimp and a mud lobster.” Its huge eyes, reddish spots and thickset body distinguished it from the 1908 crustacean.
With the Coral Sea discovery, “the group is less completely extinct than was thought,” he said.
Which would lead Miracle Max to ask, “Was he really extinct or only mostly extinct?”
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May 26th, 2006 at 08:36 am
Hahahaha!! I’ll have a MLT (mutton, lettuce and tomato) to celebrate that happy find!