#and Anaconda

[kayandp]

Working on a new series for a gallery show I'll be part of in May!

[ozymandian-hymn]

mercy, mèrci

[goryhorroor]

horror sub-genres: campy

[markscherz]

I'm sorry... snake paper? Are things heating up in the snake researcher fandom?

16 February 2024: A team of researchers (including a generally well-respected anaconda expert) found minimal and partly contradictory genetic differences in green anacondas over an enormous area, summarily dismissed all previous work on the taxonomy of green anacondas, and gave the mitochondrial lineage concerned a new name, along the way making some huge fumbles that show plainly that they have no idea how taxonomy works or what certain technical terms mean. They published the work in a journal from a suspect publishing house that is known to rush, skip, or ignore peer review as and when it suits them. And apparently there was some suspicious funding involved, though I don’t know much about that. They made a media storm with ‘a new anaconda!’ but within minutes there were people raising huge red flags about the paper, for the reasons enumerated above and others.

The response from ‘the community’ has been swift and harsh, but mostly fair, in my view. The discussion on ResearchGate reflects this pretty well. There are some bad takes about keeping ‘wokism’ out of science; I would argue that it remains critical to incorporate native peoples, knowledge, and languages into taxonomic work—just not the way this was done, in flagrant and intentional conflict with the established methods and protocols. There are also responses in the discussion by the lead author that show that he is evidently impervious to all of this criticism, and stands by the belief that the work and taxonomic reasoning is sound.

19 March 2024: two papers were published simultaneously in Bionomia, that both enumerate and rebut the problems of the original paper. And I know there are more on the way, though I don’t know if they are all going to be completed now that two responses have already been published.

The one thing I would weigh in on from my perspective is that it is the *taxonomy*, and not necessarily the evidence presented in the paper, that is the biggest problem. Species are described based on mitochondrial data alone all the time. Some of the results are quite interesting. But the taxonomy of the paper is a mess, full of contradictions, cherry-picking, and terminological errors. In the hands of competent taxonomists, the work might have been much more difficult to dispute. But also, no competent taxonomist would have assigned a new name to this lineage; there are too many existing names that would have priority, if it is worth recognising.

Undoing public perception of there being a new anaconda species will take years, if it can ever really be achieved. Always easier for media stories to go around than corrections.

TL;DR big snake paper made big mistakes, and within a month was dismissed. It has probably done lasting damage to perception of anaconda diversity.

[whatudowhennooneseesyou]

Pls tell me that's a mic pack or a phone in his pants or else I will go feral- WAS I RIGHT AGAIN???

I will take this down eventually b/c I can't be too feral on here but height be damned...

I don't give a shit about how short he is when he's a millionaire, a daddy dom, a sweetheart, a talented musician and he's got that HOTLINE SWING action for real???!!!

[herpsandbirds]

Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus), family Boidae, Cuyabeno, Ecuador

Photograph by Alexandro Arteaga 

[sandumilfshou]

au where modern wwx gets isekai'd into mdzs directly during the sunshot campaign and he doesnt know any demonic cultivation songs but thankfully he was a total memelord in music class and it turns out that darude sandstorm and careless whisper have similar effects on the battlefield

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

We all know who it is ❤ 🐍😊 (video)

[throwbackblr]

[hyperjerk]

Diaboromon

Made for my own custom Digimon card sleeves because I love this digimon, the movie he's from and the deck that I play.

Always wanted to try drawing with the iconic red linework from "Our War Game!" and I'm pretty happy with the result!

[meruz]

WHERE ARE YOU WATCHING THE DIGIMON MOVIE? I can't find a streaming site with it anywhere!

i have a file i downloaded like 10 years ago and kept forever like a true freak sorry. im sure u can find it on an anime site tho. im on my phone rn but comments feel free to pitch in and help anon

[nohiketoosmall]

A Brief Summary of the Anaconda News

This post is about "Disentangling the Anacondas: Revealing a New Green Species and Rethinking Yellows"

Please note this post is not an analysis of the veracity of this paper, it is simply a summary of the findings.

This research team performed genetic testing on known species within the Anaconda genus (Eunectes). They are suggesting two things in their paper:

Two recognized species of yellow anacondas, E. beniensis and E. deschauenseei, are not significantly genetically distinct from E. notaeus. Note that E. notaeus has a slightly different pattern/morphology while the other two are more similar and differentiated mostly by location. They propose grouping these all three as one species.

The Green Anaconda, the heaviest species of snake, with a range all across the continent, may actually be two species. They found significant genetic differences between Northern and Southern Green Anacondas and are proposing they be made into separate species.

Graphical Abstract, sourced from linked paper, showing revised taxonomy. The Northern Green Anaconda's proposed scientific named is E. akayima. Akayima means "The Great Snake" in the indigenous language of the region.

The paper points out that there are conservation implications behind redefining these species. If the Northern Green Anaconda is accepted as a separate species, habitat loss may impact it more severely than the Southern, who has a wider range. For the the opposite reason, scientists may feel reluctant to group three previously defined species into one, as it could make it more difficult to protect the subcategories.

Read more: Nat Geo article on the findings, Bryan Fry Live Science article

Oh yeah, and one of the scientists who published the article posted this video of an Anaconda that's estimated to be 8 meters long and 200kg. Here's a still:

big dog

[fostersffff]

Absolutely positively need to shill this upcoming release from Discotek: "Digimon: The Movies", a collection of the first three Digimon movies, which not only includes the Saban Entertainment "Digimon: The Movie" that cuts all three together to try to form one cohesive whole, but the original Japanese version of those three separate movies, and a new dub for those three separate movies with the original dub cast from "Digimon: The Movie"!

Even if you're not big into Digimon, I'd probably recommend checking this out solely for the second movie, Our War Game, directed by Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children, Belle).

It's also tremendously affordable!

[goryhorroor]

horror sub-genres: animal

[vintagewildlife]

Anaconda By: Unknown photographer From: Le Grand Fichier du Monde Animal 1975

[herpsandbirds]

(Southern) Green Anaconda (Eunectus murinus) baby, family Boidae, found over much of the northern 2/3 of South America

The photographer commented that this individual was ENORMOUS!

photograph by Vincent Prémel