“Dracula” Fish With Baby Teeth

By Queuebot in Animals & Pets on Mar 11, 2009 at 11:53 am

A very unusual species of fish with fangs made of bone has been found in only one stream in Burma.  Researchers from London’s Natural History Museum believe the fish lost its teeth about 50 million years ago, but later evolved the bone fangs.

Dr. Ralph Britz, who has worked with Burmese wildlife for more than a decade, named the new species Danionella dracula after Bram Stoker’s fictional vampire.

The male dracula fish have been observed to open their mouths very wide and nudge each other, but they don’t draw any blood.

Photo by Ralf Britz

“After a year or so in captivity they started dying; and when I preserved them and looked at them under the microscope, I thought ‘My God, what is this, they can’t be teeth!’ Dr. Britz told BBC News.”

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.


Email This Post
Tweet This Post 
Share This Post on Facebook

Tags: , ,


Neat stuff from the NeatoShop:



Keep track of the comments with Comment RSS

Don't Miss: New Stuff | Bestsellers | The Cute Store
                   Funny T-Shirts

Need a gift? Get unforgettable gifts for:
Geeks | Pranksters | Kids | Hipsters | Shutterbugs

Lijit Search

Old school? Bookmark us! RSS Feed Twitter Facebook Page