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Arthropod Chain Gangs
monk writes "Science News references a story in the October 10 Science about Cambrian invertebrates which formed weird permanent chains up to twenty individuals long. 'The discovery of 525-million-year-old fossils belonging to a new species of arthropod shows that these animals formed communal chains never before seen in fossilized invertebrates.' It should be obvious to any Slashdotter of a certain age that this is the true origin of the so called 'centipede' in the eponymous game."
That's 524,994,000 before Earth was created!
Trolling is a art,
Reminds me of the segmented body of a tape worm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapeworm#Proglottids
This could've been some sort of mating protocol, used for collective trail or possibly the bunny hop....
is older than we figured...
The echidna (a monotreme mammal, related to the platypus) forms conga-lines for sex.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/June2000/default.htm
To further amaze and/or impress you, the male echidna has a four-headed penis. Two of them become erect at a time and are both used during mating. The pairs of active penis heads alternate in subsequent matings.
Mind you, I bet their sex lives are pestered horribly by grad students wielding research grants and expensive cameras.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
and still no "Imagine Beowulf of those!". What the world is coming to?