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Arthropod Chain Gangs

Posted by timothy on from the early-gamers dept.

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."

4 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. 525 million years! by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    That's 524,994,000 before Earth was created!

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    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:525 million years! by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's 524,994,000 before Earth was created!

      550496256 in hard disk years

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  2. The conga line... by Robin47 · · Score: 5, Funny

    is older than we figured...

  3. Echidna sex by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

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    Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire