Carnivorous Swamp Beast Discovered In Madagascar

crudmonkey writes "Researchers have identified a previously unknown species of carnivore lurking in one of the world's most endangered lakes. Durrell's vontsira, named in honor of the late conservationist and writer Gerald Durrell, was first photographed swimming in Madagascar's Lake Alaotra in 2004. Subsequent surveys confirmed the mongoose-like creature was indeed a new species. Durrell's vontsira is the first new carnivorous mammal discovered in Madagascar in 24 years. Little is known about the species, which is roughly the size of a cat."

Comments

I don't usually complain about summaries

[phantomfive]

I don't usually complain about the summaries (because I know they're all bad) but this one was a real disappointment to me. Carnivorous swamp beast?? I'm looking for this bad boy. But no, it's just a little cute furry guy, a little irate because someone is holding him by the throat. I would be irate too. OK, I know it's news, but such a disappointment.

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[Kenja]

You're looking for a tin submarine toy and plaster? But we found that years ago...

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[syousef]

I don't usually complain about the summaries (because I know they're all bad) but this one was a real disappointment to me. Carnivorous swamp beast?? I'm looking for this bad boy. But no, it's just a little cute furry guy, a little irate because someone is holding him by the throat. I would be irate too. OK, I know it's news, but such a disappointment.

If it was a slashdotter vs that cute little guy, I'd put money on the beaver like thing. You're forgetting what years of living in a basement does to muscle. To most of us that is a BEAST.

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't usually complain about the summaries (because I know they're all bad) but this one was a real disappointment to me.

But you aren't even complaining about the summary, you're complaining about the title.

If you'd read the summary you wouldn't have been disappointed by the pictures because of the following.

mongoose-like creature

roughly the size of a cat.

So stop complaining about the summary when you didn't even read the summary.

Also, heh. The captcha was "retorts".

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[Hognoxious]

But no, it's just a little cute furry guy

I'd be careful about describing a previously unknown carnivore as cute. It might have been unknown because nobody met one before, but it could be because nobody who met one lived to tell about it.

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[Anonymous Coward]

...

Have you, uh, looked at the pictures of it in the article?

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[arivanov]

I will give you my mom's siamese to hold.

It is roughly the same size, is very old for a cat (17y), frail, slow and has terminal cancer.

Wanna try? I am happy to call the ambulance afterwards.

Never judgde a creature solely by its size. That is a very fine set of fangs and razorblades I see there...

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[Nursie]

That's no vontsira. It's a space station.

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[Neil Boekend]

Your knowledge of rabbit carnivorous creatures is lacking my friend. Although it looks cute the Rabbit of Caerbannog should not be trifled with!
On a side note: is copy paste somehow destroyed on /.? I was trying to copy the name from Wikipedia but it will not paste.

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[agw]

Took them 24 years to find the cute babies. Just wait until they find the first full grown one.

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[Some1too]

I don't usually complain about the summaries (because I know they're all bad) but this one was a real disappointment to me. Carnivorous swamp beast?? I'm looking for this bad boy. But no, it's just a little cute furry guy, a little irate because someone is holding him by the throat. I would be irate too. OK, I know it's news, but such a disappointment. If it was a slashdotter vs that cute little guy, I'd put money on the beaver like thing. You're forgetting what years of living in a basement does to muscle. To most of us that is a BEAST.

I think the average slahdotter living in his basement would have no problem choking something of the size of a small rodent...

I tried to resist but it was just too easy. I feel like I should also state I live in a basement, post on slashdot and have a girlfriend... ;-)

S.

Re:I don't usually complain about summaries

[randizzle3000]

Haha...Palmela Handerson?

R.O.U.S.

[schlesinm]

Obviously it's a Rodent Of Unusual Size.

Re:R.O.U.S.

[The_mad_linguist]

Look, which is a more sensible size for a Carnivorous Swamp Beast? "Roughly the size of a cat", or "roughly the size of a car"?

I can get a poet to testify under oath if necessary.

Re:R.O.U.S.

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Look, which is a more sensible size for a Carnivorous Swamp Beast? "Roughly the size of a cat", or "roughly the size of a car"?

Roughly the size of Cthulhu.

Re:R.O.U.S.

[Arancaytar]

More like a Rodent Of Usual Size. It's not much larger than a rat. :P

Re:R.O.U.S.

[Neil Boekend]

Carnivorous swamp beasts often make a very good meal of visiting tourists.

FTFY

and then...

[OnePumpChump]

it went extinct.

Re:and then...

[Fluffeh]

it went extinct.

Oh come on, that's not trolling. The creature in question lives in a single lake. The land around the lake, which used to be heavy forest has been cut down. This now causes all the soil to get dumped into the lake whenever it rains. Even this article itself said that so much soil has been dumped into the lake that during the dry season, the level of water drops to a depth of 2 feet!

The comment there isn't a -Troll. It is merely prematurely +Informative.

Re:and then...

[LizardKing]

The uncompacted soil absorbs most of the water which previously remained standing on a thick, compacted and sludgy lake bottom. The soil has also raised the lake bed, which allows the water to drain off more easily into the denuded land surrounding the lake - soil which is less tightly bound together thanks to the increasing absence of deep rooted vegetation.

Which is it? Or is it both?

[adamofgreyskull]

Beneath the picture, is this:

Durrell's vontsira is the first new carnivorous mammal discovered in Madagascar in 24 years.

Elsewhere in the article, twice, is this:

The first new carnivorous mammal to be discovered for 24 years

Was the last carnivorous mammal that was discovered, discovered 24 years ago in Madagascar? I don't know about anyone else, but I would infer from the qualifier "in Madagascar" that a carnivorous mammal was discovered less than 24 years ago somewhere else in the world.

Re:Which is it? Or is it both?

[Kilrah_il]

I guess they assume that having written "in Madagascar" once, you would understand the point and they would not need to keep repeating it. OTOH, why pass up an opportunity for being unnecessarily pedantic.

First things first

[jamesh]

what does it taste like?

Re:First things first

[fotbr]

Chicken.

Re:First things first

[$RANDOMLUSER]

That's just Western chauvinism. For example, in Japan, parents tell their children that chicken "tastes just like squid".

Re:First things first

[ozmanjusri]

...And in Shunga Japan, squid parents tell their children that fishermen's wives taste just like fish.

Re:First things first

[LearnToSpell]

Doubtful. Carnivorous animals tend to taste awful.

Re:First things first

[Laxori666]

You begin to eat the fox corpse. This fox corpse tastes terrible!

We are so quick to label it a 'beast'

[ParkedStar]

The...'beast'...has most probably NEVER encountered humans before...and I'm sure if I were a small animal who has lived most of my quiet existence never crossing the path of a 20-fingered, land-dwelling giant and suddenly found myself being strangled, dangling in the air in front of 2+ of these foreigners and kidnapped from my perfectly-fine home and family; I'd be questioning who the beast really is.

Re:We are so quick to label it a 'beast'

[mister_playboy]

20-fingered

Inbreed much? :)

Re:We are so quick to label it a 'beast'

[Anonymous Coward]

The...'beast'...has most probably NEVER encountered humans before...

I wouldn't say so, as this region is quite populated. I bet that this species was already well known amongst local natives, but simply not to our scientists.

Re:We are so quick to label it a 'beast'

[Sique]

I mean, the discovery of even 8 digits to a limb would be quite the curiosity.

I hereby present you the Acanthostega, which has eight digits per arm. The number of toes per limb is yet unknown. But the Ichthyostega, which has seven digits per arm, has also seven toes per limb, so I would not be surprised if newly found fossils would show eight toes per limb for the Acanthostega.

Re:We are so quick to label it a 'beast'

[RevWaldo]

Look, do you want a SyFy original movie based on this critter (Swamp Beast!, starring Lucy Lawless and Erik Estrada) or don't you?

.

I was hoping....

[Fizzol]

for Mokele-mbembe.

It seems very nervous in the pictures.

[SharpFang]

Did they try wrapping towels around their heads to calm it down?

New film anyone

[dredwerker]

Madagascar 4 the wild beast of the lake - a homecoming story.

An orange is just a carrot of unusual size

[k2r]

> Obviously it's a Rodent Of Unusual Size.
The most obvious feature defining rodents are their teeth.
The most obvious feature of the newly discovered animal to see in the picture(s) are its teeth which are about as non rodent as an animal's teeth can be.

Durrell

[Anne_Nonymous]

For what it's worth, Durrell wrote a number of fun books about Zoology and his explorations of the natural world. I'd recommend them as good beach reading or for young people interested in animals or natural sciences.

Hell...

[dvoecks]

Jimmy Carter was attacked by a scarier-looking swamp beast than that!

New Carnivorous Beast Discovered?

[UndyingShadow]

New Carnivorous Beast Discovered? In Madagascar? SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING!