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Carnivorous Swamp Beast Discovered In Madagascar

Posted by timothy on from the does-your-dog-bite? dept.

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."

26 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. I don't usually complain about summaries by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    --
    Qxe4
    1. Re:I don't usually complain about summaries by syousef · · Score: 4, Funny

      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.

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    2. Re:I don't usually complain about summaries by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:I don't usually complain about summaries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ...

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

    4. Re:I don't usually complain about summaries by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 4, Funny

      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.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
    5. Re:I don't usually complain about summaries by agw · · Score: 3, Funny

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

    6. Re:I don't usually complain about summaries by Some1too · · Score: 3, Funny

      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.

    7. Re:I don't usually complain about summaries by randizzle3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Haha...Palmela Handerson?

  2. R.O.U.S. by schlesinm · · Score: 3, Funny

    Obviously it's a Rodent Of Unusual Size.

    --
    My company home page
    1. Re:R.O.U.S. by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 4, Funny

      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.

    2. Re:R.O.U.S. by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

      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.

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    3. Re:R.O.U.S. by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 3, Funny

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

      FTFY

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  3. and then... by OnePumpChump · · Score: 4, Informative

    it went extinct.

    1. Re:and then... by Fluffeh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    2. Re:and then... by LizardKing · · Score: 4, Informative

      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.

  4. Re:Which is it? Or is it both? by Kilrah_il · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Whenever in an argument, remember this.
  5. First things first by jamesh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    what does it taste like?

    1. Re:First things first by fotbr · · Score: 4, Informative

      Chicken.

    2. Re:First things first by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Funny

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

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    3. Re:First things first by LearnToSpell · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Doubtful. Carnivorous animals tend to taste awful.

      --
      Haida Manga
  6. We are so quick to label it a 'beast' by ParkedStar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein
    1. Re:We are so quick to label it a 'beast' by mister_playboy · · Score: 3, Funny

      20-fingered

      Inbreed much? :)

      --
      Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
    2. Re:We are so quick to label it a 'beast' by Sique · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
  7. An orange is just a carrot of unusual size by k2r · · Score: 4, Informative

    > 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.

  8. Durrell by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

  9. New Carnivorous Beast Discovered? by UndyingShadow · · Score: 3, Funny

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