Xenobiology

[Lester Curtis]

Once upon a time, I used to agonize for hours at a time, trying to think up alien life-forms for my stories.

Then, I'd walk past the TV and see some PBS nature show about some real terrestrial creature that was weirder than anything I could dream up.

Take this, for example:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.c ... hoa+exigua

Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. It tends to be 3 to 4 cm long. This parasite attaches itself at the base of the spotted rose snapper's (Lutjanus guttatus) tongue, entering the fish's mouth through its gills. It then proceeds to extract blood through the claws on its front three pairs of legs. As the parasite grows, less and less blood reaches the tongue, and eventually the organ atrophies from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish's tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of the tongue stub. The fish is able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue. It appears that the parasite does not cause any other damage to the host fish.[1] Once C. exigua replaces the tongue, some feed on the host's blood and many others feed on fish mucous. They do not eat scraps of the fish's food.[2] This is the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ.

Don't try to out-weird mother nature . . .
Anyone else have this experience?

[Robert_Moriyama]

I mean, were Xena and Gabrielle (and what kind of ancient Greek name is "Gabrielle", anyway?) really just friends?

[kailhofer]

If you want to learn more about Xena's biology, just keep watching that Spartacus: Blood and Sand show on the Starz network. You see more of Lucy Lawless every week, doing all sorts of things you can't see on normal television.

[Lester Curtis]

I say "xenO" and you say "XenA" -- no wonder the human race can't get anything accomplished! (There might be a story in there somewhere . . .)

Now I feel like I might as well start over again . . .

"Hey, Wonder-Woman, that's some bullet-proof bra you've got on!"