Mary’s Monday Metazoan: the only angel I believe in

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1. 1
   

   Crudely Wrott

   30 January 2012 at 8:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   You definitely have an eye for beauty, PZ.

   And a highly developed sense of self preservation, I’d note.

   No wonder Mary loves you so.

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   Glen Davidson

   30 January 2012 at 8:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Silly little evolutionary adaptation. A lot better to believe in than something someone conjured up from a human and bird wings.

   It did make me curious as to how it swims. Not especially striking, but it works.

   Glen Davidson

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   JohnnieCanuck

   30 January 2012 at 8:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   So real angel wings evolved from snails’ feet. Makes more sense than those images that Christians conjured up.

   I mean, come on. An anthropomorphic creation that is a hexapod instead of a tetrapod? What were they thinking?

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   A. R

   30 January 2012 at 9:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Wonderful, my week is going to be book-ended by cephalopods!

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   PZ Myers

   30 January 2012 at 9:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   That’s not a cephalopod.

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   tblade

   30 January 2012 at 9:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Once again, the real world proves infinitely more fascinating and beautiful than supernatural mythology. What a thrill it would be to see one of these in person.

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   'Tis Himself, OM

   30 January 2012 at 9:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Both cephalopods and gastropods are mollusca.

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   A. R

   30 January 2012 at 9:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Oops, thought I saw tentacles! Right Phylum though.

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   a3kr0n

   30 January 2012 at 9:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   It’s got foot wings?

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    DLC

    30 January 2012 at 9:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Holy Paradolia Batman!

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    bjorndoolaeghe

    30 January 2012 at 9:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    @6: They have Sea Angels on display here at the Singapore Underwaterworld. I’ve seen them a few times now. They’re pretty fascinating :)

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    F

    30 January 2012 at 10:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    It’s. A horned angel.

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    ChasCPeterson

    30 January 2012 at 10:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Video of sea angels and another (shelled) swimming gastropod. No, they’re not really “gelatinous”.

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    chigau (違う)

    30 January 2012 at 10:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    What does gelatinous even mean in this context?

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    nathanieljacobs

    31 January 2012 at 12:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Melt Banana!!

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    bribase

    31 January 2012 at 2:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Nonsense! Thats clearly some kind of prototype Russian submersible. Or an NTI.

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    Dick the Damned

    31 January 2012 at 4:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Jumpin’ Jeezus on two sticks, that’s not an angel, it’s a homunculus!

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    richardelguru

    31 January 2012 at 6:18 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    @JonnieC

    An anthropomorphic creation that is a hexapod instead of a tetrapod

    Worse than that, aren’t they described somewhere (Isaiah 6:1–3) as decapods!
    (six wings, a couple of arms and a leg or so)
    Why, they could almost be cephalopods. PZ take note!!

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    CompulsoryAccount7746

    31 January 2012 at 6:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Fiery… check.
    Flying… check.
    Serpent… erm, tubish and wriggly, close enough. (Hey, bats get to be birds)

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    briancoughlan

    31 January 2012 at 6:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Hey! Mary is the Mother of God not an angel …

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    Sir Shplane, Grand Mixmaster, Knight of the Turntable

    31 January 2012 at 7:08 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    So you’re saying that angelfish are imaginary?

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    Lars

    31 January 2012 at 8:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Angelfish? The word doesn’t even make sense.

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    scottplumer

    31 January 2012 at 9:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    I see a face in it, wearing a mushroom cap hat… Praise Mario, it’s Toadette!!!

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    gravityisjustatheory

    31 January 2012 at 2:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    richardelguru says:
    31 January 2012 at 6:18 am

    @JonnieC

    An anthropomorphic creation that is a hexapod instead of a tetrapod

    Worse than that, aren’t they described somewhere (Isaiah 6:1–3) as decapods!
    (six wings, a couple of arms and a leg or so)
    Why, they could almost be cephalopods. PZ take note!!

    Clearly they must belong to the same class or phylum as the Hindu deities, and have just evolved several of their arms into wings.

    In any case, the critter in the pic is clearly a Vorlon without it’s encounter suit.

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    endosymbiotic

    1 February 2012 at 5:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    PZ guess how these ‘angels’ eat? Through the top of their heads! my friend in Japan sent me this footage of when this creature was featured on Japanese TV:

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    Sandiseattle

    1 February 2012 at 1:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Truly bordering on cute. But pretty cool too.

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    thunderbird5

    4 February 2012 at 11:00 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    I vividly remember the first time I “saw” these – on David Attenborough’s superb “Life on Earth” series (on the telly, 1979). The family just sat in stunned silence. We couldn’t quite believe that something so beautiful existed and that someone had been able to film it and that we were able to see it.