Comments

  1. Ian H Spedding FCD says

    “There’s always a bigger fish.”

    — Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace

  2. Darby says

    Now I’m wondering what it means about my perversity level that it looks to me like the FSM is violating the fish rather than grabbing it…

  3. Aris says

    I wanted to be first on my block to have one on her car.

    I wonder it is isn’t a single decal, but two different ones, one from a cristianist store and the FSM one from evolvefish.com, set next to each other, photographed, and then photoshopped to make them seem like it’s one big car emblem.
    ____________________________________________

  4. The Pale Scot says

    Good Morning PZ,

    You made Yahoo news via LiveScience.com, Dave Mosher gave it to them with both barrels, got to figure out a way to get it bumped on Memorandum, What’s next, Pimp My Cephalopod?

  5. David Marjanović, OM says

    Now I’m wondering what it means about my perversity level that it looks to me like the FSM is violating the fish rather than grabbing it…

    The organs you’re thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary “fish” have external fertilization anyway…

  6. David Marjanović, OM says

    Now I’m wondering what it means about my perversity level that it looks to me like the FSM is violating the fish rather than grabbing it…

    The organs you’re thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary “fish” have external fertilization anyway…

  7. Tessa says

    Thanks for the link Pale Scot! I’m glad Expelled is getting the reviews it deserves.

  8. says

    Since you mentioned “Expelled”… and just for fun…

    http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2008/04/poe-poe-pitiful-expelled.html

    Those who read the words of Myers know the fellow rarely tires,
    No surprise a film desires his opinion, strongly held:
    When they filmed him, on location, and they held a conversation,
    It was all prevarication–lies are where Ben Stein excelled.
    And producer, too, Mark Mathis, lying’s where the man excelled,
    For the movie was “Expelled”

    […]

  9. Dahan says

    I’d rather see it set in that old “monkey turning into man” graphic used for evolution sometimes. Start with the christian fish, then the darwin fish, and finally the FSM. Seems like someone could come up with a couple others to flesh it out.

  10. David Harmon says

    It occurs to me that the original fish-eating-fish version has a strong subtext of “we’re bigger than you, nyah nyah!”.

    How about one where the Darwin-fish is whacking the Jesus-fish on the nose with the former’s wrench?

  11. Mena says

    Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, I don’t know if you get Real Time with Bill Maher in the UK but according to the stuff scrolling by about the next show, “Atheist Richard Dawkins” is going to be on next week. Almost just in time for the premier of Expelled

  12. Avekid says

    Oh, sorry, Mario… What you’re looking for isn’t in that link. Reading comprehension is fun! =)

  13. Carlie says

    I am now totally in love with having Richard Dawkins on a Doctor Who episode.

  14. Ichthyic says

    The organs you’re thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary “fish” have external fertilization anyway…

    now, David, you should know better than that.

    several different families of fishes have internal fertilization.

    Poeciliids (freshwater) and Embiotocidae (saltwater) come to mind readily, but there are several others, and of course, all Elasmobranchii do.

  15. j.t.delaney says

    The organs you’re thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary “fish” have external fertilization anyway…

    Who said anything about fertilization?

  16. j.t.delaney says

    The organs you’re thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary “fish” have external fertilization anyway…

    Who said anything about fertilization? From my modest understanding of biology, that’s hardly the manoever where babies come from. For that matter, who’s talking about “ordinary fish”? This is Flying Spaghetti Monster and JesusFish we’re talking about, after all. Sheesh.

  17. says

    This is Flying Spaghetti Monster and JesusFish we’re talking about, after all.

    Not to mention the incoming Darwin torpedo.

  18. Bill Brock - Chicago says

    I think it’d be funnier to have FSM eating the Darwin fish directly.

  19. qedpro says

    i want the “alien” version of darwin getting eaten by the j-fish. darwin explodes out of its stomach.

  20. Bride of Shrek says

    bio teacher,

    thanks for that link- that is one awesmoe looking little critter. He kind of looks a bit pissed about having his photo taken though…and the fossilised human turd three slides along made me gag a little on my toast.

  21. Bride of Shrek says

    True Bob

    Your link on the other hand is going to give me nightmares. They walk on dry land, they’re a foot long and ” It is a voracious eater which consumes food rapidly and this habit makes it a particularly harmful invasive species.”.

    There’s a plot for an Eli Roth movie right there.

  22. fcaccin says

    #41
    and then to destroy Darwin they blow up the whole world.
    The accuracy is scary.

  23. Bride of Shrek says

    It gets worse

    ” Some rumors suggest that these catfish use their tentacle-like whiskers to pry open wires protecting private bodies of water to enter and prey on unsuspecting fish. This rumor, although unconfirmed, is likely true for large species of walking catfish.”

    The bastards can GET THROUGH GUARD FENCES!! All it needs is to develop a taste for human flesh and we’re all goners.

  24. Owlmirror says

    and the fossilised human turd three slides along made me gag a little on my toast.

    Y’know, when you wrote that, I thought, “Which illustrious US politician could she be referring to? There are so many that could be described as ‘fossilized human turds’….”

    Then I clicked and found that you did in fact mean actual human coprolites.

    Well, shit.

  25. says

    Your link on the other hand is going to give me nightmares. They walk on dry land, they’re a foot long and ” It is a voracious eater which consumes food rapidly and this habit makes it a particularly harmful invasive species.”.

    Oh, please, BoS–all the goddamn stinging, venomous, bitey, and surly things you’ve got in Australia*, and a freakin’ *catfish* is going to give you nightmares?

    If you’re going to let a catfish creep you out, at least let it be a candirú.

    * It’s a fact that 11 of the top 10 deadliest snakes are found in Australia.

  26. jayh says

    What we apparently need is a modular structure, so you can choose eaters and eatees from columns A & B

  27. Bride of Shrek says

    Thalarctos

    Funny you should say that. I got up last night at 2 to feed the baby daughter and in the dark I stood on something that gave a slight “crunch”. Sleep deprived I vaguely thought I’d stepped on a bit of biscuit or something that the kids are always dropping around the house. Woke up this morning to see a squashed redback spider in the hallway. Friggin big ‘un too. First phonecall this morning was to the insecticide spraying dudes.

    Funny the snakes don’t worry me ( and I grew up SURROUNDED by taipans) but the spiders creep me out.

  28. shane says

    Don’t worry Bride, the redback is only aggressive when you’ve got your arse bared over the dunny.

  29. Janine, ID says

    All of those nasty snakes yet an invading species, the rabbit is living large. Just how deadly is this place if rabbits have the run of the land? Though I know of a certain ex-demon who would be terrified of the land of bunnies.

    As for finding strange beasties, many people keep strange pets. In the suburbs of Chicago, my mom entered her apartment to find a scorpion on the counter. The mid-west of the US is hardly a haven for scorpions.

  30. Bride of Shrek says

    Yeah Janine, but you haven’t SEEN the rabbits here. They’re eight feet tall, with fangs and a row of spines along their back. They’re rumoured to eat small children and unattended old folk… and they pack heat. Oh yes, we’ve got ourselves baaaddd arsed bunnies down here.

  31. Kseniya says

    Ah, Janine… now I’m starting to miss Anya again… sigh.

    Cane spiders are cool. They’re too big to hide behind wall-clocks. I think they’re Hawaiian…

    I’m a cane toad fan, myself. Tim Finn wrote a song about ’em…

  32. shane says

    The only thing that keeps the bunnies in check are the drop bears. Nasty piece of work are the drop bears.

  33. wazza says

    Well, they’re fairly nasty…

    but you can protect yourself with a pointy hat

    to my mind, the scariest animal is the kangaroo. They’ve been being tied down by australians for years… and now they want their revenge…

  34. Janine, ID says

    So Bride, have the rabbits and dingoes entered into an alliance to gather and eat babies? Yikes, I think I slipped an other Buffy reference in.

    Wait a second, what you described sounds like this movie!

  35. Bride of Shrek says

    Janine

    Night of The Lepus- awesome. Possibly the worst horror movie ever made. I think it even had Janet Leigh in it. Something about a couple of evil Biologists (of course), mutant serums and rabbits. Baaaaadd arsed bunnies.

  36. shane says

    Of course the only guard against killer bunnies is, *consults the Book of Armaments*, the Holy Hand Grenade Of Antioch.

  37. True Bob says

    Night of the Lepus was one of the funniest “scary” movies I ever saw!

    Recent weird “pet” news – guy got busted for having something like 5 – 7 rattlers, a Gaboon viper, and some non-venomous exotics. Not allowed to have the nasty ones in my county (can’t even buy a tarantula or scorpion – babies).

    When I was in HS, a friend of mine caught and kept a Pygmy Rattlesnake. After a time, he decided to release it. He opens the jar, and the snake whips around and envenomates him in the forearm! He lived and I learned.

  38. says

    The mid-west of the US is hardly a haven for scorpions.

    Wanna bet?

    From Wikipedia:

    Scorpions are almost universally distributed south of 49° N … In the United States, scorpions are most common in southern Arizona and in a swath of land extending through central Texas and central Oklahoma. The common striped scorpion, Centruroides vittatus, reaches from northwest Mexico to southern Colorado, Kansas, southern Missouri, and Mississippi and Louisiana. Species of the genus Vaejovis are found from Florida north to Maryland, the Carolinas, and Tennessee, and as far west as Oregon and California. Paruroctonus boreus is found through the Northwest U.S. and into Canada (Southern Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta and the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia). Scorpions can be found in 31 different states in the U.S., including Hawaii (Isometrus maculatus).

    Five colonies of scorpions (Euscorpius flavicaudis) have established themselves in southern England …

    I’m always amazed where I’ve found those things.

  39. says

    but what about PYGMY rattlesnakes and DWARF rabbits!!??!?

    betcha none of you smarty-pants evilutionists ever thought about THAT, didja?

  40. David Marjanović, OM says

    The organs you’re thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary “fish” have external fertilization anyway…

    now, David, you should know better than that.

    several different families of fishes have internal fertilization.

    Poeciliids (freshwater) and Embiotocidae (saltwater) come to mind readily, but there are several others, and of course, all Elasmobranchii do.

    These aren’t ordinary fish. :-)

    (That said, I really didn’t have any idea there were internally-fertilizing actinopterygians. I’m not surprised, though.)

    Y’know, when you wrote that, I thought, “Which illustrious US politician could she be referring to? There are so many that could be described as ‘fossilized human turds’….”

    Then I clicked and found that you did in fact mean actual human coprolites.

    Well, shit.

    ROTFL!

    It’s a fact that 11 of the top 10 deadliest snakes are found in Australia.

    And then there’s the Giant Queensland Stinging Tree. It won’t kill you — but you’ll wish it had…

  41. David Marjanović, OM says

    The organs you’re thinking of are not in the tail fin, and ordinary “fish” have external fertilization anyway…

    now, David, you should know better than that.

    several different families of fishes have internal fertilization.

    Poeciliids (freshwater) and Embiotocidae (saltwater) come to mind readily, but there are several others, and of course, all Elasmobranchii do.

    These aren’t ordinary fish. :-)

    (That said, I really didn’t have any idea there were internally-fertilizing actinopterygians. I’m not surprised, though.)

    Y’know, when you wrote that, I thought, “Which illustrious US politician could she be referring to? There are so many that could be described as ‘fossilized human turds’….”

    Then I clicked and found that you did in fact mean actual human coprolites.

    Well, shit.

    ROTFL!

    It’s a fact that 11 of the top 10 deadliest snakes are found in Australia.

    And then there’s the Giant Queensland Stinging Tree. It won’t kill you — but you’ll wish it had…

  42. Peter Ashby says

    The problem with the idea of all those highly venomous Aussies (the snakes I mean) eating their way through the bunnie problem is warm blood vs cold. Your snake only needs to eat once in a while since it is cold blooded. Meanwhile the bunnies are breeding like, well rabbits and soon the poor snakes can’t go anywhere without being hopped all over by lagomorphs.

    The history of biological control of Australasian lagomorphs is just tragic, first myxomatosis then Spanish Bunny Flu were BOTH released by silly farmers at the wrong time of the year so allowing your bunnies to build up immunity. Happened both in Oz and NZ. Someday someone is going to write a book, Breeding the super Rabbit, the Australasian experience.

    In NZ we don’t even have the potential range of predators and those that there are we try and control for what they do to the native birds. So really only the native hawk is interested and road kill is an easier meal which means they get run over….

    Sometime I’ll tell Y’All about the Great Easter Bunny Shoot they used to hold in Central Otago and how you cheat at a bunny hunting competition.

  43. shane says

    And then there’s the Giant Queensland Stinging Tree. It won’t kill you — but you’ll wish it had…

    I can out run any stinking damned tree…

  44. Sili says

    shane,

    That’s how you hit those trees in the first place. See you’re running along, looking over your shoulder, making sure that tree isn’t gonna get you. And then *WHAM* his partner snags you.

  45. danielgolfs says

    It would be humorous if additional mythical creatures that atheists believe in were in the picture behind the flying spaghetti monster… i.e. aliens that evolved on other planets could be standing with their arms around Archaeoraptor, as if posing for a group photo.

  46. James F says

    #74

    Owlmirror,

    Thank you for the catch, my friend! I always thought that was Adams’s work. Thank heavens for peer review. ;-)

  47. LARA says

    I do hope they know the Darwin Fish is toxic. Can’t see his brightly colored warning patterns? They haven’t yet evolved.

  48. says

    In NZ we don’t even have the potential range of predators and those that there are we try and control for what they do to the native birds.

    Hell, Peter, you’ve got sheep-eating parrots–that’s predator enough for my tastes.

  49. Peter Ashby says

    Yes NZ has Keas, intelligent, curious mountain parrots who have been known to include sheep in their diet. However though blamed for killing them, there is no evidence that they do more than take advantage of the dead and dying. Sheep are not so dozy as to allow a parrot to peck out their eyes you know.

  50. says

    Sheep are not so dozy as to allow a parrot to peck out their eyes you know.

    Well, Peter, I defer to you, as a Kiwi, in the area of sheep knowledge, after all. (My Aussie friend/labmate tells me you guys have discovered yet another new use of sheep: wool.)

    But I’ve heard of cases where they (keas, that is) swoop in, take a chunk of the loin, fly away with a meal before the sheep even figures out what’s happening, and then the sheep dies later of sepsis. That sounds pretty predatory to me, even if the keas aren’t intentionally deploying sepsis.