From the the dry western forests of Madagascar
Most people assume bats can’t be any more disgusting than they already are, which is probably how a family of bats1 in Madagascar was able to evolve sucker feet without anyone noticing2 until it was too late to stop them.
For the time being the bats seem content to use their sucker feet to adhere to the surfaces of the leaves on the Traveler’s Palm and other similar broad-leaf plants, but it won’t be long before the bats realize (if it wasn’t the plan all along) they can stick just as well, if not better, to windows, windshields, laptop computer screens, and bald men’s heads.
When told of the revolting sucker-footed bats, Across Difficult Country foreign correspondent Ismail Mat Taib observed:
1Myzopoda schliemanni.
2The sucker-footed bats were discovered by scientist Steven M. Goodman, whose name seems far to ordinary for an animal researcher, but he did so in collaboration with Félix Rakotondraparany and Amyot Kofoky.
For the time being the bats seem content to use their sucker feet to adhere to the surfaces of the leaves on the Traveler’s Palm and other similar broad-leaf plants, but it won’t be long before the bats realize (if it wasn’t the plan all along) they can stick just as well, if not better, to windows, windshields, laptop computer screens, and bald men’s heads.
When told of the revolting sucker-footed bats, Across Difficult Country foreign correspondent Ismail Mat Taib observed:
“I thought they may be mysterious bats which had surfaced unnaturally from the depths of a cave,” said Taib, who had been herding cattle near the beach.
1Myzopoda schliemanni.
2The sucker-footed bats were discovered by scientist Steven M. Goodman, whose name seems far to ordinary for an animal researcher, but he did so in collaboration with Félix Rakotondraparany and Amyot Kofoky.
Wait; we don't know what the M stands for.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find his middle name, but photographs suggest Goodman has spent so much time in the jungle he's evolved into a tree-dweller.
Maybe he's interested in evolution and genetics, like all the other Stevens in the world.
ReplyDeleteThat’s right, that's an even stronger scientist/name correlation. You might say his research team features both kinds of scientists.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression Goodman knows more about the wildlife of Madagascar than anyone ever. It will be quite sad when we read about him being carried off by sucker-footed bats.