Friday, April 1, 2022

Incredible Amphibians

The Biblical Museum of Natural History is thrilled to announce an amazing new exhibit: Brazilian strawberry salamanders! These extraordinary (and beautiful) creatures have a unique form of reproduction. The female deposits her egg directly into the terminal bud of the strawberry plant, where it is co-fertilized by the plant, from which it also derives nutrition. The larvae then develops with genetic input from the plant, and when fully developed, breaks away from the bud. The result is an amphibian with a spectacular appearance that is ideal for camouflage.

While not mentioned in the Bible, the Brazilian strawberry salamander is very similar to certain creatures mentioned in rabbinic literature, such as the goose that grows from trees, the mouse that grows from dirt and the salamander that is generated from fire. (To learn more about such creatures, read Sacred Monsters, available at: https://www.biblicalnaturalhistory.org/.../sacred-monsters.) We would like to express our gratitude to the Wachtfogel and Meiselman families for their assistance in developing this exhibit.
 

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24 comments:

  1. You almost got me! Happy April Fool's!

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  2. חג שמח לאפריל פולס שמח!

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  3. **********************April 1, 2022 at 12:42 PM

    And April 1st to you to....

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  4. A clever prank but I might never eat another strawberry.

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  5. I was really worried that my understanding of genetics was completely wrong until I noticed the date of the post.

    Happy April 1

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  6. Wachtfogel and Meiselman sponsoring it is just too funny

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  7. Is this a joke? Is this picture real?

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    Replies
    1. Of course it is real!

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    2. The picture is real. The salamander is not.

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  8. We would like to express our gratitude to the Wachtfogel and Meiselman families for their assistance in developing this exhibit.

    This line gives it away!!!


    Happy April Fools Day!!

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  9. Happy April Fools' Day!

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  10. This is a guaranteed prank. There is no recorded evidence of a salamander like it anywhere on the internet. It is presently-impossible for a salamander to reproduce with the assistance of a plant.

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  11. Thanks for the April Fools joke. But nature offers us evidence of evolution’s amazing creation of creatures camouflaged to their habitats. Have a look:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=beautiful+orchid+mantis&tbm=isch&client=safari&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg3ZiPkfP2AhUTgnIEHQS_CLoQtI8BKAF6BAgBED8&biw=375&bih=628&dpr=2

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  12. On behalf of the Wachtfogel and Meiselman families, thank you for confirming that one should not trust what's written on this blog.

    (Although I'm not sure how that logic would extend to the other 364 days of the year.)

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  13. Even though it was really originally done near Halloween, someone did a reading of War of the Worlds today on a radio show, so many silly people took it seriously, and sad that not enough people know the history of the original. Happy April 1st!

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  14. Yes, but is it kosher, do we have a mesorah on it?
    What would the bracha be Meshaneh Habriyos? :)

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  15. The person in charge of photoshopping should have at least used an amphibian instead of a reptile. Amphibians do not have claws, ear holes or that distinctive reptilian spread of the hind toes.

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    Replies
    1. And no creature would evolve to camoflage itself to look like something edible.

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  16. Tomato Frog nods in appreciation

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  17. As strawberries are native to North America, the prank would be more credible (and better) if the 'salamander' were associated with a compatible country instead of Brazil.

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