Since made-up creatures came up as teaching tools: there are Sokal and Rolf's Caminalcules which I have used before to teach taxonomy and phylogenetic systematics.
Wikipedia has a pertinent summary and the relevant citations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caminalcules Cheers, Basti On Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 3:41 PM, Malcolm McCallum < [email protected]> wrote: > Not an article, but when I taught Genetics, in order to lighten up the > tests and to avoid various issues, I uses mythical creatures as problems. > I recall one, alled the bonacum (I think I spelled it right) in which the > animal would release toxic gas as a defense. I set up a screwy genetics > problem with epistasis, co-dominance, and lethal alleles in which under > certain circumstances the bonacum would inherit a lethal allele in which it > could not release its gas, so the gas would build up internally until the > animal exploded raining fetid pesulance on its surroundings. > > Yes, I frequently do this kind of thing on tests. Hard to pull the "I read > in book X that this particular animal does Y" if you use an example that > simply does not exist and the a scenario that is complete BS. :) > > Not sure if it would be helpful to you or not, but there it is. > > Malcolm > > On Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 9:54 AM, Gary Grossman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I'm looking for funny articles published and a few come to mind that I > > can't remember citations for so I thought I'd ask here. I don't really > > want to page through J. Irreproducable Results or Worm Runner's Digest > but > > there are a few I'm hoping someone can help me with (vice vis pdfs) > > > > In either the late 70's or 80's there was a note in Nature that comprised > > the poem and reviewers comments on Shelley's *"Ozymandias*" > > > > Then at about the same time someone published a paper in Limn. & Ocean. > > estimating the biomass of the Loch Ness monster. > > > > And also at some point someone published a satirical paper on "if no one > > heard it, did the tree in the forest really fall?" > > > > Of course any other humorous gems would be appreciated. > > Please remember the list doesn't allow attachments, so please respond to > my > > university email. > > > > TIA, g2 > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Gary D. Grossman, PhD > > > > Professor of Animal Ecology > > Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources > > University of Georgia > > Athens, GA, USA 30602 > > > > http://grossman.myweb.uga.edu/ <http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Egrossman> > > > > Board of Editors - Animal Biodiversity and Conservation > > Editorial Board - Freshwater Biology > > Editorial Board - Ecology Freshwater Fish > > > > > > -- > Malcolm L. McCallum, PHD, REP > Environmental Studies Program > Green Mountain College > Poultney, Vermont > > “Nothing is more priceless and worthy of preservation than the rich array > of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a > many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers > alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as > Americans.” > -President Richard Nixon upon signing the Endangered Species Act of 1973 > into law. > > "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan > Nation > > 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert > 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, > and pollution. > 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction > MAY help restore populations. > 2022: Soylent Green is People! > > The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) > Wealth w/o work > Pleasure w/o conscience > Knowledge w/o character > Commerce w/o morality > Science w/o humanity > Worship w/o sacrifice > Politics w/o principle > > Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any > attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may > contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized > review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not > the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and > destroy all copies of the original message. > -- Bastian Bentlage, Ph.D. Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics The University of Maryland College Park, MD, USA
