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marden · Mar 3, 2007, 05:51 PM

Would You Help Save This UGLY Little 'Yoda-like' Beast?

You've probably never seen an aye-aye. And you may never want to see one. It's a bizarre, ugly-looking creature—sort of a cross between a wolverine, a koala, and a raccoon with big ears; yellowish, gremlinlike eyes; and a giant bushy tail. Conservation biologists say this one-of-a-kind critter from Madagascar—which uses razor-sharp incisor teeth to tear off sections of tree bark, and a long, narrow middle finger to scoop out the insects inside—represents millions of years of independent evolution and is now verging on extinction. (Click here to see the aye-aye in action.) Yes, we're talking about something grotesque here, so grotesque, in fact, that locals consider it to be an evil omen and kill the animal on sight. But losing it would mean the collapse of an entire branch of the mammalian evolutionary tree. Unless the conservationists can persuade us to help protect an ugly and uncharismatic animal, all this genetic history will be gone forever. How do you get people to care about an aye-aye? http://www.slate.com/id/2160742/slid...entry/2160911/

http://www.slate.com/id/2160742/

Can you say, "Aye-Aye?"

analogika · Mar 3, 2007, 06:12 PM

Well, there's one person who HASN'T read his Douglas Adams.

Shame on you, marden.

Edit: Good God, this means marden is back.

torsoboy · Mar 3, 2007, 06:14 PM

Wow, that guy is pretty ugly. Check out the video:

Film clip - Aye-aye using elongated finger and sharp teeth to find and extract grub from tree - Aye-aye - Daubentonia madagascarensis - ARKive

euchomai · Mar 3, 2007, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by torsoboy

Wow, that guy is pretty ugly. Check out the video:

Film clip - Aye-aye using elongated finger and sharp teeth to find and extract grub from tree - Aye-aye - Daubentonia madagascarensis - ARKive

Holy Crap, that thing is disgusting! Its odd long middle finger is very odd.

Ozmodiar · Mar 3, 2007, 06:45 PM

I think it's beautiful.

marden · 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by analogika

Well, there's one person who HASN'T read his Douglas Adams.

Shame on you, marden.

Edit: Good God, this means marden is back.

Aye-aye!

Hi! Hi!

Good 2 cu 2!

EDIT: What does Douglas Adams have to do with this? The aye-aye lives in Madagascar, silly, not Yellowstone!

OK, I see you aren't going to bite.

The photo was by ANSEL Adams.

I was pretending to mistake the Adams' brothers. Ansel and Douglas.

They were creepy and they were kooky, mysterious and spooky. They were altogether Coochy, the Adams family.

Featuring Christina Ricci as Wednesday.

himself · Mar 3, 2007, 07:10 PM

Creatures like this just reinforce how wondrous this world can be. But it seems that mankind is bent on making this world as bland and lifeless as possible.

BlueSky · Mar 3, 2007, 10:35 PM

How do you get people to care about an aye-aye?

Get rid of that name first. Call it a choochy-poo and everyone will want one.

besson3c · Mar 3, 2007, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by BlueSky

Get rid of that name first. Call it a choochy-poo and everyone will want one.

Why is that choochy-poo is cool, but people probably wouldn't go for "choochy-turd"? Turd and poo mean the same thing.

Cadaver · Mar 3, 2007, 10:47 PM

Cool animal!

torsoboy · Mar 3, 2007, 10:49 PM

I just watched the video again and the face of the one in the video doesn't look half as bad as the one pictured by the OP. Maybe that one is a baby or something and hasn't had time to grow hair yet on its face.

Gossamer · Mar 3, 2007, 10:52 PM

*shudder*

design219 · Mar 3, 2007, 10:56 PM

So, would you serve with red wine?

reader50 · Mar 3, 2007, 11:10 PM

There are seven videos on the site featuring this critter. Several more show it giving grubs the middle finger.

Rumor · Mar 3, 2007, 11:37 PM

I want one.

BlueSky · Mar 3, 2007, 11:54 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Why is that choochy-poo is cool, but people probably wouldn't go for "choochy-turd"? Turd and poo mean the same thing.

A poo is a baby turd, and you know anything in its infant state is cute, even turds. Well, mine anyway.

Railroader · Mar 3, 2007, 11:55 PM

Pixar should use one for a main character in its next movie.

marden · Mar 3, 2007, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by BlueSky

A poo is a baby turd, and you know anything in its infant state is cute, even turds. Well, mine anyway.

ROFLMAO!!!!!!

marden · Mar 3, 2007, 11:57 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Pixar should use one for a main character in its next movie.

It kinda looks like a Pixar creature, doesn't it?

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by Rumor

I want one.

Where would you get the grubs and larvae and maggots to keep him happy?

The Coochy-poo feed store?

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Why is that choochy-poo is cool, but people probably wouldn't go for "choochy-turd"? Turd and poo mean the same thing.

"choochy-turd" makes me think of a chocolaty snack.

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by torsoboy

I just watched the video again and the face of the one in the video doesn't look half as bad as the one pictured by the OP. Maybe that one is a baby or something and hasn't had time to grow hair yet on its face.

I think it's the damn anti-Coochy media trying to make Coochy-poos look as bad as possible.

Damn anti-Coochy media bastards!

IceEnclosure · Mar 4, 2007, 12:58 AM

why's the coochy puss got black leather ear covers??

- - e r i k - - · Mar 4, 2007, 06:12 AM

Originally Posted by marden

The photo was by ANSEL Adams.

I was pretending to mistake the Adams' brothers. Ansel and Douglas.

What the -f u c k- are you smoking?

Sub · Mar 4, 2007, 09:04 AM

We should save him, imagine how much could be saved during movie production if it was real life instead of special effects.

design219 · Mar 4, 2007, 09:30 AM

I think these would make great pets.

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

What the -f u c k- are you smoking?

Dried Koala dung.

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Sub

We should save him, imagine how much could be saved during movie production if it was real life instead of special effects.

Aye-aye!

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by design219

I think these would make great pets.

NICE JOB!

Warren Pease · Mar 4, 2007, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by marden

EDIT: What does Douglas Adams have to do with this? The aye-aye lives in Madagascar, silly, not Yellowstone!

Or in the Tetons. Close, but no cigar.

rickey939 · Mar 4, 2007, 11:18 AM

Wow, that is one ugly little "Yoda-like" looking beast.

design219 · Mar 4, 2007, 12:00 PM

Mmmmm, don't know... but I thinking somewhere in Madagascar.

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by Warren Pease

Or in the Tetons. Close, but no cigar.

Er, did I say Yellowstone? I MEANT the Tetons.

Thanks for the assist.

marden · Mar 4, 2007, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by design219

Mmmmm, don't know... but I thinking somewhere in Madagascar.

Very impressive and funny.

brassplayersrock² · Mar 4, 2007, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by design219

I think these would make great pets.

talking from the animal view point or the human?

macintologist · Mar 4, 2007, 09:06 PM

I think this forum will be responsible for a new meme.

marden · Mar 5, 2007, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by macintologist

I think this forum will be responsible for a new meme.

By renaming the Coochy-Poo?

By the way...

The term "meme" (IPA: /miːm/, to rhyme with "theme", not /mɛm/ or /mimi/), coined in 1976 by the zoologist and evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins, refers to a unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to another. Dawkins said, Examples of memes are tunes, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.

A meme propagates itself as a unit of cultural evolution and diffusion — analogous in many ways to the behavior of the gene (the unit of genetic information). Often memes propagate as more-or-less integrated cooperative sets or groups, referred to as memeplexes or meme-complexes.

The idea of memes has proved a successful meme in its own right, gaining a degree of penetration into popular culture which relatively few modern scientific theories achieve.

Proponents of memes suggest that memes evolve via natural selection — in a way very similar to Charles Darwin's ideas concerning biological evolution — on the premise that variation, mutation, competition, and "inheritance" influence their replicative success. For example, while one idea may become extinct, other ideas will survive, spread and mutate — for better or for worse — through modification.

Meme-theorists contend that memes most beneficial to their hosts will not necessarily survive; rather, those memes which replicate the most effectively spread best; which allows for the possibility that successful memes might prove detrimental to their hosts.

analogue SPRINKLES · Mar 5, 2007, 02:56 PM

I think it is pretty cute. The finger is a bit gross though.

marden · Mar 5, 2007, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by IceEnclosure

why's the coochy puss got black leather ear covers??

I keep trying to think of the answer but I've got nothing.

design219 · Mar 5, 2007, 03:11 PM

why's the coochy puss got black leather ear covers??

Come on people! It's a disguise.

marden · Mar 5, 2007, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by design219

Come on people! It's a disguise.

Ahhhh! Thanks for the clue. It's the Coochy-poo version of this, eh?

design219 · Mar 5, 2007, 03:27 PM

See, it works!

SpaceMonkey · Mar 5, 2007, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by BlueSky

Get rid of that name first. Call it a choochy-poo and everyone will want one.

Tickle-Me Choochy-Poo™! Just in time for next Christmas!

centerchannel68 · Mar 6, 2007, 12:08 AM

It's sad, but that creature is up **** creek without a paddle. Evolve or die. I'm predicting death.

Rumor · Mar 6, 2007, 12:47 AM

Originally Posted by centerchannel68

It's sad, but that creature is up **** creek without a paddle. Evolve or die. I'm predicting death.

Um, it has evolved.

Jawbone54 · Mar 6, 2007, 02:55 AM

It's a shame they're so ugly. They'll all be dead in 5 years, since they're not "squeeze and kiss" material.

design219 · Mar 6, 2007, 03:05 AM

Tickle-Me Choochy-Poo™! Just in time for next Christmas!

My God, I think you're on to something. Come on marketing people...We can save the Choochy-Poo!

marden · Mar 6, 2007, 01:08 PM

Hmm...we already have a variance in the spelling. Choochy-poo or Coochy-poo?

With all due respect to BlueSky, I like Coochie or Coochy. As in "coochie, coochie, coo." That's the stereotypical thing an adult says to an infant to make it smile, right?

Or, Bluesky, did you have the hard "K" sound in mind when you spelled it "CHoochy-poo?"

BlueSky · Mar 7, 2007, 12:23 AM

Choochy. I don't care, coochy, choochy. It's all the same considering the universe is going to implode in 5 billion years.

- - e r i k - - · Mar 7, 2007, 03:17 AM

Originally Posted by marden

With all due respect to BlueSky, I like Coochie or Coochy.

Thanks Marden, I knew you were one of us

Originally Posted by marden

As in "coochie, coochie, coo." That's the stereotypical thing an adult says to an infant to make it smile, right?

Now why would (especially a conservative) parent say such a thing to an infant. That's horrible.