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July 16, 2008
New of the Ick
Flesh eating slug found in Wales. Picture. UGH.
The nocturnal predator is armed with blade-like teeth (see inset) for slicing through animal flesh and can measure up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) long when stalking its prey, Rowson said."They engulf the worms piece by piece," the biologist noted. "One end of the worm will still be alive while the other is being gradually ratcheted into the slug by the teeth."
Rowson was part of the team that recently named the white carnivore Selenochlamys ysbryda—"ysbryd" being Welsh for "ghost." Its pale color and lack of eyes suggests the animal evolved underground, Rowson said.
The slug's origins remain a mystery, but the study team speculates that it may be native to deep caves found in Georgia, Armenia, or Turkey.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at July 16, 2008 9:40 PM