The T-Rex of Leeches

[Syt]

No, this is not about lawyers.

Tyrannobdella rex: Giant leech is 'world's smallest T Rex'

Tyrannobdella rex, which means tyrant leech king, is less than two inches long and lives in the remote parts of the Upper Amazon.

It has 8 large teeth lining a single jaw and was discovered three years ago in Perú when a 44.5mm leech was plucked from the nose of a girl who had recently been bathing in a river.

Although there are 600 to 700 species of described leeches, it is thought that there could be as many as 10,000 species throughout the world in marine, terrestrial and fresh water environments.

This species is most closely related to Pintobdella chiapasensis, a leech from Chiapas in Mexico that is typically hosted by tapir but also infests cows.

It is from the leech family Praobdellidae, found in Mexico, Africa, and the Middle East, all of which share this feeding behavior and which can pose a risk to human health in certain parts of the world.

Mark Siddall, curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, said: "The earliest species in this family of these leeches no-doubt shared an environment with dinosaurs about 200 million years ago when some ancestor of our T. rex may have been up that other T.

Its teeth:


Wrath of the Leech King!

[Josquius]

Brr.
You know, I was just thinking of this sort of thing yesterday, Brazil is pretty high on the list of cool places I'd like to visit.
But.
1: The crime factor
and also, though its a bit crazy given 1
2: The wildlife.

Its not like Australia where every living thing just wants to kill you. Its....more disgusting. Every living thing is....wanting to do nasty stuff to you.

[Syt]

Two co-workers went to the Amazon last year (Brazil & Bolivia - the father of one of them left Austria and buiolt a farm in the jungle).

They loved it, had not major problems along the river, and only were scared when they had to leave the tent in the middle of the night to take a piss. Besides, it was pretty noisy during the night.

They lopved La Paz, though.

Another colleague went to a planned five week trip to Brazil (2 along the Amazon) and he said it wasn't half as bad as expected, and you get used to it after a while.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Big difference between something wanting to kill you and something wanting to burrow into your eyeballs and lay eggs.

Brr.
You know, I was just thinking of this sort of thing yesterday, Brazil is pretty high on the list of cool places I'd like to visit.
But.
1: The crime factor
and also, though its a bit crazy given 1
2: The wildlife.

Its not like Australia where every living thing just wants to kill you. Its....more disgusting. Every living thing is....wanting to do nasty stuff to you.

[Grinning_Colossus]

[Jaron]

Heehee. Leech King.