[Leps-l] Remarkable news!

[Douglas Yanega]

On 4/1/22 4:20 AM, Neil Jones wrote:
> The delay in reporting the figures for the size of the Mexican monarch 
> overwintering colonies has been explained today in a remarkable 
> revelation.
>
> The results of a top secret research project have finally been 
> revealed to the public. The findings have caused ripples of excitement 
> across the scientific community. A research group of paleontologists 
> has been working in the area of the colonies and they have made some 
> remarkable finds.
>
> Subfossil bones dating back to around only 2 millennia ago have been 
> unearthed from the nearby forest. Detailed examination by experts has 
> shown they belong to an giant species of ape. The ape named 
> Gigantopithecus epimenides by experts is believed to be an extinct 10 
> foot tall orangutan which lived swinging from the trees in the oyalmel 
> forests.
>
> Work on excavating the bones delayed the counting work but it was done 
> with extreme care to avoid disturbing the butterflies.
>
>  Professor Jan van Leugenaarsdorp of San Serriffe University said,"It 
> seems there really were bigfoot creatures around until at least 2000 
> years ago and it does appear they were monarch watchers." 

I've been helping Jan identify the remains of monarchs in the same 
deposits, and genetic work on some well-preserved tissue reveals they 
are different enough from modern monarchs to be classified as a 
different taxon, Danaus plexippus fallax. Very surprising how much 
genetic change has occurred in a geologically small interval!

Peace,

-- 
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82