Snake found with clawed hand growing out of it.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a news report of a snake found with a clawed hand, exploring potential explanations for this phenomenon, including genetic mutations, vestigial limbs, and the possibility of hoaxes. Participants engage in a mix of speculative reasoning and anecdotal observations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the snake's condition could be due to a genetic mutation.
  • Others express skepticism, proposing that the report may be a hoax, particularly given the sensational nature of some news from China.
  • A few participants discuss the possibility of vestigial limb mutations, noting that snake genomes contain the instructions for limb growth.
  • One participant mentions that the snake may have simply eaten something, pointing to a visible lump in its body.
  • There are claims that retroviruses could play a role in such mutations, with some arguing this is a credible evolutionary mechanism.
  • Several participants reference the evolutionary history of snakes, noting their common ancestry with lizards and the existence of extant snake species with vestigial legs.
  • Some express doubt about the authenticity of the limb, suggesting it could be an illusion or a result of the snake's condition after eating.
  • One participant humorously suggests that the snake's appearance is the result of a supernatural influence.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally do not reach a consensus, with multiple competing views on the nature of the snake's condition and the validity of the news report. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the cause of the anomaly.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about genetic mutations and evolutionary mechanisms are presented without detailed evidence, and there are unresolved assumptions regarding the authenticity of the news report and the snake's condition.

The_Absolute
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http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/863766/snake-born-with-hand-shocks-scientists

Some kind of genetic mutation perhaps?
 
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I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw.

Video would have been amazing. I would have been freaked too!
 
Eh, I don't believe it. Probably a hoax.

The news coming out of China lately is pretty tabloidish, so reader beware.
 
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Can't mutations cause any outgrowth potentially? Like, you could find something that looked like a human head growing out of a donkey's backside, but it would just be really really really really really really really really really unlikely for mutations of DNA to be that widespread and specific to give that result. More than likely, if you zap a donkey fetus with radiation it will just develop tumors and die.
 
Looks like it just ate something to me.. You can see the lump.
 
perhaps a case of a vestigial limb mutation? Snake genomes do supposedly contain the instructions for growing a limb.
 
After dead snake was found, officials said

"We won't know the cause until we've conducted an autopsy"

Well, it was enough to interrogate the murderer:

she then grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death
 
Its just a lizard.
 
That particular snake likes to eat little people for his dinner but one of them objected and started to claw his way out.
 
  • #10
A retrovirus could be involved.
In Australia there are a lot of weird creatures which, seemingly unrelated, are marsupial. In the same country are many variant insects which have wings, unlike their otherwise similar counterparts in New Zealand.
 
  • #11
Snakes have a common lizard ancestor. Some extant snake species have vestigial legs - boas and pythons for example.

Having a "leg" grow is not all that weird considering the ancestry of snakes.
 
  • #12
jim mcnamara said:
Snakes have a common lizard ancestor. Some extant snake species have vestigial legs - boas and pythons for example.

Having a "leg" grow is not all that weird considering the ancestry of snakes.

I was thinking the same. It wouldn't take much of a genetic mutation for a limb to grow. It may be more surprising that it doesn't happen more often.
 
  • #13
but if I may harp on about the retrovirus idea...
... this is a more credible mechanism for evolution than any other I've heard of.
 
  • #14
Moonbear said:
I was thinking the same. It wouldn't take much of a genetic mutation for a limb to grow. It may be more surprising that it doesn't happen more often.
But yet something inside me just wants to scream and run.
 
  • #15
Notice to all mutants: Beware or easily frightened normals.
 
  • #16
well its a reputable news website.. is there any follow up? thx
 
  • #17
What, no shadow of the supposed limb?

Obvious fake.
 
  • #18
I think it's a bit obvious that the snake had ate something beforehand.
"THE ELDERLY WOMAN WAS THAT SCARED SHE BEAT IT TO DEATH!"
That is why this snake looks so deformed!

Any hope of referring to evolution is a complete fail. According to evolution lizards evolved into snakes, so this would be devolution. Not to mention the fact that a whole leg wouldn't form. So its obvious that it's the snakes guts coming out - perhaps it had eaten a lizard?
 
  • #19
Give that woman a hand ... and she will glue it onto a snake. Seriously though, that is the work of devil if ever i saw it.
 
  • #20
retrovirus's are thought to transfer dna between species
 
  • #21
Snakes used to have limbs, but then they got less important or something and then the theory of evolutin killed them off (perhaps no natural predators). NOw that snakes are getting destroyed by humns, maybe apossible re-awakening of genetic genomes to grow limbs?
 
  • #22
we have snakes like these here in the philippines, its called "banakon" i think, its hands is not like the one in the picture but smaller. snakes like these don't use much use their hand for anything.
some images

3817603092_c04a1de10a.jpg


http://bisayangkikay.i.ph/photo/d/244-1/Banakon.jpg
 
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  • #23
Peopleunit said:
What, no shadow of the supposed limb?

Obvious fake.

So you're claiming the limb is photoshopped or an illusion? The angle the light is shining at the wrong angle to give the limb a shadow on the ground next to the snake with the rest of its body.
 
  • #24
Affirmation that one should not bite the hand that feeds you.
 
  • #25
Insanity said:
perhaps a case of a vestigial limb mutation? Snake genomes do supposedly contain the instructions for growing a limb.

No need for supposedly, those genes are just suppressed. Like most of our ancient genes, which shape the fetus in all it's stages (fish,amphibian,bird,mammal). Everyone of you had a tail while growing inside the womb.

So the poor snake just has a simple malformation. Might not even be passed through reproduction. But we will never know as it is dead.
 
  • #26
Here is an interesting analysis of the phenomenon
http://depletedcranium.com/an-example-of-why-understanding-evolution-matters/
 
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