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Topic: Unknown insect discovered on eBay
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Agent 204
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4668
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posted 20 August 2008 03:06 PM
quote: Dr Richard Harrington thought he was buying just an interesting curio when he paid £20 for the fossilised insect encased in amber.But it turned out to be a long extinct type of aphid which became trapped in the resin as it seeped from a tree millions of years ago. It has now been named after Dr Harrington, vice-president of the UK's Royal Entomological Society, who specialises in aphids. He bought the fossil on the internet auction site from a man in Lithuania. Because he couldn't identify it himself Dr Harrington, who works at the world-famous Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, sent it to fossil aphid expert Professor Ole Heie in Denmark. He confirmed that it was from a previously undescribed species.
Source.
From: home of the Guess Who | Registered: Nov 2003
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Papal Bull
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7050
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posted 20 August 2008 05:22 PM
quote: Originally posted by M. Spector: Why do we need a thread about this?Previously unknown insect species are being discovered every day - and these are living specimens, not extinct ones. Nothing to see here, folks.
Do you want a muffin to sooth your rage at this thread? This is interesting because the damned thing was discovered on EBAY. I think that warrants at least a 'hm' from a functioning mind, if only for the trivia factor. Stephen Colbert got a spider named after him, but creatures are named or reclassified everyday, so there is absolutely nothing important about having a celebrity choose the arachnid being named after him.
From: Vatican's best darned ranch | Registered: Oct 2004
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 20 August 2008 06:34 PM
quote: Originally posted by Papal Bull: Trivial though our green little lady bug meals may seem, the interest here falls into the fact that this discovery was greatly facilitated by e-Bay.
No, eBay had nothing to do with the discovery - only with the purchase and sale of the object. The purchaser didn't know the amber contained an unknown species when he made the purchase. It was a find as serendipitous as if he had found the amber on the beach on the shores of the Baltic Sea, or in a pawn shop. This story sounds like something eBay would issue a press release about in order to tout the "hidden treasures" that are available on its site. On a slow newsday some MSM picked it up and printed it. Ho-hum. quote: And I'm quite surprised with you - ignoring this on the fact that people find things of value in flea markets all the time.
That's precisely my point. It happens all the time. This is a dog-bites-man story.Are we going to get breathless news reports (and new babble threads) every time someone finds an interesting thing at a flea market or on eBay? quote: As a geeky archivist and history buff, I have to tell you that some of those discoveries can have very profound impacts.
Well, of course they do. But not this time. I would be just as enthusiastic as you about this bit of news if the story had contained any indication that the discovery of this extinct insect had a profound impact. Or any impact at all.Is it a missing link? Does its discovery answer some long-unanswerwed questions about evolutionary entomology? That would be an interesting story.
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 20 August 2008 07:08 PM
quote: Originally posted by Papal Bull: And an extinct insect has neither importance nor historical significance?
I don't know. Some probably do. Others probably not. The article in the OP isn't about the importance or historical significance of the insect in question. If it were, it might be of interest. As I noted above, new insect species - living ones - are being discovered all the time. Not even the scientific journals bother publishing articles about every one of them - only the important ones. Was this an important find? If it was, The Telegraph missed the story completely.
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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