One pattern is that with real parasite stories, there's a kind of "welp, shit happens" element to it, but you learn something about parasite biology. With made-up parasite stories, they often have a "lesson of the day" morality angle to it, and you come away with misconceptions about parasites.
Except the part about leeches going up people's nose bsky.app/profile/the-... That part is still very real - they just don't lay eggs in your nose or have giant teeth that can show up on X-rays
Here's an a real story about a nose leech dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2019/10/dino... which happens to be in the same family and similar habits to the Tyrannobdella rex which starred in that thread. Compare and contrast with what happens in that T. rex leech story going around.
When it comes to parasitology, sometimes you have to get really up close with your study organism, as one researcher in Taiwan did in trying...
There are still leeches that can go up people's nose tho bsky.app/profile/the-... They just don't act like how it was in that story. And they certainly don't lay eggs in your nose.
Here's an a real story about a nose leech dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2019/10/dino... which happens to be in the same family and similar habits to the Tyrannobdella rex which starred in that thread. Compare and contrast with what happens in that T. rex leech story going around.
When it comes to parasitology, sometimes you have to get really up close with your study organism, as one researcher in Taiwan did in trying...
And Tyrannobdella itself has a Wikipedia entry where you can see many aspects that contradict that story en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranno...www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
Here's an a real story about a nose leech dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2019/10/dino... which happens to be in the same family and similar habits to the Tyrannobdella rex which starred in that thread. Compare and contrast with what happens in that T. rex leech story going around.
When it comes to parasitology, sometimes you have to get really up close with your study organism, as one researcher in Taiwan did in trying...
Every part of that story contradict known leech biology, anatomy, and life history. But it's easier to BS about invertebrates like leeches and get away with it, because most people's general knowledge about invertebrates, esp. parasites, are build upon hearsay and half-truths
The leech one? That's kinda what inspired it. From top to bottom, every part of the story has red flags all over it. But the last line in the thread pretty much warded itself by imply that "if you think this BS, you're just like the dude who got covered in leeches!" so I haven't addressed it openly
It was inspired by my experience with this story from ages ago slantist.com/tapeworm-ana... And also a recent story going around on this site
According to the poster, he was engaging in anal sex when he felt something in the anal canal and pulled out to discover a large cestode coiled around his sexual organ.
One pattern is that with real parasite stories, there's a kind of "welp, shit happens" element to it, but you learn something about parasite biology. With made-up parasite stories, they often have a "lesson of the day" morality angle to it, and you come away with misconceptions about parasites.