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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Saturday, December 08, 2012

CARL MARSHALL: A fine example of convergent evolution



This is Pseudoproscopia latirostris also commonly known as a stick grasshopper or more specifically a horsehead grasshopper. 
There are more than 130 species of stick grasshopper which belong to the taxonomic family Proscopiidae.
At first glance these grasshoppers look very much like stick insects (Phasmatodea) however their large orthopterian hind legs enable them to jump, albeit not particularly far.

Much like stick insects, stick grasshoppers spend most of their time swaying side-to-side on leaves in an attempt to mimic twigs and sticks moving in the wind, thus avoiding predators.

This species in particular has become popular among enthusiasts as it is easy to breed and feeds readily on bramble, much like many phasmid species.




We have bred these bizarre little hoppers many times and even though this is not all that difficult I personally think they're fantastic and a fine example of parallel evolution, and for anybody passionate about hoppers or phasmids they are a must have for any collection.

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