# What tha hell is that thang? (The Chilean Invertebrate) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960 "2003-07-03T05:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/1 "2003-07-03T05:57:33Z")
What, no threads about [the thing](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/07/0702_030702_seadevils.html) found by the Chilean Navy? I’m all confused. First the reports said that a whale carcass was found nearby. Then [this guy](http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/07/02/giant.find/) starts talking about giant octopuses and decomposing whale flesh. So what’s the deal? Did a whale barf its guts out? Or is it a mollusk? Can’t we just sort of plug the DNA-sampler iPod into it and read its pedigree? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/2 "2003-07-03T06:02:47Z")
There are two threads actually… one is [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194990](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194990) \ **Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/3 "2003-07-03T07:50:20Z") I’m thinking it’s the democratic party’s collective backbone. Let’s hope they can clone it and grow a new one of some sort. Both science and the democrats will benefit from such an effort. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/4 "2003-07-03T12:13:02Z")
It is a dead (fortunatly so) shoggoth that washed up from from Antartica. Trust me, I am an expert in this type of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/5 "2003-07-03T12:15:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dutchboy208 \* > \*\*DNA sampling doesn’t really work like that, does it?.. I know there’s an SD column about it. \*\* You’re probably thinking about this one: [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdnaanalysis.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdnaanalysis.html) ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/6 "2003-07-03T12:25:36Z")
Here’s the other thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194839](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194839) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/7 "2003-07-03T13:56:17Z")
I’m sorry I missed those other threads in my search. Perhaps this one should be left to decompose on the beach. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/8 "2003-07-03T14:26:31Z")
Just wait until it gets hit by a lightning bolt, reanimates, and proceeds to destroy downtown Santiago. But I betcha it’s a blob of whale snot. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/9 "2003-07-03T14:43:35Z")
\*Gimme that thang Gimme that gimme gimme that Gimme that thang Gimme that gimme gimme that Gimme that thang Gimme that gimme gimme that Gimme gimme gimme that thang . . . \* ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/10 "2003-07-03T15:27:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*\*Zenster \*\* > I’m thinking it’s the democratic party’s collective backbone. Let’s hope they can clone it and grow a new one of some sort. Both science and the democrats will benefit from such an effort. **Zenster** , Keep your political pot shots out of this forum. Do not do this again. **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Shiva418](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@Shiva418](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva418)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/11 "2003-07-03T16:28:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DreadCthulhu \* > \*\*It is a dead (fortunatly so) shoggoth that washed up from from Antartica. Trust me, I am an expert in this type of stuff. \*\* …the stars are right. ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/12 "2003-07-03T16:33:03Z")
It appears to be a [giant squid](http://rednova.com/news/stories/5/2003/07/03/story001.html) . ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/13 "2003-07-03T16:54:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrMatrix \* > \*\ ***Zenster** , > > Keep your political pot shots out of this forum. > > Do not do this again. > > **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator \*\* I thought it was a reasonably witty comment that enhanced my enjoyment of the thread, its readability and my interest in it. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/14 "2003-07-03T17:01:53Z")
What can be done is to chop up DNA from the creature (presuming we can get enough) and run it over a whole bunch of appropriate hybridization arrays. Then those can be analyzed. Unfortunately, that will be extremely tedious and will only give us some very rough information, like “It’s got cytochrome C” and “It’s not a plant”. However, we can also sequence a megabase or so and then go database fishing to see what it seems to be closest to. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/15 "2003-07-03T17:07:46Z")
It is time for those genetic taxonomists to shine! I tend to find that the results of these tests tend to get much less coverage in newspapers and on cryptozoology websites, because they usually show that the unknown carcass is a recognised species. This is probably whale… * * * SF worldbuilding at [http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html](http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jon\_the\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jon\_the\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jon_the_Geek)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/16 "2003-07-03T17:34:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tevya \* > \*\*It appears to be a [giant squid](http://rednova.com/news/stories/5/2003/07/03/story001.html) . \*\* Hmmm, I believe the “one found in the United States” referred to in that article was the putative giant octopus found in Florida in [1896](http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/07/02/giant.find/index.html). As for genetic matching… how hard would it be to make a karyotype, so they could at least figure out its chromosome number (and thus quickly eliminate some known species)? The more I think about it, that might require that you “catch” it in mitosis, which seems unlikely… ---
**Author:** ![bryanmcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@bryanmcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmcc)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/17 "2003-07-03T20:33:18Z")
Seems the easiest thing to do would be take a tissue sample, amplify the 18S rRNA gene (using a universal eukaryote primer), and run a neighbor joining tree on it and a wide (phylum-level) sample of 18S sequences from genbank. It would likely come back as clustering with a mollusk, in which case it’s a squid or an octopus; a vertebrate, in which case it’s a whale; or as an outgroup, in which case it’s some funky, unknown, multicellular, city-destroying blob from outer space. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/18 "2003-07-03T20:36:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bryanmcc \* > \*\*Seems the easiest thing to do would be take a tissue sample, amplify the 18S rRNA gene (using a universal eukaryote primer), and run a neighbor joining tree on it and a wide (phylum-level) sample of 18S sequences from genbank. It would likely come back as clustering with a mollusk, in which case it’s a squid or an octopus; a vertebrate, in which case it’s a whale; or as an outgroup, in which case it’s some funky, unknown, multicellular, city-destroying blob from outer space. \*\* I am ith the last bit, it washed up (a long way from home) from its originating place, lost R’yleh. Not far from where I am actually. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/19 "2003-07-03T20:51:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DreadCthulhu \* > \*\*It is a dead (fortunatly so) shoggoth that washed up from from Antartica. Trust me, I am an expert in this type of stuff. \*\* Aren’t you going to tell us what a shoggoth is? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960/20 "2003-07-03T21:09:34Z")
**bryanmcc** , I suspect that test isn’t exactly something I can do with a box cutter, a garden hose, and some Easter egg dye. Can you give me some idea of how difficult it is to perform this test, how long it might take, and how accurate the results usually are? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tha-hell-is-that-thang-the-chilean-invertebrate/185960.md?page=2)