1.5 meters of segmented NOPE
July 24, 2014 8:57 PM   Subscribe

Stephen "Hoppy" Hopkins reports finding a large-bodied earthworm, tentatively identified as Martiodrilus crassus, in Provincia de Napo, Ecuador. The internet weighs in: real or fake?

Australia also has a big worm: the giant Gippsland earthworm, Megascolides australis. Pictures. A threatened species [PDF], the Gippsland worm is the subject of an active habitat protection project. It also inspired Bass, Victoria's Giant Earthworm Museum; now closed, but the museum's worm-shaped building remains.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle (19 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Bless the maker and all his water!
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:02 PM on July 24, 2014 [23 favorites]


Funny how there's always a few idiots around (aside from the ones just trolling) that look at a photo and jump to call it fake by picking on a detail that shows they don't understand much about photography.

Even if it was fake, Photoshop or forced perspective would not have been on my mind. You can tell by the look of the worm's surface and segments that it's not a normal worm scaled up.

As far as giant, geo-isolated insects go, I don't think that worm is a cute as this.
posted by Soupisgoodfood at 9:30 PM on July 24, 2014


This is relevant to my interests! My wife is operating a farm for regularly sized earthworms in a bin under the utility sink. You know, worm castings for the veggie garden etc.
I think having a couple of these would really drive up productivity and efficiency!
posted by Hairy Lobster at 9:30 PM on July 24, 2014 [9 favorites]


I saw that movie when it was called Tremors, no fucking thank you.
posted by lydhre at 9:44 PM on July 24, 2014 [5 favorites]


The pacific northwest has its own endangered giants - the Giant Palouse earthworm and the Oregon giant earthworm, both supposed to reach 1 m (or larger).
posted by 445supermag at 9:53 PM on July 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Warning: viewing causes 0/1 SAN loss.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:59 PM on July 24, 2014 [3 favorites]


Just in time for "How to Eat Fried Worms 2: this time it's personal."
posted by happyroach at 10:04 PM on July 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Came here for the Dune quote, and right out of the gates. Never change, Metafilter.
posted by snwod at 1:46 AM on July 25, 2014 [5 favorites]


"I was afraid of worms, Roxanne!"
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:28 AM on July 25, 2014 [3 favorites]


If you could get a little cardinal's hat on it, you could reenact the Diet of Worms.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:27 AM on July 25, 2014 [3 favorites]


I saw that movie when it was called Tremors, no fucking thank you.

You sure it wasn't called Squirm?
posted by No-sword at 4:29 AM on July 25, 2014


reenact the Diet of Worms

Pretty sure you need more than one individual to form a diet, preferably several more. So what you would really need is a couple dozen giant earthworms dressed in cardinal clothes (and one in a pope hat) all writhing about together in a slimy, seething pile of reactionary theology.

Then, presumably, you would also need years of therapy.
posted by Panjandrum at 6:56 AM on July 25, 2014 [10 favorites]


So what you would really need is a couple dozen giant earthworms dressed in cardinal clothes (and one in a pope hat) all writhing about together in a slimy, seething pile of reactionary theology.

True. Except you can dress up each end of a worm as a separate cardinal and save on the personnel budget. As for "writhing about together in a slimy, seething pile of reactionary theology," you are pretty much describing my (Protestant) upbringing....
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:11 AM on July 25, 2014 [3 favorites]


Reading The Worms of Kukumlima (in which the antagonists are giant earthworms claiming to be from Bleeegh) has made me very very wary of giant worms.
posted by lineofsight at 7:11 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pedantry time: the Diet of Worms was not led by the Church. It was basically a political body - the Diet was an Assembly of the Holy Roman Empire, and was led by Emperor Charles V. Pope Leo X was not present, though there was a papal nuncio (representative of the Vatican) in attendance.

Obviously, the Church and the state were heavily entangled at this point - after all, Luther was there due to heretical views - but the Diet was not, strictly speaking a Church affair.

[/pedantry]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:18 AM on July 25, 2014 [3 favorites]


So you're saying one of the worms (or one end of a worm, at least) would need to be wearing a crown, the rest bedecked in 16th C. finery? Is there an etsy shop for giant worm period clothing?
posted by Panjandrum at 8:29 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


Hairy Lobster: This is relevant to my interests! My wife is operating a farm for regularly sized earthworms in a bin under the utility sink. You know, worm castings for the veggie garden etc.
I think having a couple of these would really drive up productivity and efficiency!
Never put anything under the sink that can someday stand up out of the sink.

A rule to live by.

Unless, of course, your last name is "Addams".
posted by IAmBroom at 8:38 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: a slimy, seething pile of reactionary theology.
posted by elizardbits at 8:40 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


They're so Cretaceous, I want one.
posted by barchan at 9:36 AM on July 25, 2014


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