WEIRD, WEIRD WORLD

Experts Baffled by Strange Wolf-Life Creature Shot and Killed in Montana
An odd canid of some kind was shot and killed on a ranch in Montana and its unique appearance has left experts baffled as to its true nature. The mysterious creature was taken down on May 16th in the town of Denton when a rancher spotted the beast venturing perilously close to his livestock. The impromptu monster hunter subsequently did his due diligence by phoning the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks to report the unexpected event.

Officials with the department soon arrived and realized that they had something of a mystery on their hands as the creature's appearance didn't quite conform to one specific animal. Although its head and snout resembled a wolf, which is what the rancher had originally reported, there were other parts of the animal that raised questions about that assessment. Specifically, irregularities with size of the creature's canine teeth, ears, and paws, which were either too small or too big from what one might expect from a wolf.

Somewhere along the line in recent days, images of the animal began popping up online and sparked a speculative frenzy of people offering opinions on the nature of the creature. Among the largely prosaic possibilities were a young bear and a wolf hybrid. Then, of course, there were the more fantastic suggestions such as the dog-man of paranormal lore, the thought-to-be-extinct dire wolf, and, perhaps by some observers who may want to get their eyes checked, Bigfoot.

In response to the clamor generated by the mystery animal, the Montana DFW issued a statement on the case. They explained that, "rather than guess" what the creature was, the department opted to collect the carcass and send it off to a lab for testing. The hope is that DNA extracted from the remains will provide some conclusive answers, although they cautioned the public that it could takes weeks or months before the tests can be done. One can only that the oddity was not a bloodthirsty werewolf, because, if it was, the citizens of Denton may not be able to wait that long to find out.

Weird Creature Washed Up On Beach In Wales
The latest entry in nature's proverbial game show 'weird things that wash ashore' comes by way of Wales in the form of a particularly gruesome dead creature. The ghastly remains were found by a woman walking her dogs along a beach in the Welsh town of Rhossili. Curious about what the creature might be, Beth Jannetta snapped a photograph of the five-foot-long oddity and posted it online.

And, as often happens, the image sparked a bit of an online debate as various theories for the animal's origins were offered by observers. Chiefly among them was some kind of cetacean, like a dolphin or porpoise, which is what Janetta had guessed when she first encountered the dead beast.

However, others argued that, based on the animal's apparent snout and tapered tail, the creature could have been a crocodile. Thankfully, there doesn't appear to have been any guesses of 'sea monster' or Nessie just yet, but the animal was only found today, so one shouldn't be surprised to see such ideas in the media at any moment.

Meanwhile, an ecological expert Dr. Dan Forman, who had the unenviable task of investigating the rotting creature offered his own take on the matter. According to a Welsh media outlet, he dismissed the crocodile theory as pretty preposterous and proposed that it was, indeed, likely a cetacean whale or a dolphin.

While the animal may have seemed bewildering to laypeople looking at the photo, Forman seemed rather nonplussed by the case, musing that "we have porpoises washing up quite regularly, as well as dolphins and seals and sometimes sheep." Unfortunately, he did not explain how or why sheep occasionally wash ashore, leaving us incredibly curious about that oddly glossed over bit of information.

Note to Conspiracy Theorists: Hitler Died in the Bunker
A remarkable new examination of Adolf Hitler's remains appears to confirm that he died as the historical record depicts: via suicide in 1945. The findings, published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, upend the claims of conspiracy theorists who have long argued that the notorious Nazi leader secretly escaped Germany at the end of World War II. According to the French scientists behind the study, their conclusion was derived thanks to an almost unprecedented level of access to evidence possessed by the Russian government.

Specifically, a piece of skull and a set of teeth, believed to be the last remaining bits of Hitler's body, were handed over to the researchers for an unfettered analysis of the materials. Amazingly, this is said to have been the first independent scientific study of the remains since 1946. And, despite the long period which has passed since then, it seems that the story of Hitler's demise as it has been depicted in high school textbooks and countless cable TV documentaries over the years has been correct all along.

Among a number of evidentiary points cited in the study, two stand out as particularly striking. The first is that researchers were able to match the tightly-held set of teeth with the Fuhrer's rather unique dental records. Additionally, a comparison of the skull fragment aligned with x-rays of the Nazi leader's head in the year prior to this death. Upon the publication of the paper, one of the scientists behind the study triumphantly declared to the AFP that "there is no possible doubt. Our study proves that Hitler died in 1945."

As one can imagine, the study is being celebrated by historians who have decried the various 'death hoax' conspiracy theories that have emerged and evolved over the last seven decades since Hitler's body was found in a Berlin bunker by Russian forces as they overtook the city. That said, one would imagine that the paper is also being looked at with a suspicious eye by those who doubt the official version of events and, no doubt, see the study as yet another attempt to smother the 'true' story of the Nazi leader's fate, whether it was set in Argentina or Antarctica.

Scientists Say Octopuses Are Aliens
An intriguing new scientific paper proposes that octopuses, as we know them, may have developed their unique characteristics due to an alien intervention. The rather sensational supposition was backed by a whopping 33 scientists who contributed to the study which was published in the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology. Specifically, they looked at what is known as the 'Cambrian explosion,' a time in the distant past when organisms on Earth suddenly and inexplicably went from single cell species to complex creatures.

The researchers postulate that this transformation was fueled by an inadvertent alien intervention through viruses deposited via comets passing near the planet. Known as panspermia, this theory has been offered many times in the past by scientists attempting to decipher how life on Earth began. However, the newly-published paper points to one creature in particular that could be a clue that the theory has merit.

The scientists cite the remarkably complex genome of the octopus as well as the difficulty in finding where it arose in the creature's evolution as a possible indicator of alien origin. This could either be by way of a virus which changed the creature's genetics or the tantalizing scenario of frozen, fertilized octopus eggs somehow being 'brought' to Earth from space. Among the attributes of the octopus that made the researchers suspect an alien connection are its "large brain and sophisticated nervous system, camera-like eyes, flexible bodies, and instantaneous camouflage."

As one can imagine, the scientific community has not exactly embraced the idea of octopuses being alien in nature with many researchers simply dismissing the paper's findings as thought-provoking, but unlikely. Though that may just be because they don't want to start wondering what they're eating the next time someone in their dinner party orders calamari.

[SOURCE: All stories from Coast2Coast AM.]