The Snouters, also known as Rhinogrades, were the invention of Gerolf Steiner a professor of zoology at the University of Heidelberg. Steiner was looking for a way to teach his students about evolution, so he decided to invent a completely fictional order of mammals. All of his creations used their noses in some way to survive. For example, some of the creatures used their noses to walk, others to jump from danger, others to catch food.
Steiner was apparently inspired by the 19th century writer Christian Morgenstern who wrote a short poem about an animal, the nasobame, that walked upon its nose.
In 1957 Steiner put his creations into a book, The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades, which was published in German. The work, credited to the fictional scientist Harald Stümpke, included detailed information about the animals including sketches and illustrations. In addition to being a teaching tool, the book was a parody of similar academic texts used at the time.
According to the book the Snouters had been discovered by a Swedish naturalist who was ship wrecked on the Hi-yi-yi Islands in the Pacific Ocean in 1941. To explain why the Snouter are no longer around today, Steiner came up with the story that only island on which they lived was accidentally destroyed as the result of an atomic bomb test. Dr. Stumpke supposedly perished in the same mishap.
The book has been so popular with biologists and students, that it as been reprinted a number of times in different languages and still used in some college and high-school biology courses. The book is currently available in paperback from Amazon.com for $12.95.
First source : http://www.unmuseum.org/soearch/over1104.htm
Second source : http://conodont.egloos.com/219484 (here is KOR page)
Now, check that one’s appearance.
image source :http://vivovoco.nns.ru/VV/JOURNAL/NATURE/04_00/
http://conodont.egloos.com/219484 (here is KOR page)
It is One of Rhinograda, Nasobema lyricum.
It’s a model for this work.
Tantalizing, my tool is demo, so it doesn’t have head for mammal.
It substitutes to reptiles' one.
And this is result!
isn't it cute? :)
