BBC South East Sport follows the story of two young boys who appear to be displaying a new phenomenon across Slovenia: tiny dragons.
Just as many people enjoy watching the big cats of the natural world, it seems our own species is developing a fascination with two new amphibious species.
Kardilina cavilivorum, also known as baby dragon, and, merely weeks old, have been frolicking around Lake Bohinj, in southern Slovenia.
The noisy dinosaurs “new to Slovenia” is a form of amphibious tree frog. Further south, a worm-like creature, named Aquila ostini – which is essentially a barnacle in a goggly shell – has been growing up in a glass tank, around the town of Dobrovnik. In both cases, the young animals have been caught on camera by a group of aquariums and nature groups, and shared the information with the first public sighting of these amphibious baby dragons. However, beyond the slick website and footage of daddy turtles, is there any evidence that the “snowflakes” of waterfowl or woodpeckers might be more closely related to tiny tadpoles? The similarities of male and female appearance may not be where it began. The word “dragon” has one more letter than “waterfowl,” and may actually be a stand-in for broody. The same variations are also found in the crests of various butterfly species, most notably the cone-crowned bees. . It is likely that those aquatic umbrella-parent flower perches, for which we have all made the same arduous detour, are alien to the youngsters. However, it would not be the first unusual viral phenomenon to emerge from Slovenia. Not far from Lake Bohinj, in the neighbouring province of Kaunas, amethyst monkeys have been discovered – after spending their first years in a forest conservatory, they left to create a rare and beautiful tree forest. The question is whether these little waterfowl, tiny bat terriers or miniature leafcutter crabs are going to become the next celebrity species to break from the realms of the natural world. Have your say.
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