Did dolphins just evolve to become planet Earth’s official party animal?
From the looks of it, it certainly seems to be the case after a dolphin was discovered with “bottle opener like” thumbs off the coast of Greece. The striped dolphin that has been observed twice this year in the Gulf of Corinth is unlike any of the other dolphins in its pod, or the world for that matter.
Credit has to be given to the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute (PCRI) for spotting and snapping pictures of the unique dolphin. They posted their initial discovery of the dolphin with “thumbs on both of its pectoral fins” in a video that is linked below.
The president of the PCRI, Alexandros Frantzis, was shocked when he and his team captured the pictures and saw the thumbed dolphin. He told Live Science:
“It was the very first time we saw this surprising flipper morphology in 30 years of surveys in the open sea and also in studies while monitoring all the stranded dolphins along the coasts of Greece for 30 years.”
Is that a photoshopped picture of “The Fonz” with a dolphin head? Hell yes…
The researchers have kept close tabs on the dolphin with thumbs, and believe that it’s leading a rather normal life despite possibly being the world’s most unique mammal. It is believed that the “thumbs” on this particular dolphin might be the result of interbreeding in the isolated dolphin population in the Gulf of Corinth.
You can check out the special dolphin’s “bottle opener like” thumbs in the video below:
How wild is that?
Naturally, the internet has had a field day with the idea that a dolphin has “evolved” to have a bottle opener on its flipper.
Of course, the swimming creature won’t ever be cracking open cold ones (or will they?), but that didn’t stop social media from whipping up some laugh-out-loud memes:
https://t.co/jFxz85Kbti pic.twitter.com/D5Q2FFWcp6
— an opossum in a pear tree 🐀 (@AnAngryOpossum) December 13, 2023
The bottlenose dolphin has some stiff competition in the bottle opener dolphin. pic.twitter.com/dxIExYJUwE
— 🐺 (@Sworn2Valor) December 12, 2023
dolphin with opposable thumb: can you give me a ride
me: yup as long as you help me with something pic.twitter.com/KFUeQlljp8
— Phil Lorigo (@plorigo) December 13, 2023
Look like bottle openers to me. These dolphins are just looking to be good-time beach friends. pic.twitter.com/b2Os2XIDzw
— Perry White (@Greatceasersgst) December 13, 2023
Simpsons did it. pic.twitter.com/3BqXjNJWkL
— James Morton (@James_E_Morton) December 12, 2023
That’s a Simpsons prediction I really hope doesn’t come true…
