This expert says, I believe that this animals condition represents some sort of unrecognized environmental catastrophe. Other small predators with sarcoptic mange have been observed elsewhere in the country recently. It needs urgent study.
The condition of the Elmendorf Beasts jaw is not a result of disease process. John Gramieri, the San Antonio Zoos Mammal Curator thinks it's a mix between a dog and a coyotea coydogwith very strange teeth. He says, It's clearly a member of the dog family, a family candidate. For whatever reason, this animal had a very poor fusion in the [jaw area]
so it allowed that lower jaw to spread in a way that is not normal for any mammal, actually
It apparently had some very bad skin ailment, and that skin ailment made it go bald except for the top of its body. Gramieri, as well as area ranchers, believes that there are more of the creatures out there. Area ranchers believe that they are breeding.
The jaw structure is not a deformity in the usual sense because it is symmetrical. It is not a mammalian jaw at all, but appears more akin to the jaw of a reptile. There is nothing in the genetic code of the mammal that would enable a jaw structure such as this. This raises the possibility that intentional genetic manipulation, or a highly unusual natural mutation, has been involved in the emergence of this species.
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