The work week is almost behind us (except for me, of course!), and here’s some festive footwear, with fancy hand-stitched tops, to celebrate. What animal—yes, it’s an animal—do you think it is?
Maker unknown, probably from Mexico.
Friday footwear
December 14, 2012 • 5:36 am
Shark!
Porcupine.
/@
Snake, Dr.C?
Check out these thigh-length ones:
sheisdiva.com/2012/10/diva-spotting-rihanna-killing-it-in-snakeskin-boots/
Heloderma? (Gila monster or beaded lizard)
Surinam toad? Axolotl? Venezuelan cheese-eating beaver?
Bootosaurus
🙂
Changed my mind – has to be the cheese eating beaver
Oh crap, now I’m over the 15% limit – better go shoot myself (should I get my wife to send the skin?)
That’s okay; the limit doesn’t apply to guesses!
Python
also BBQ is wicked good FTW!
Nobody’s got it so far.
Aramdillo?
Armadillo.
I’m going with boid, with the type that sticks its head in the sand — obstetrician? — as the most likely flavor.
b&
I’m thinking ostrich also.
Sadly, seems we both got stung the same way by the stingray….
b&
Could be shagreen, but shark is not animal, is it?
Depends on how you’re classifying them.
They’re in the Animalia kingdom — as are all vertebrates and invertebrates. You’re much more closely related to a shark than an octopus or a dragonfly or an earthworm.
But if it’s a culinary classification you’re using, then they’re seafood, not meat.
Similarly, a botanist will tell you that cucumbers are fruits, while the chef will tell you that they’re vegetables.
Cheers,
b&
Thanks Ben, saved me looking up the classification.
As someone who has colour deficient vision, I was too busy trying to see the number on the boots – please tell me there isn’t one.
What, you don’t see the “42”?
b&
Damn!
Ishihara meets Douglas Adams.
Cane toad? Monitor lizard? Emu?
Stingray.
Bingo!
I claim a close second with sharkskin!
So cool!
Is the little lighter-colored knob in the center a one-per-skin feature?
Yepp. If you do a google search on “stingray” and “leather” you can see that diamond shaped spot prominently featured on many products.
According to this website it’s a calcium deposit:
http://www.rojeleather.com/species-and-leathers/stingray-leather/
I still remember those boots from a post you made almost two years ago.
http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/footwear-for-2011/
Well, what can I say, they left quite an impression 😀
By comparing the two photos, you can tell that Jerry hasn’t touched that purple book in a year. One wonders what it is….
b&
Hmm, there are also those bottles in the top left corner. Wonder what those are 😉
Jerry – My guess is, a a fish. More specifically, guppius, gigantica. As large as they are, it still probably took one for each boot.
Looks fishy. Manta Ray?
Iguana? Chuckwalla?
Hagfish (slimehag)?
Sting Ray.
Hey! I swear #15 wasn’t there when I posted.
The most stylin’ feet in science …
Hmmmmm… that looks like something a Republican in Texas might wear 😀
Ahhh stereotypes!
Creationist?
Common green iguana.
Hey, I knew this one, too! I believe this is the second pair of stingray boots that Jerry has shown.
The guy who said shagreen got it right, since the common usage includes stingray as well as shark, though apparently originally comes from the Arabic for “rump of an ass”. The same as the french for “pissed off”: chagrin. I too thought it was shark, because I once worked in a medical museum which had loads of medical instrument sets with shagreen covering, just like the boots in the photo
I would also offer the following reference:”La Peau de chagrin” by Balzac
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Peau_de_chagrin
something similar to Faust or to Dorian Gray by Wilde.
It has an interesting reference to Freud when he was terminally ill.
Ray or Stingray! An expensive skin. Often used in decorative Art Deco objects. You’ve got a lovely collection of boots!!!