Remove the terrifying fangs and the dark spots and behold the western pygmy possum

This article is more than one year old.
Published on March 16, 2020 at 17:02
Updated on March 17, 2020 at 16:59
2 min read
By AFP South Africa, Tendai DUBE

A meme shared thousands of times on Facebook purports to show a tiny but ferocious-looking creature indigenous to Australia. The image, however, has been modified and the original is a photograph of an adorable western pygmy possum from Down Under.

The meme was posted here on Facebook where it has been shared more than 12,500 times. It shows a small furry creature with sharp teeth and cheetah spots, clinging to a human fingertip.

The text reads: “Not all Australian animals will kill you. Don’t get me wrong... he wants to. He just can’t.”

A meme-style image saved on March 12, 2020, from the misleading Facebook post

The meme has also been shared more than 6,000 times in multiple Facebook posts here and here.

While some immediately guessed the image was digitally altered, others believed it to be the real thing.

A screenshot taken on March 12, 2020 of some comments responding to the meme on Facebook

However, a reverse image search on TinEye shows that a similar picture has been online since September 2014.

A screenshot taken on March 13, 2020 of the results on TinEye

This version of the animal doesn’t have the cat-like snout, sharp fangs and spots of the specimen in the meme. The picture is of a softer and more innocent-looking creature, taken by an Amanda McLean.

It appears in an Australian Geographic article titled: “The western pygmy possum is the cutest Australian animal”, published on September 25, 2014.

It describes the western pygmy possum as native to Australia and grows to just 7.7cm long, with an 8cm-long tail.

A screenshot taken on March 13, of the original picture as it appeared on Australian Geographic

McLean, who was a PhD student at the University of Adelaide at the time, took the picture while on a field trip to the Eyre Peninsula.

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