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A tom cat owned by an elderly woman in Xianyang, Shaanxi, China has grown two hair-covered four-inch wings according to the Huashang News.

Mrs Feng, the cat’s owner, says the wings appeared after a campaign of sexual harassment by local cats in heat. “A month ago, many female cats in heat came to harass him,” she said.”Then the wings started to grow.”

Feng went on to explain that, “At first they were just two bumps. But they started to grow quickly, and after a month there were two wings.”

The wings now appear to be fully-formed, and even contain bones. Experts have said the phenomenon is more likely the result of gene mutation than kitty-cat sexual harassment. And though Feng said the wings make her precious feline look like an angel, the cat is expected to carry on living a normal life.

There’s something funny in the water at Nebraska’s Henry Doorly Zoo. In 2001, a pup was born to a female shark who’d had no contact with a male - ever.

Subsequent research by genetics teams at the zoo in Nebraska, at Southeastern University in Florida and Queen’s University Belfast has all drawn the same conclusion - the pup had no paternal DNA.

This has led scientists to conclude that female hammerhead sharks can reproduce on their own. This method of reproduction is known as parthenogenesis.

The result is a flurry of discussion on key issues related to shark conservation. If sharks resort to parthenogenesis because of thinning populations, this is likely to weaken the population.

Why? Because asexual reproduction leads to decreased genetic diversity. In order for any organism to adapt to changing environmental conditions, genetic diversity is key.

“The concern for sharks is that not only could we be reducing their numbers,” says Dr Paulo Prodohl, one of the report’s authors. “But we could be making them less fit as well.”

British comedy super-hero John Cleese angered residents of Palmerston North, New Zealand last year when he referred to their town as “the suicide capital of New Zealand” during a show.

It seems the locals have a sense of humor about things. Recently, they’ve renamed the local Awapuni Landfill “Mt Cleese”. The unofficial moniker appears on a sign with the subtitle “All manner of crap happily recycled”.

Chris Pepper, the council’s waste manager, said that the sign wasn’t put up by officials and that the renaming wasn’t official. However, Pepper was quick to point out that the council was in no rush to have the sign removed.

He said, “Someone had the sign made up as a joke. Nobody has said, ‘pull it down’. People just smile.”