Sussocaris The Impact of Paleontology Hoaxes

Paleo hoaxes, misinformation and fun instances of trolling have occurred throughout the field of paleontology and zoology on numerous occasions, something made all the more easier and common to spread over the internet and social media, some being relatively harmless jabs and jokes, while others being potentially detrimental to the understanding of a whole group of animals. A recent example of arguably both came around recently with the sharing of an animal dubbed as well, Sussocaris, which was named as such due to looking like a crewmate from well, the game Among Us, which is evidently viral and widespread. While seeming pretty innocuous and with varying levels of response expected due to meme culture on its surface, what followed after its initial sharing on the 17th of February proved to be an interesting look into the paleocommunity as a whole, regarding how people deal with hoaxes and misinformation to varying levels and the response that followed, as well as how depictions of fake animals can gi