While everyone was very busy with the IAC and everything that entailed, Horizon Labs wasn't overlooking one of its more important duties; continued testing of the Animalian Virus. They had received word about the successful uplifting of Mandibula down in Brazil, but there were plenty more specimens from the Amazon that needed to be uplifted. This subgroup of uplifting animals was referred to as Animalia Amazonia, which went together with Animalia Aquatica, Animalia Aviana, and the recently-started Animalia Africa.
The newer one was to specifically accommodate all the new animals being brought to the IAC by African representatives. There were certainly many interesting species but certainly the most anticipated were Sudan, Najin, and Fatu, the three last Northern White Rhinoceroses left in the world. Their subspecies had been very hard by human poaching. Sudan was the very last male and was already past the breeding age. His semen had been collected in hopes of impregnating Najin and Fatu, but it was pretty clear the species was on its last leg. The idea that the Animalian Virus could not only heal the three rhinos but restore them to their prime breeding age definitely had a lot of appeal. After a lot of debating, the Ol Pejeta Conservatory eventually concluded that if there was no real hope of keeping the subspecies alive in their natural state, than the three endlings may as well be uplifted.
But right now, the focus was on three species that had been brought up from the Amazon, the first ones to be listed for potential uplifting: the Goliath catfish, the electric eel, and the red-bellied piranha. All three of them were infamous for being dangerous to humans in different ways. The Goliath catfish, more specifically the piraiba, has been known to grow large enough to try and eat humans. The electric eel was capable of giving off a powerful enough electric charge to kill a person. And the piranha's reputation for forming schools that could strip a cow down to the bone was mostly exaggerated, but they were still fearsome fishes if provoked. But the point of their uplifting was to show that dangerous animals could become acceptable members of society and hopefully reduce fear of their wilder brethren.
The piscine variation of the virus didn't need any changes regarding the catfishes and the piranhas. The electric eels were another matter. Despite its name, the electric eel wasn't actually an eel, but a specie of knifefish. However, it still lacked any fins that could be converted into legs. So like with what happened with Teela, the scientists decided to mix the virus sample for the electric eels with DNA from a snake to give them the ability to slither on land. And there were plenty of normal anacondas who were willing to provide.
Administrating the virus was still a bit of trouble. The catfishes and piranhas were not likely to hold still for very long, Which wasn't much of a problem for the scientists at this point. But giving the dose to the electric eel was another matter. Eventually, they decided to use an extended syringe to inject the eels, which was not easy considering they were far smaller and more agile than previous test subjects. But the syringe was mostly made of plastic to avoid the scientist giving the shot receiving a potentially fatal shock.
The uplifting process went rather smoothly, the catfishes and piranhas developing legs while the eels' tails became longer and capable of supporting them on land. When their transformation was complete, a few things were noticed:
1. While the male catfish retained his whiskers in their original position, giving him a Fu Manchu type of mustache, the female's whiskers (save two on her chin) migrated to the back of her head rather like hair.
2. The piranhas were shorter than the average Animalians. Whether it was because they weren't fully mature or just genetically-inclined to short stature was to be determines. Their mouths now contained many sharpened teeth, but considering the piranha is naturally a scavenger and will eat fruits, these two were expected to be omnivores.
3. As was expected, the snake DNA had an effect on the eels' final form. Namely the black blotches on their hides like the green anaconda and a lack of webbing between their fingers. They were still able to generate electricity, though whether they could deploy it through the air was yet to be confirmed. There was also the matter of measuring the amount of voltage they were capable of producing.
These first three were a good start for Animalia Amazonia, but there were plenty more specimens from the Brazilian rainforest to be tested. Not to mention the other projects that were waiting to be started. This was definitely going to be a busy month, even without the IAC going on.