Hoax
The article carried a purported photo of a seal-like creature with a bony growth protruding from its head. A deputy art director created the "bony growth" by manipulating an image of a trilobite. According to the article, this animal had recently been discovered in Antarctica. The bony structure was suffused with tiny blood vessels that would heat it to a temperature high enough to melt through the ice. To acquire food, a group of these animals would burrow into the ice underneath suitable prey, and use their heads to melt through. When the animal, usually a penguin, sank helplessly into the water, the group of Borers would devour it. It was even speculated in the article that Antarctic explorer "Philippe Poisson" (poisson d'avril, "April fish," is the French equivalent of "April fool") may have been eaten by a group of these animals when he disappeared in 1837.
A clue that indicated that the Ice Borer story was a hoax can be found in the name of the biologist who discovered the animal, "Aprile Pazzo" ("April Fool" in Italian). Secondly, for those familiar with the creature, the picture to the right is clearly a manipulated image of a Naked Mole Rat, a curious burrowing rodent from Africa.
Read more about this topic: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer