texts: What?
labels: That thing is John Whittlesley.  I should have seen it before!  The fibers are infected with a virus. You eat them, and the virus alters your DNA!  He became addicted to them in South America, followed the plants back to the states.  He probably entered the country as a man.  It would have taken several months for the change to take place. That's how he got from the boat to the museum!