New "Devil Worm" Is Deepest-Living Animal
Species evolved to withstand heat and crushing pressure.
A "devil worm" has been discovered miles under the Earth—the deepest-living animal ever found, a new study says.
Species evolved to withstand heat and crushing pressure.
A "devil worm" has been discovered miles under the Earth—the deepest-living animal ever found, a new study says.
The new nematode species—called Halicephalobus mephisto partly for
Mephistopheles, the demon of Faustian legend—suggests there's a rich new
biosphere beneath our feet.
Before the discovery of the signs of the newfound worm at depths of 2.2. miles (3.6 kilometers), nematodes were not known to live beyond dozens of feet (tens of meters) deep. Only microbes were known to occupy those depths—organisms that, it turns out, are the food of the 0.5-millimeter-long worm.
"That sounds small, but to me it’s like finding a whale in Lake Ontario. These creatures are millions of times bigger than the bacteria they feed on," said study co-author Tullis Onstott, a geomicrobiologist at Princeton University in New Jersey.
Before the discovery of the signs of the newfound worm at depths of 2.2. miles (3.6 kilometers), nematodes were not known to live beyond dozens of feet (tens of meters) deep. Only microbes were known to occupy those depths—organisms that, it turns out, are the food of the 0.5-millimeter-long worm.
"That sounds small, but to me it’s like finding a whale in Lake Ontario. These creatures are millions of times bigger than the bacteria they feed on," said study co-author Tullis Onstott, a geomicrobiologist at Princeton University in New Jersey.
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