1 year ago
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Researcher names recently discovered 500-million-year-old sea worm after ‘Dune’ monster
This all started when our Russian colleagues dug up *** bit of permafrost um for their studies. And they found that after thawing this, um some nematodes crawled out of it. So uh they knew that this um piece of soil had been frozen for *** very long time. And then you write your carbon dating later to determine that it's actually been frozen for 6000 years. Um And when they duck it up, they made uh took all measures, they could to not introduce any contamination from the outside. So no uh species crawling in or anything. So they have *** very good reason to believe that everything that's coming out of this patch of soil was frozen for 46,000 years. And then it's of course, kind of *** miracle that it's not *** miracle, but it's kind of *** super fascinating finding to suddenly see life, living animals crawling out of *** piece of soil that has been deep frozen for 46,000 years. Our main finding is really that uh we could describe *** new species. So um looking in online databases, we couldn't find any genetic sequences that were the same as in the worms that we found. Uh So it's *** new species. They uh built this sugar trios, which somehow helps them protect their DNA and proteins while they are in this resting stage. And they found that in our panga species, they basically do the same. They also enrich *** lot of trios um which apparently helps them uh to also protect their cells. The DNA, the proteins when they are frozen. We live in times of global change. And these animals here, they are um adapted to very extreme environments. So they can completely freeze. And in the same group of species, we uh uh we, we also find some that which can completely desiccate so lose all water. So that's the same process. And we are working on them in these dry environments here. And if you think about extreme environments and then, you know, look outside in Greece, everything is burning, everything is getting hotter and warmer. The whole uh earth seems to be moving to, to *** more extreme environment. And, and I think by studying these species, comparing their genomes and see how they adapted to these extreme conditions. We can learn *** lot about conservation biology. Uh we can learn things that could inform us to maybe safe um endangered species. Um and, and think about protection measures and, and all these things, of course, they could have their own gut microbiome and maybe they could something dangerous for uh for humans in there but I, I don't think so right away. Um, but of course, it's, it's very relevant because it's not only this nematode towing, it's bacteria that are throwing. Um, and, and there could be dangerous things hidden in there. Um, but I, you know, I don't want to, you know, raise an alarm or something in, in this regard. It's, um, it's something that's possible. And with COVID we all saw what can happen very suddenly. Uh, but I wouldn't say there's like an in imminent danger of that. These worms bring some bacteria that suddenly start killing humans.
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Researcher names recently discovered 500-million-year-old sea worm after ‘Dune’ monster
A University of Kansas paleontologist exploring an area known for its fossils recently uncovered a never-before-discovered ancient sea worm – and showed off her “nerdy” side while naming it.Video above: 46,000-year-old worm comes back to life after thawingWhen Rhiannon LaVine found the 500-million-year-old fossil, the research associate with the university’s Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum was carrying out fieldwork with a team working on the geologic formation called the Spence Shale. The formation is located along northern Utah and southern Idaho, according to a university news release.“One of the last times we were out there, I split open one of these pieces of rock and instantly knew it was something that wasn’t typical,” LaVine said in a statement. “The first thing we see are these radial blades that look like stars or flowers.”She said she quickly showed it to Julian Kimmig, the lead author on the study exploring the annelids. “He was perplexed, he said, ‘I’ve never seen anything like that,’” LaVine said. In a career first, LaVine had the honor of naming the fossil worm as the person who discovered it and as a co-author of the paper focused on it, according to the University of Kansas.“I’ve been involved in describing species before, but this is the first one I’ve named,” LaVine said in a statement. “Actually, I was able to name its genus, so I can put that feather in my cap.”Inspired by the indigenous name for the worms featured in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” novels – Shai-Hulud – the paleontologist gave the discovery the scientific name of Shaihuludia shurikeni.“It was the first thing that came to mind, because I’m a big ol’ nerd and at the time I was getting really excited for the ‘Dune’ movies,” LaVine said.“Shuriken” means “throwing star” in Japanese and represents the shape of the stiff, blade-like bristles of the ancient sea worm that many other annelids also have, according to the university.LaVine and her co-authors described the sea worm as “about 7 or 8 centimeters long, maybe a little shorter than the length of a smartphone.” They found that the fossil, which is a previously unknown annelid species, is a diverse phylum of around 21,000 segmented worm species found worldwide in freshwater, marine and terrestrial environments, the University of Kansas reported.The Historical Biology peer-reviewed journal recently published the findings.The fossil specimen is now part of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute’s permanent paleontological collection.
A University of Kansas paleontologist exploring an area known for its fossils recently uncovered a never-before-discovered ancient sea worm – and showed off her “nerdy” side while naming it.
Video above: 46,000-year-old worm comes back to life after thawing
When Rhiannon LaVine found the 500-million-year-old fossil, the research associate with the university’s Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum was carrying out fieldwork with a team working on the geologic formation called the Spence Shale.
The formation is located along northern Utah and southern Idaho, according to a university news release.
“One of the last times we were out there, I split open one of these pieces of rock and instantly knew it was something that wasn’t typical,” LaVine said in a statement. “The first thing we see are these radial blades that look like stars or flowers.”
She said she quickly showed it to Julian Kimmig, the lead author on the study exploring the annelids.
“He was perplexed, he said, ‘I’ve never seen anything like that,’” LaVine said.
In a career first, LaVine had the honor of naming the fossil worm as the person who discovered it and as a co-author of the paper focused on it, according to the University of Kansas.
“I’ve been involved in describing species before, but this is the first one I’ve named,” LaVine said in a statement. “Actually, I was able to name its genus, so I can put that feather in my cap.”
Inspired by the indigenous name for the worms featured in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” novels – Shai-Hulud – the paleontologist gave the discovery the scientific name of Shaihuludia shurikeni.
“It was the first thing that came to mind, because I’m a big ol’ nerd and at the time I was getting really excited for the ‘Dune’ movies,” LaVine said.
“Shuriken” means “throwing star” in Japanese and represents the shape of the stiff, blade-like bristles of the ancient sea worm that many other annelids also have, according to the university.
LaVine and her co-authors described the sea worm as “about 7 or 8 centimeters long, maybe a little shorter than the length of a smartphone.” They found that the fossil, which is a previously unknown annelid species, is a diverse phylum of around 21,000 segmented worm species found worldwide in freshwater, marine and terrestrial environments, the University of Kansas reported.
The Historical Biology peer-reviewed journal recently published the findings.
The fossil specimen is now part of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute’s permanent paleontological collection.
English (US)