Watch this spectacular time-lapse video of echinoderms and nemertine worms eating a seal carcass. It's sure to stir your appetite.
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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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More articles by PZ Myers can be found on Freethoughtblogs at the new Pharyngula!
Mmmm…lunchtime!
Category: Organisms
Posted on: December 6, 2009 1:28 PM, by PZ Myers
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Life Science
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Comments
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | December 6, 2009 1:43 PM
Nature! Red in, well, harpoon-like proboscis and, uh...eversible stomach. And hydraulic tubefoot.
(just desn't have the same ring to it)
Posted by: My Lord! | December 6, 2009 1:50 PM
They swarmed that carcase faster than a bunch of IDers swarming an otherwise impersise and unfortunate quote by a real scientist about some evolved structures' "design" to say "see, even so and so, a world famous Yale evo-devo professor agrees with ID."
Cutting that Seal open to find it stuffed with worms makes me think alternatingly of Klingon Gak and "snake-surprise" from Temple of Doom.
Posted by: My Lord! | December 6, 2009 1:52 PM
They swarmed that carcass faster than a bunch of IDers swarming an otherwise imprecise and unfortunate quote by a real scientist about some evolved structures' "design" to say "see, even so and so, a world famous Yale evo-devo professor agrees with ID."
Cutting that Seal open to find it stuffed with worms makes me think alternately of Klingon Gak and "snake-surprise" from Temple of Doom.
Posted by: SEF | December 6, 2009 1:56 PM
Ah, so the BBC did finally upload a version which UnSAnians could see.
Posted by: Serena | December 6, 2009 3:21 PM
Nemerteans, David Attenborough, and a dead marine mammal. Could I have asked for more???
Little known fact: Nemerteans are the coolest of worms.
Even lesser known fact: I am doing a feeding study with a much smaller version of these worms and their amphipod prey.
Thanks for posting this!!
Posted by: Carlie | December 6, 2009 3:40 PM
I am concerned by the fact that all of the related videos off to the side are Strictly Come Dancing.
Posted by: Duvenoy | December 6, 2009 3:52 PM
Fascinating and an all too brief video. Thanks!
It rather reminds me of the blue bottle fly, Ashore, the blue bottle larvae will reduce a carcass that size and so decomposed that the vultures won't touch it to skin collapsed over bone in a matter of days.
All glory to the scavengers, for they keep the world smelling better!
doov
Posted by: Don Smith
|
December 6, 2009 4:01 PM
How come no one mentions the copepods swarming over the body as well? They're pretty cool too.
Posted by: Serena | December 6, 2009 4:18 PM
Me thinks they be amphipods, or possibly isopods, but definitely not copepods.
Posted by: MPG | December 6, 2009 4:22 PM
The whole of this week's episode of Life would have been right up your street, PZ - all about marine invertebrates. The sequence with the Humboldt squid hunting was absolutely breathtaking.
Posted by: Peter Ashby | December 6, 2009 4:49 PM
Heh, we get all that and more, with an explanation of how they filmed it on free to air television here in Britain. What do you have on yours?
Posted by: Mrs Tilton
|
December 6, 2009 4:57 PM
Even allowing for the dramatisation through time-lapse filming, how could anybody watch this and not think: "how beautiful"?
I will confess that, until now, my primary reason to regret being unable to pick up BBC1 over here was missing what was by all accounts a tremendous Baa-Baas v. All Blacks match on Saturday. Now I have two reasons.
Posted by: IBY | December 6, 2009 5:14 PM
Hhmm... For some reason, I have a feeling that the food in my stomach right now won't stay there much longer. ^_^
Posted by: SerenAur | December 6, 2009 6:59 PM
Great episode of Life. Fried egg jellyfish and mating cuttlefish, wow!
Posted by: Alan Synnott | December 6, 2009 8:19 PM
Mrs. Tilton, I was at Twickenham yesterday and I can assure you that you missed nothing by not being able to see the rugby. Check out Habana's tries on youtube (or whatever) and don't bother with the rest, which was an awful waste of time, effort and money.
In other news, I rewatched this episode of Life today. Just tremendous.
Posted by: Don Smith
|
December 6, 2009 8:39 PM
Thanks Serena. Yes, should have said amphipods. Way too many years since Invert. Bio. class.
Posted by: atomjack
|
December 6, 2009 11:07 PM
Interestingly enough, I found this pretty fascinating. No blood, so I'm easy with it. Amazing what damage those worms can do.
Posted by: archaeoangel
|
December 7, 2009 4:18 AM
Wow! thanks for posting that. I am absolutely amazed at the sheer number of creatures on the sea-floor. In 15 years of diving I have never, ever seen anything that even remotely resembles the gigantic mosh-pit of sea stars, worms, urchins, etc that seem to extend for hundreds of metres away from the seal carcass. Surely, their numbers must always be great in that particular place...
Posted by: SEF | December 7, 2009 5:00 AM
I particularly liked the buckets on heads part, where someone had drawn various faces/expressions onto the buckets.
Posted by: Kris Rhodes | December 7, 2009 6:31 AM
echinoderms = GLEE