Image by CodyHanson via Flickr“Jellyfish are the most ancient multiorgan animal on earth,”
- David J. Albert
Jellyfish expert
Roscoe Bay Marine Biological Laboratory
Vancouver, British Columbia.
They have been around for 600-700 million years or more, that's 3 times the age of dinosaurs. Not to mention that they are still around today in amazingly large numbers and incredible diversity.
They are not just sacs of goo either. A recent study published in Current Biology of May 2010. Dr. Garm and his team studied the box jellyfish and discovered an incredible visual system. They cataloged and described an average of 24 eyes divided into 4 different types - some of them very similar to our very own.
Not to mention never before acknowledge behavioral patterns, they aren't just mindless floating plankton going wherever the sea bring them.
Read more about these amazing animals once again in the New York Times Science section. Click here for a link to the full article.
Take care!
___________________________________
Source:
Angier, Natalie. "So much more than plasma and poison." New York TImes 06 June 2011. Environment . 10 June 2011 .
No comments:
Post a Comment