Wednesday, April 14, 2010

First Animals That do Not Require Oxygen Discovered

The first animals that to not require oxygen to live and reproduce have been discovered. Three such creatures were found well off the coast of Crete (just under 125 miles away) and more then two miles underwater on the ocean floor. Before the discovery of these creatures it was though only bacteria could survive without oxygen.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7570677/New-species-lives-without-oxygen.html

"Three species of creature, which are only a millimetre long and resemble jellyfish encased in shells, were found 2.2 miles (3.5km) underwater on the ocean floor, 124 miles (200km) off the coast of Crete, in an area with almost no oxygen.

The animals, named Loriciferans due to their protective layer, or lorica, were discovered by a team led by Roberto Danovaro from Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy.

One of the species has been named Spinoloricus Cinzia, after Dr Danovaro's wife, while the other two, known as Rugiloricus and Pliciloricus, have yet to be formally named.

They were found during three expeditions to find life in the sediment of L'Atlante basin in the Mediterranean, which took place over the course of a decade.
...
The professor said: "It is a real mystery how these creatures are able to live without oxygen because until now we thought only bacteria could do this."
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