Detecting weird zombie worms

The researchers said traces of the worm worm Osedax (bone-eating worms - also known as zombie worms) were discovered in a 3-million-year fossil specimen in Italy.

Osedax worms eat whale bones in the seabed by using root-like tissues to wriggle and break down bones for nutrients.

Scientists from the Museum of Natural History in London have identified bore holes in fossil whales thanks to the scanning technology.

The discovery of scientist Nicholas Higgs and colleagues published in this journal Historical Biology opens up a new research direction, showing that the aforementioned worms have spread in the prehistoric oceans beyond the idea. statue of man.

Prior to this discovery, the first and only evidence showed that fossilized Osedax worms were found on the Washington state coast (USA) last year.

Scientists are gradually exploring the Osedax worm.

Higgs scientist is studying the Osedax worm to serve his doctoral research and contact his colleagues at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Florence in Italy.

Italian scientists have previously discovered a whale fossil with rows of other fossil organisms surrounding it, and suggested that a developed ecosystem surrounds this skeleton.

Whale bone fossil is an ideal condition for bone-eating worms. Therefore, the scientist Higgs could not miss his opportunity, he put effort into Italy and rolled into studying fossils.

BBC Nature quoted Higgs as saying: "We did not find any signs on the whale bone fossil . but I spent the whole week there studying all the collections and I even found it. bones in a dusty box '.

'The number of bones was collected in 1875, so it must have been forgotten long ago. It's not a beautiful whale bone pattern, so it's not on display and nobody looks at them , 'Mr. Higgs added.

Whale fossil samples have traces of Osedax worms.

However, that did not reduce the enthusiasm of the Higgs scientist. He returned to London and decided to clarify his doubts by using micro-CT scanner technology.

'Worms of worms are really rare. We don't know much about their fossil specimens because they are originally molluscs. However, bone-eating worms have their own characteristics, so we can find traces of them through boreholes on the whale '.

Osedax worms do not have their mouths and intestines but can attack the whale bone by chiseling with their root-like tissues to get nutrients (this is the source that makes them nicknamed zombie worms!) . Once the worm worms can enter the whale bone, it will never come out. Male worms are not chiseled because they live inside female worms.

Their template was first discovered in 2004 on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.