Discover the largest, oldest sperm

German scientists at Ludwig-Maximilian University have discovered fossil giant sperm about 16 million years ago of a crustacean like shrimp and mussels.

World's oldest giant sperm

The team found sperm on four female bodies and one male of an animal like shrimp and mussel with the scientific name Heterocypris collaris , during the Miocene period (16-23 million years ago). This sperm is like a small rope, about 1 cm long, 4 times the size of the animal's body.

Lead researcher Renate Matzke-Karasz admitted: 'We no longer believe our eyes, everyone is stunned'. These fossilized sperm samples were found in a sedimentary cave in northeastern Queensland - Australia, in which bat droppings fell into the water to facilitate the preservation of this cave.

Not only does this animal have such long sperm. The longest recorded sperm in nature is from a fruit fly named Drosophila bifurca - about 5cm.

This fossil sperm does not have a tail like the sperm of another animal, but its large head and long body help them to swing and rotate to move.