A photo from open sources
Mysterious animals found on the shelf of Australia, externally remind mushrooms “chanterelles”. Ocean creatures are so unusual that for their qualification, scientists created a new family of animals of the world. Also, still nothing is known about their lifestyle, food, as well as movement. Two new types of these mysterious creatures officially named Dendrogramma discoides and Dendrogramma Enigmatica. The width of their flat disk-shaped bodies is about 1 see. Inside the discs are digestive tubes that supply nutrients throughout the body that resembles design of a bicycle tire with knitting needles digestive tubes. In the center of the disc is a mouth that looks like on the stem and, apparently, serves not only for eating, but also for waste disposal. Of the two new species, one has more a short stem and a smaller disc compared to another, however the difference is only a few millimeters. For now There are only 18 samples of Dendrogramma. They were all caught in 1988 expedition that was engaged in the study of the strait, located between Tasmania and Australia. Strange organisms were found in a mixture of sea water and bottom sediments, located at a distance of 1000 meters from the surface of the ocean. By returning to shore, scientists have studied patterns of marine life, collected during the expedition. Having discovered strange creatures, the researchers decided that they were faced with a new kind of jellyfish. However, upon closer inspection, stinging cells (distinctive trait of a real jellyfish) were not found. Also on tiny the bodies of the creatures were not detected and any other characteristic signs by which they could be attributed at least to some kind of science known. However, scientists believe that the ancient relatives of unidentified creatures are nevertheless jellyfish, and possibly ctenophores. These strange new species of living creatures have striking resemblance to some fossils the earliest animals, whose age is more than 600 million. years. The fossils are identical in shape to the three lobed disc with leg and a very similar digestive system. Similar fossils were first discovered in Australia but are Dendrogramma their living descendants, or else these species are just something similar, scientists cannot say for sure yet. Moreover, significantly complicates the search for answers is that deep-sea “mushrooms” for a long time were in a chemical environment that destroyed not only their cells, but also DNA, which is also serious an obstacle to their classification. Scientists hope tiny jelly-like organisms will ever be found in the depths of the ocean, and modern genetic research will help reveal their evolutionary branch.
Australia Mushrooms DNA Life
