Ever get stung by a jellyfish?
Turritopsis dohrnii, dubbed the immortal jellyfish, is the best-known of such species. A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, however, has revealed a new member of this exclusive club with extraordinary abilities: the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, also called the comb jelly. Now, scientists are wondering how many more “time-traveler” species there might really be.
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An unintentional discovery is at the origin of this study. Soto-Angel began investigating the topic after a larval ctenophore suddenly appeared in the place of an adult ctenophore in a tank in his lab. As it turned out, however, it was the same individual. Soto-Angel and his colleagues consequently began trying to reproduce the scenario that might trigger reverse development and discovered that an adult ctenophore can, in fact, revert to a larval stage when experiencing extreme stress.
I can see it now. A Terry Gilliam film.
A CGI version of Katherine Helmond is covered in Comb Jellies while Robert De Niro looks on amused.
Open thread away.
