Scientists Discover First Multicellular Life That Doesn't Need Oxygen

[jayfish]

Source: Physorg.com

(PhysOrg.com) -- Oxygen may not be the staple of modern complex life that scientists once thought. Until now, the only life forms known to live exclusively in anoxic conditions were viruses, bacteria and Archaea. But in a new study, scientists have discovered three new multicellular marine species that appear to have never lived in aerobic conditions, and never metabolized oxygen.

The discovery of the new species, which live buried in sediment under the Mediterranean seafloor, is significant in that it marks the first observation of multicellular organisms, or metazoans, that spend their entire lifecycle under permanently anoxic conditions. A few metazoans have been known to tolerate anoxic conditions, but only for limited periods of time.

The team of Italian and Danish researchers, Roberto Danovaro, et al., that discovered the new life forms has identified the creatures as belonging to the animal phylum Loricifera, the most recently described animal phylum. Loriciferans, which have a length of less than one millimeter, typically live in sediment. The three new organisms belong to different genera (Spinoloricus, Rugiloricus, and Pliciloricus), although their species have not yet been named.

Read more: http://www.physorg.com/news189836027.html

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EDITED TO ADD PHOTO

[cliffordu]

1. I for one welcome our new oxygen free overlords.

[Soylent Brice]

2. DAMMIT! beat me to it!!

[cliffordu]

3. Great minds.....

:rofl:

[liberation]

7. Glad to see I am not the only dork in this place ;-)

Awesome discovery.

Why can't we as a species concentrate on understanding the amazing world and universe that we are a part of? We're the universe's way of understanding itself, and most of us continue glaring at our navels instead.

[happygoluckytoyou]

10. IN A RELATED STORY republicans believed to be able to live without air, experimant planned by dems

[liberation]

18. If only....

but one can hope!

[CLANG]

19. Bullshit! I stare at my genitals!

[jberryhill]

4. Whatever it is, I'll bet it likes to listen to Rush Limbaugh /nt

[Sal Minella]

8. We can hope that it will evolve more highly than that, though, can't we???

[Hardrada]

23. No, it can live in the same room as Rush Limbaugh.

[KansDem]

5. Perhaps these will be the "meek who inherit the Earth."

...after we pump so much CO2 and other crap into our atmosphere that all life that depends on oxygen will die off, leaving these new species as masters of the world.

[robcon]

6. Huh? Most life DEPENDS on CO2 to live!

All green plants require CO2. A CO2-rich atmosphere will be a boon to most life on earth, although for animals.... not so much.

[Jim__]

12. That doesn't mean it doesn't also depend on oxygen.

If you are like most people, you know that plants give off oxygen. But, there is a problem with knowing that fact. Sometimes knowledge of one thing can interfere with knowing something else. That's what happens in this case.

People who know that plants give off oxygen often assume that plants must not also take it in. But this assumption is wrong. All living things--plants included-- take in oxygen from the air.

Plant cells have special structures called chloroplasts--named for the chlorophyll they contain. Plants use chlorophyll to capture energy from the sun, then they use that energy to make food in a process called photosynthesis.

The food is made by combining small molecules of water with small molecules of carbon dioxide to make larger molecules of starch and sugar. (Oxygen is released as a byproduct of photosynthesis.) The starch and sugar are stored by the plant then used by us when we eat plants.

more ...

[liberation]

17. I could be wrong. think y'all are missing the point: what do you guys thing the O2 in CO2 is?

;-)

These are organism which, albeit carbon based, do not require Oxygen at all in their chemistry.... and CO2 involves oxygen.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. And yet another update needed for "The Ancestor's Tale".

http://www.amazon.com/Ancestors-Tale-Pilgrimage-Dawn-Evolution/dp/0618005838

[hayu_lol]

11. Woods Hole deep diving explorers...

several years ago, out in the Pacific Deeps, found life in worms etc that were sulfur-based and lived around the deep bottom vents.

Crew was from the group that found and visited the Titanic.

[bitchkitty]

13. AND it's pink! Awesome! n/t

[jayfish]

14. They Weren't Born That Way.

Sorry... :(

FSH

[Ganja Ninja]

15. Does this mean we could find life almost anywhere in the universe

if we look hard enough?

[tclambert]

21. You still need liquid water.

Although it would be cool if they discovered a lifeform that could live on pure alcohol instead of water. Note: Your beery uncle doesn't count.

[ClarkUSA]

16. Fascinating. It's not entirely unsurprising, given the life around deep sea methane seeps. n/t

[Duer 157099]

20. Eh, oxygen is overrated anyway

But seriously, this is very cool, and I love the pinkishness of it (although maybe that is just a stain).

I suppose it uses S in place of O? Must go read the article...

BTW, there's a compelling argument to be made that oxygen is the source of most of our ills (in the form of radical oxygen species).

[caseymoz]

22. Headline inaccurate.

I believe they have put plants in environments without oxygen, and they do pretty well as long as they have CO2 and light. This is the first animal life that doesn't need oxygen.

Next they'll find a plant that doesn't need light . . .

[heliarc]

26. Uh....

CO2 contains Oxygen last I checked... Provide Plants with CO2, and you are by default providing them with Oxygen. They spit it out as waste, but they need it as part of the CO2 molecule...

[Quantess]

24. It's cute.

[Javaman]

25. Personally, I welcome our none oxygen breathing overlords. nt