Many miracles in the world have been created by man, but this is incomparable with the wonders of nature! It remains only to be amazed and admire her creations. And how many more unexplored mysteries planet Earth conceals in itself!
We all know that the world around us is amazing and beautiful, but when confronted with some unusual creations of nature, we are again amazed and admired. There are organisms so tenacious that they seem to be immortal. The article presents the most tenacious representatives of the animal world that can survive dramatic changes in climate, extreme temperatures, powerful doses of radiation and much more.
Here is a selection of some of the most persistent living organisms known today.
Tardigrades
The most enduring creature on the planet can be called this unusual microscopic animal, whose body length is only 1.5 millimeters. It lives in water and is called a “water bear”, although it has nothing to do with these animals.
Tardigrades boasts a unique ability - to be able to adapt to any living conditions. She can survive both very low and high temperatures (from -273 to +151 degrees), as well as exposure to radiation, which is 1,000 times the lethal dose for other creatures on the planet. It can survive in a vacuum, and is also able to dwell without moisture for 10 years.
Westimenters
A natural wonder are two-meter-long worms living in the impenetrable darkness of the seabed at a pressure of 260 atmospheres. They gather at the "black smokers" - the places of fracture of geological plates, from which water beats, heated to +400 ° C and saturated with hydrogen sulfide.
These living things have no intestines and no mouth, and they live off symbiotic bacteria. The animal’s circulatory system delivers hydrogen sulfide from underwater mineral sources to these bacteria.
Deinococcus radiodurans bacteria
The most enduring creatures in the world can be attributed to this unique creature that can withstand unrealistic doses of radiation. The bacterial genome is stored in four copies, and the substances released from it have the ability to heal wounds. There is an opinion that this microbe has an unearthly origin.
These bacteria feel great when emitted at 5,000 gray. There are surviving specimens at a dose of 15,000 units. For example, it should be noted that for humans, a dose of 10 gray is lethal.
Immortal jellyfish
Turritopsis nutricula, known as the immortal jellyfish, deserves such a name. After reaching puberty, she again returns to the initial stage of the polyp and re-begins its maturation. This process in jellyfish can last forever. The life cycle of this unique living being can be repeated several times.
Jellyfish, considered the only immortal creature on the planet, is now under the scrutiny of scientists. She is being actively studied by geneticists and marine biologists in order to understand how she manages to reverse the aging process, which is inevitable.
Fish lang
And this fish turned out to be one of the most tenacious creatures on earth. It is the rarest and one of the few aquatic inhabitants (bipedal fish) that have survived to this day.
This fish, in fact, is a transitional link from ordinary fish to amphibians. She has both lungs and gills. In times of drought, it is able to burrow in the mud and hibernate, calmly doing without food for a long time.
Wood Veta
The most tenacious creatures on earth can be attributed to this amazing insect, in appearance similar to a grasshopper, but having a gigantic size. Mostly tree veta lives in New Zealand.
Due to the fact that the blood of this animal has a special protein that excludes blood coagulation, it is able to withstand very low temperatures. It should be noted that during periods of such "hibernation" the heart and brain of these insects are turned off. However, once they “thaw”, all the organs begin to work again.
Sea bass
This fish is considered a long-living marine creature. Usually it lives at depths of 170-670 meters in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. This fish grows very slowly and reaches maturity quite late. She can live up to 200 years. The oldest sample found is about 205 years old.
It turns out that the list of the most tenacious creatures on earth can replenish and sea bass.
Bowhead whale
According to some scientists, bowhead whales are the oldest mammals on planet Earth. There is evidence that a whale named Bud lived up to 245 years.
Most of the bowhead whales live to the age of 20-60 years, but 4 more whales have been discovered that are close in age to Bad. According to the researchers, they survived to 91 years, 135, 159 and 172 years. In their bodies, a total of 7 harpoon tips were found at least 100 years old.
Land turtle
The last in the list of the most enduring creatures on earth can be attributed to a land tortoise (Testudinidae), famous for the fact that it can live for a very long time. The average age of the tortoise reaches 150 years, but it all depends on the species. The oldest known tortoise has lived for over 150 years. This is Advaita, who lived at home with the English general Robert Clive before she ended up at the zoo in Calcutta, where she spent another 130 years later.
It is also impressive that at the time of the tortoise's death, no one from those who took it was already working at the zoo. The turtle died due to a crack in its shell. The results of a study by shell scientists after her death confirmed that the turtle was about 250 years old.