Although they resemble jellyfish, their distant relatives, the scallops (Ctenophores), range in length from a few millimeters to 1.5 meters.
These creatures, which appeared 700 million years ago, are estimated to be the oldest group of animals still alive.
While it is known that species in this phylum, such as Mnemiopsis leidyi, have the ability to renew themselves, another striking feature was recently discovered by chance.
THEY WERE TAKEN FROM DIFFERENT PLACES AT DIFFERENT TIMES
According to Independent Turkish, researchers were astonished when they saw a strangely shaped M. leidyi in the aquarium in the laboratory. Suspecting that the animal, which has two mouths and two butts, was formed from the combination of separate organisms, the team conducted an experiment.
In the research published on Monday, October 7 in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology, parts of the bodies of animals taken from different places at different times were cut off.
Scientists divided M. leidyi into pairs and left them alone overnight, with their wounds touching each other.
By morning, 9 out of 10 pairs had united and become a single organism.
Co-author of the study, Dr. from the University of California Berkeley campus in the USA. Oscar Arenas says:
Once we realized we could consistently reproduce fusion, we shortened the time and eventually found that fusion in the petri dish occurred within a few hours.
By prodding a previously solitary side of the fused organism, the team observed that the entire creature responded. This indicates that the nervous systems are united.
Researchers also say their digestive systems are fused. Corresponding author of the paper, Dr. D., of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. “Fused scallops have two mouths,” Kei Jokura continues:
When food was introduced to one side, the digested matter was moved to the neighboring digestive system.
But interestingly, the feces were expelled from the two anuses at different times.
It is not yet known whether M. leidyis also mingle in their natural environment. However, considering the evolutionary advantages that this feature can bring, it can be said that this possibility is strong.
Speaking to Science Alert, Dr. “One of the possible advantages is that fusion can heal the wound much faster compared to self-regeneration,” says Jokura.
The team noted that the combined organisms were still quite healthy after three weeks.
The fact that two separate organisms can fuse so seamlessly may mean that individuals lack the ability to distinguish their own tissues from others.
Dr. “Given the evolutionary position of scallops, they may lack the genes required for alloidentification, but this is not certain,” explains Jokura.
Because scallops have been around for so many years, the new study also offers the opportunity to examine how self-discrimination has evolved in other species.
Researcher Pawel Burkhardt from the University of Bergen in Norway makes the following statements about the study in which he was not involved:
What’s most impressive to me is that the findings may mean that early animals were more flexible, better able to adapt.
The researchers next plan to find out how the nervous systems of the two organisms fuse so effectively.
Source: www.cumhuriyet.com.tr
