A Grape-Sized Single-Cell Organism

Posted by John Farrier in Science & Tech on November 23, 2008 at 8:14 pm


Trace fossils of the Cambrian Gromia sphaerica were recently discovered off the coast of the Bahamas. Although paleontologists had previously assumed that these were multicellular organisms, this particular set of fossils indicate that these giants — up to 3 cm in diameter — were single-celled.

Link via Radley Balko


Previous post
this post? Please Email this               
Next post


FUN PRODUCTS FROM THE NEATORAMA SHOP:


COMMENT

8 comments to "A Grape-Sized Single-Cell Organism"

  1. Justin
    November 23rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    I don't understand how something so big could be just one cell. Then again, I'm no biologist...

    So what would the inside of a creature like that even look like?

  2. raina_c
    November 24th, 2008 at 12:19 am

    Clear as mud right now...have to read it when I'm not so tired...maybe it will become clear...Okay probably not : D

  3. mikos
    November 24th, 2008 at 12:26 am

    Eggs are a single cell... And they can be pretty big...

  4. Ali S.
    November 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

    It's just like an ostrich egg.

  5. Skipweasel
    November 24th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    30mm grapes! Wow!

  6. Rocky Rook
    November 25th, 2008 at 9:39 pm

    Great gonads!

  7. Chad Cloman
    November 26th, 2008 at 12:07 am

    That's a pretty large grape--over an inch wide.

  8. bob holding
    May 30th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    I've heard that some Slime Molds exist as giant single cell organisms, so these might have acted similarly.

    Otherwise, I'm not sure that I've heard of a viable single celled organism that's that large.


PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT

Neatorama Comment Policy
You don't have to register or login to comment, but it's easier if you do so. Comments aren't censored, but those that are abusive or off-topic may be edited or deleted.


Stay updated on the comments with Comment RSS