Pandora-Like Disappearing Plant - Neatorama

In the movie Avatar, there is a plant that disappears into the ground the instant it's touched. The good news for those afflicted with Pandora Depression it that we have a similar plant organism, right here on Earth! The Sea Pen (a soft coral) expels water from its body when touched, so as to avoid being eaten.

Coral isn't a plant.

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Corals aren't plants...

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D'oh. I was slow.

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Not a plant.

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Things that look even more like the stuff on pandora are "christmas tree worms", they retract just as quickly and look the same.

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I always figured that's where they got the idea? Anyway, what about those little round things in tide pools? I always enjoyed poking them and watching them scrunch up. And those are hardly the only organisms which exhibit such behavior.

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I'm pretty sure the idea came from the polychaetes, a class of annelid worms. Yes, they're animals and worms.

As whiterabbit said, I think it's based on "Christmas tree worms" (Spirobranchus giganteus). Here a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVJcBRqzr8Y

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There are also tube worms that do the same thing in coral reefs. But as almost every one else has said, corals aren't plants.

Cola: tide pools where? There are lots of different critters in different tide pools all over the world.

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Pandora envy sweeeps the nation! That is really cool though, makes you think the creators of the film had based the plants on this exact species.
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Um yeah.. it's not a plant, and it's not a coral either!
It's a sea cucumber(an Echinoderm), probably in the order Dendrochirotida.

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Here in the Philippines, we have a similar plant. It's called the makahiya. It folds up its leaves when it's touched.

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You mean this?

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Zava, tide pools in Oregon. I'm pretty sure these critters are common in this climate. I can't seem to find the species, though. It's some kind of anemone. It looks like a little green mouth with fuzzy lips and it scrunches up and closes when you touch it into a little brown lump.

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Everything on Pandora was based (in most parts) on stuff you find on Earth. I don't know why people are so surprised to find similar stuff here...

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Everything on Pandora was based on a really dumb film.

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"Pandora Depression" makes me want to self-hurt.

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here in brazil we have a plant that folds its leaves when touched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7Y5cv9fP0

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In France we have snails...

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