At the Polytechnic University of Marche in Ancona, Italy, researchers found in the Mediterranean Sea, a multicellular species, part of the phylum Loricifera that live their life in a pit where there is no oxygen. This pit is located 10,000 feet down in sediment, where bacteria and viruses were only thought to be. This may seem almost impossible but because these creatures have a organelle that has a resemblance to a hydrogenosome. A regular hydrogenosome is a organelle that produces energy with complicated enzymatic reactions. To produce energy, these organisms convert sugar and oxygen into water, CO2 and energy. These creatures are the first ever to be discovered that spend their entire lives without oxygen.
This study is an example of Discovery science because these researches went into the field and found this new creature, with out having a previous hypothesis about it. This study is important to humans because it can teach us how other organisms evolve and gives us an idea that there is a possibility of live to thrive without oxygen.
Author: Stuart Fox
Title of Article: First Ever Multicellular Animals Found In Oxygen-Free Environment
Date: April 6, 2010
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