Scientists were able to revive a 46-year-old microscopic worm which they found deep inside Siberian permafrost. The worm was in a state of cryptobiosis, a dormancy period where a living creature stops all the metabolic processes for an indefinite time.
Worm Started having Babies
As soon as scientists revived the new species of nematode, it immediately started having babies. The study published in the journal PLOS Genetics described the worm as an undescribed female nematode which inhabits soil, water and the ocean floor, like other nematodes. Scientists have yet to reveal how the organism managed to survive the last 46,000 years.
Worm Could Belong To Extinct Species
A nematologist at the University of Florida, William Crow, told the Washington Post that the worm could belong to species that went extinct around 50,000 years ago. Scientists believe there are millions of other nematode species that thrive deep inside the oceans, but they are yet to be discovered.
