May 13, 2010
Science Daily
Science Daily
Even thought the Tiny Copepod is only 1mm long and blind, its the most populous animal on this planet. Being so tiny, it's assumed to be naturally easy to prey. They are a very important part of the food chain and are often used in aquariums as a food source. So what makes it so successful?
"The explanation is that the copepod has two separate propulsion mechanisms"
said Professor Thomas Kiorboe who studies the copepod with a group of researchers from DTU Aqua and Physics. He and his team watched the copepod use its crazy strong back legs to jump away from predators. They have estimated that the strength of a copepod is 10- 30 times stronger then any other species. It also has vibrating limbs that create a feeding current and also allowing it to move and swim. It also doesn't get worn out because while one propulsion system is working the other is resting. This has interested me ever since Mr.Watts came and talk to us about the arctic animals. He mentioned that krill were the most populous species and I wanted to learn more. It's also really cool that something as small as a copepod can be so powerful and can adapt so quickly and wisely and end up so successful.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100512172444.htm
hey!
ReplyDeletewow, this teeny ocean animal really must be very fast, strong and agile if its escaping all the sea predators! While i was reading your response to the article i thought about the krill being the most populous animal too, and then you mentioned it in the article. Maybe when Mr.Watts said that krill were the largest species he meant weightwise, maybe these small ocean animals dont weigh very much, so therefore they arnt counted as the largest animal species. I think you did a great job summarizing the article and explaining it in your own words.
ju
Hey, Soph!
ReplyDeleteThat's a really cool article - it's really hard to believe that a creature 1 mm in length can have 10-30 times the strength of most other creatures! AND, the fact that it's also BLIND, and is one of the most populous creatures on earth is mind-boggling! Your article got me thinking about other tiny animals with much more strength per body size than most things, and I thought about ants - ants can carry things almost twice as large as them! If we had the strength of an ant in relation to how big we are, we'd be able to carry cars! I wonder what other tiny creatures are enormously strong?