h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A new type of animal, the bone-eating snot-flower, has been discovered in the North Sea. It is a type of worm which feeds by drilling into bones of dead whales and dissolving them with a bacterial soup. The snot-flower has the scientific name _Osedax mucofloris_.

Who found it? Where? When?

Scientists from the Natural History Museum, London, discovered it "recently". They sunk the body of a dead whale to the bottom of the North Sea, then a year later hauled it up to see what was feeding on it.

Bone-eating snot-flower though? Couldn't somebody have come up with a better name?

Any photos anywhere?

There doesn't appear to be anything about it on the web yet, but there are pictures of other bone-eating osedax worms which were discovered last year in califoria. It looks something like these:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5549064/

Something very odd happened to that website. It came up stretched and weird. I'll try again later.

Fb

Eugh that's one ugly thingy!

You'd think they'd come up with a more "snobby intellectual" name wouldn't you? Or are we all, at heart, still 6 years olds?

The Latin name "Osedax mucofloris" actually means bone-eating snot-flower.

Here ya go, with photo an' evvythang!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4354286.stm

That's pretty!

Zombie worm