Blog Search
Archive
Blog Statistics
  • Views: 3659088
  • Articles: 1366
  • Comments: 1027
  • Status: Public
  • Who's Viewing: 3
  • Guest
  • Guest
  • Guest
3 Guests  0 Members
Posted by duddy   November 20, 2013   6065 views

This little guy on the left is the iron sulphide secreting scaly-foot gastropod. It's the only animal known to plate itself with metal and lives in a thermal vent deep in the ocean. But last year scientists found a pale, genetically identical version of the species (on the right) that doesn't secrete metal, leading scientists to question what the purpose of the armour really is.

thermal
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment | Write Comment
1
Hypothesis: iron sulfide is more available than calcium and carbonate ions in this location. This could be partially due to acidification of the sea water which removes available calcium from the water as both locations are rich in iron sulfide, but could also be due to other compounds coming from the vents in this location and reacting with the calcium or carbonate dissolved ions. These creatures may be taking a "short-cut" by using iron sulfide instead of "starving" their shells of calcium carbonate, they may be able to grow their shells faster and become larger more quickly than their constituents.
Posted on Nov 24, 2013 by savio
Random Article
   RSS Feed     Atom Feed     RDF Feed