All animals require oxygen, except this one-Big discovery! First animal to survive without oxygen found-
All multicellular animals need oxygen to survive. Some can survive without oxygen for an extended period but never in total absence throughout its lifetime. At least, that’s what scientists knew until now. Researchers from the Tel Aviv University in Israel have discovered a parasitic multicellular creature that does not require oxygen to survive. Scientific name: Henneguya salminicola. The microscopic creature is found in dense muscle tissues of some fish and underwater worms.
The researchers found that these creatures did not have a mitochondrial genome, the portion of DNA that is responsible for respiration. So how do they acquire energy if not through respiration? It remains a puzzle for now. Note: In 2010, researchers from Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy, had discovered tiny animals called loriciferans at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, living in muddy depths that had no oxygen. But there was no proof they spent their entire lifetime without oxygen.
