Prehistoric zombie worms that ate alligators and ancient sea creatures have been discovered by scientists

Especially in the form of nature, our world is full of surprises. Scientists have found a kind of worms that consumed an alligator under the sea. The zombie worm is the common name for the new species of worms. According to research, these worms first appeared roughly 100 million years ago and relied on eating animals like plesiosaurs and sea turtles to survive. These worms are referred to as Osedax worms in science.

Researchers from Plymouth University claim to have discovered some remnants of these worms on the plesiosaur fossils that were on display at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge, UK.

In November 2018, three scientists from Louisiana, US, conducted an experiment to learn more about the enigmatic organisms lurking under the water and how feeding affected them. In order to draw the attention of any unknown species that could be there, they brought three dead alligators underwater. The Gulf of Mexico was the scene of the activities.

The scientists were able to find the zombie worms thanks to this study project. One of the three deceased alligators was seen to have been consumed by an unidentified animal. The other two were eaten by zombie worms, crabs, snails, isopods, and crabs.

According to Dr. Nicholas Higgs, a researcher at the Marine Institute, “the exploration of the deep sea in the past decades has led to the discovery of hundreds of new species with unique adaptations to survive in extreme environments, giving rise to important questions on their origin and evolution through geological time.”

He said, “And our discovery shows that these bone-eating worms did not co-evolve with whales, but that they also devoured the skeletons of large marine reptiles that dominated oceans in the age of the dinosaurs.” He said that the worm prevented the skeletons from decomposing into fossils, which might provide a challenge to researchers trying to learn more about these species. The worms lack a mouth and a digestive system and are found in seas at a depth of 4,000 meters.