Rotifer Cloning

Rotifers are tiny zooplankton (~250 microns, four times the diameter of human hair) that eat algae and in turn feed fish larvae, so they are vital to our ecology. Look at the Rotifer inside the "O". It has an egg sac attached to it's body and will rotate counterclockwise then clockwise, finally tearing the egg sac off it's body! These fascinating animals reproduce by cloning (parthenogenesis), giving birth only to females unless they are stressed, then they also give birth to males that can't eat, they are just there to fertilize eggs that can survive drying for up to 100 years.

Channel: Pets & Animals
Uploaded: December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm
Author: teazer999999

Length: 00:24
Rating: 4.00
Views: 2783

Tags: Cloning  Plankton  Rotifer  

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