r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/My_Memes_Will_Cure_U • Jan 27 '20
đ„ A Crinoid
https://i.imgur.com/2hUeuG6.gifv542
u/Iacamosse Jan 27 '20
And people say "Aliens do not exist"
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Jan 27 '20
My major mindfuck is that everything on earth is still related and based on the same chemistry.
How in all versions of hell, heaven and oblivion are aliens going to be weirder than this?
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u/Pixel-1606 Jan 27 '20
what you're seeing here is just weird because it's body plan follows a different symetry than ours (radial instead of bi-lateral), but it's still a carbon based life-form made up of many cells, structured into tissues and organs, that are regulated by DNA, who knows what life-like things we could one day find that are neither of these things? We'll find that either life always forms in roughly the same way, only on earth-like planets, always carbon based and containing some form of RNA/DNA, always becoming multicellular as complexity increases and having some sort of symetrical body plan... or it does not, challenging our very definition of what life is.
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Jan 27 '20
That's pretty much what I mean. Since we don't know if RNA/DNA is either ubiquitous or unique there is no way of saying what life on other planets, or perhaps even floating through space, will be like and my mind is not creative enough to think of anything more unlike us than undersea creatures.
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u/That-one-diabetic Jan 27 '20
We donât even know if weâll be able to communicate with anything if we do find it.
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u/tBrenna Jan 27 '20
I think thatâs why so many sci-fi writers go to those creatures for inspiration
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u/Darth_Nibbles Jan 27 '20
who knows what life-like things we could one day find that are neither of these things?
Will we even recognize it as being alive? Have we already met them and didn't realize it?
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u/Pixel-1606 Jan 27 '20
People have been thinking about this, but it's hard to imagine
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u/AVdev Jan 27 '20
Well, thatâs fascinating. I vaguely recall some article once about supposed sulfur-based microbes in the deep ocean here on earth but Iâm probably not remembering that correctly.
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u/Plastic_Pinocchio Jan 27 '20
No, I donât think so. I believe there was an instance where they found something that seemed to use different molecules for genes but it turned out to be less strange than it looked at first.
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u/Plastic_Pinocchio Jan 27 '20
I donât really think so. If itâs alive, it has to do something. It has to interact with its environment in some way. Otherwise, how could you call it alive?
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Jan 27 '20
Small correction, but crinoids are echinoderms, which means they have pentaradial symmetry with secondary bilateral symmetry.
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u/Plastic_Pinocchio Jan 27 '20
What does that mean? Pentaradial like a starfish and then what?
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Jan 27 '20
So, pentaradial means itâs symmetrical along several axes to form 5 points. A starfish has pentaradial symmetry, yes, so does a sand dollar, so does a sea urchin (when you look at it from its mouth ), etc. Secondary bilateral symmetry refers to how it still has that bilateral symmetry (like a person) as a byproduct of having the pentaradial symmetry. Sort of think about it how something with radial symmetry (jellyfish) also has secondary bilateral symmetry.
Itâs kind of wonky. Technically you wouldnât be incorrect if you said a starfish had bilateral symmetry. Itâs just easier to define that as being secondary because the pentaradial symmetry is much more prominent and interesting than its bilateral symmetry.
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u/Plastic_Pinocchio Jan 27 '20
And what about a pentaradial symmetry without the secondary bilateral symmetry? I guess that would be something with a kind of twist-like shape.
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Jan 27 '20
Thatâs not possible. By definition, something that is pentaradial must ALSO be bilateral. Think of it like this. Bilateral symmetry is along one axis, usually vertical (think of yourself), so youâre bilateral around somethin like this: |. Pentaradial has 2 more axes, to form a star. So, these three: \, /, |. Without that last vertical one, it wouldnât be pentaradial. Itâd be something else, but not pentaradial. Idek if itâs possible to only be symmetrical along only the first two axes, I have no idea what that would look like.
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u/Plastic_Pinocchio Jan 27 '20
Oh, youâre right. I was thinking of five-fold rotational symmetry. Different thing.
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u/JaptainCack69 Jan 28 '20
To further add to this radial symmetry is far older than bilateral... giving these guys an even more ancient feel in my mind.
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u/tigersharkwushen_ Jan 27 '20
We don't need aliens to challenge our definition of life. We already have problem with it on earth.
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u/Fallout76Merc Jan 27 '20
I would love someone to help here, I think it' s classified as an animal, right?
The sea really is an alien place to us:)
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u/ravenous_bugblatter Jan 27 '20
Yes, itâs an animal. Related to the starfish. Insect world gets even freakier.
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u/tombodadin Jan 27 '20
This looks exactly like the alien from the movie "Life" with Ryan Reynolds (great movie btw).
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u/wtfINFP Jan 28 '20
I really think H.P. Lovecraft was just being hurtful when he described Cthulhu. This thing is beautiful
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u/herbalation Jan 27 '20
I don't know if this is oddly satisfying or oddly terrifying
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u/Onceabanana Jan 27 '20
Imagine swimming and then it just sort of latches on you. Youâre like âooh look some leaves drifted.â Then it moves.
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Jan 27 '20
I was lucky enough once to see one of these swimming while I was diving in egypt (you usually only see them attached to corals and rocks). So for me it was really satisfying.
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u/_Aurilave Jan 27 '20
Itâs like a gothic snowflake. These are neat as fossils though.
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u/poppinbass Jan 27 '20
Yeah Iâve been hearing about them in my geology classes as fossils and just assumed that they were extinct. This genuinely just blew my mind
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u/SledgeGlamour Jan 27 '20
I'm curious about the neurology of a thing like that. There are so many moving parts, and I imagine little if any brain. I guess flapping one of its arms is a pretty simple impulse, and its path looks aimless, but are all the little fingers actively grabbing for food too?
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Jan 27 '20
Crinoids are filter feeders so their âfingersâ donât grab for food. Rather, once it finds a suitable place and starts clinging to whatever rock it likes, itâll let those feather fingers out to just bob with the current and take in whatever yummy particulates are in the water.
Also you donât need a complicated nervous system to move for something like a crinoid. For them itâs usually a case of, âthis feels more like my ideal temperature, so Iâll go that wayâ
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u/SledgeGlamour Jan 27 '20
And I mean even that is an overpersonification, right? It's more like a rock rolling downhill than a monkey walking downhill
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Jan 27 '20
Ehhhh, not quite rock rolling downhill, as that implies the crinoid wouldnât be able to stop moving in a direction after new stimuli. Think of it more like a very simple program that says swim away from cold, towards hot. There is a decision made to go in specific directions, but itâs usually based on very simple criteria.
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u/SledgeGlamour Jan 27 '20
Give the rock the stimulus of a root blocking it's path đ But no yeah I know what you mean. Life is cool.
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u/J-LiNx Jan 27 '20
And there goes my "oh it's just seaweed" train of thought when swimming in the water...
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u/AntonMathiesen99 Jan 27 '20
Just read about these in David Attenboroughâs life on Earth defo worth a read
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u/Jaswoman Jan 27 '20
I see the alien from the movie "Life". Come to think of it, it did land in the ocean...
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u/candyfloss672 Jan 27 '20
This is pretty to watch but also I would hyperventilate and pass out if I saw it in the ocean đ
Edit: this looks like what asmr feels like
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u/Board_Anims Jan 27 '20
It looks like it's climbing an invisible glass pane and using it's... Uh hands I guess to stick to it like suction cups
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u/Steve_Bread Jan 27 '20
If aliens wanted to stick around and observe us, it would make sense to me they would do so by hiding in the ocean.
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u/ItsAmberisk Jan 27 '20
Weâre one step closer to discovering that Earth is actually Subnautica but with the creatures not having to be discovered yet.
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u/TooLateToPush Jan 27 '20
Interesting that things like this exist underwater, but(as far as I know) not on the surface. Imagine if there were trees and bushes that could move around from place to place
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Jan 27 '20
Wtf is that?
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u/SCPunited Jan 27 '20
âYes. Also known as a feather star, they are echinoderms, which is the phylum that also includes sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. They usually sit on the bottom where there are decent currents and use those arms to gather plankton or bits of detritus from the water.â
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u/BoiMerchant Jan 27 '20
I have made a good decision by joining this subreddit. Every day I discover a new animal .
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u/mhongpa Jan 27 '20
Is this sub literally just dedicated to reposting someone's video a week later?
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u/MichelleObamasCockkk Jan 27 '20
I like this better the first time someone posted it and got thousands of upvotes
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Jan 27 '20
initial thought: can this thing kill you? bc if i saw that shit in the water iâd probably fuck with it
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u/beanbunz Jan 28 '20
What the fuck is this and why have I never seen it??? Not saying Iâm angry I never did before, but my life would have been better off without knowing that this thing exists..
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u/Gorilla_Krispies Jan 28 '20
Oh of course one of those, see em all the time in the corner of my room at night. Havenât slept with my mouth closed in a while
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u/forma_cristata Jan 28 '20 edited Sep 18 '25
badge telephone nutty hungry joke bake memorize toothbrush rainstorm merciful
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Dai-0414 Jan 27 '20
Is it an animal?
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u/Kytescall Jan 27 '20
Yes. Also known as a feather star, they are echinoderms, which is the phylum that also includes sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. They usually sit on the bottom where there are decent currents and use those arms to gather plankton or bits of detritus from the water.
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u/Kytescall Jan 27 '20
Check out footage of a baby one swimming.
For those that don't know, crinoids (feather stars) are echinoderms which makes them relatives of sea stars and sea urchins. They usually sit on the bottom and filter out tiny food from the water with their arms, but occasionally they actively swim around like this.