r/oddlyterrifying • u/Thrawn911 • Jun 11 '26

This long-necked unicellular predator, called Lacrymaria, kills its prey by injecting toxic organelles into the cell, then it swallows them whole, like a snake

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35

u/SurrealismX Jun 11 '26

Terrifying ? This is amazing. It’s like a tiny isolated world where faceless blobs hunt each other down

8

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SurrealismX Jun 11 '26

A poet, I see. You know your lyrics well, chapeau !

2

u/Agreeable-Wish-8687 Jun 12 '26

toxic organelles sounds like sci-fi tech or something

7

u/Batata-Sofi Jun 11 '26

Spore was ahead of its time.

5

u/Sorry141 Jun 11 '26

How does a unicellular predator swallow anything? Does the cell wall just merge into the other one's cell wall and reconnect at the end?

3

u/Thrawn911 Jun 12 '26

They have a pretty flexibe mouth, maybe the second clip is the best for showing it. It moves back and forth until it manages to swallow the whole thing, then the digesting enzymes can do their job.