The oldest anus in the world is in Florida and shines in the dark .. not really – iheart

Ben Brandao’s first jelly -jelly meeting happened in 2017 while leading a kayak tours in Cape Canaveral, Florida focused on bioluminescence. During the tour of this October, two geneticists arrived, eager to see combs lighted in the water. These beings who emit light when they are broken have aroused the interest of scientists not only because of their bioluminescence, but also because of their evolutionary significance. The jellies have existed for over 600 million years, making them some of the oldest living organisms on Earth and their unique biology, especially their digestive system, recently stunned the scientific community.

Prior to Brandao’s tour, Comb Jellies made titles in 2016 because of its surprising digestive trait. The discovery of biologist William Brown that these creatures have both mouths and anus – unlike other simple organisms that share a dining and excretion opening – have changed the understanding of the evolution of animals. This finding, published in Science, stressed how this crossing system made the nutrition made more effective and hygienically, earning a comb of the title of the “oldest ass” in the animal kingdom. This revelation aroused considerable interest and geneticists, such as those who visited the brando, were willing to study these evolutionary miracles.

In 2020, during a kayak’s sunset tour of Lake Guana, Brandao observes a rare phenomenon-cat jelly, glowing all year round. Bioluminescence in these creatures is usually found seasonally, but in the unique environment of the lake the conditions allow them to shine at any time. After several months of successive observations, Brandao’s discovery attracted local researchers who joined his tours to study the cause. Although the exact factors are still being studied, it seems that the shallow, protected ecosystems of the lake provide the perfect conditions of the combination jellies to flourish and radiate their glow throughout the year.