Scientists sink three alligators into the deep ocean with surprising results! One of them disappeared unexpectedly

Oceans make up 70% of the earth's surface, but humans have only explored 5% of it, and most of it is only the surface.

A depth of more than 200 meters is called the deep ocean, where sunlight cannot penetrate it, and it is dark, which means that creatures in the deep ocean cannot build ecosystems based on the sun's energy input.

For those deep-sea creatures, one of their most important energy inputs is called "marine snow" -- which includes fallen animal carcasses, feces, and other organic debris.

The ecosystem of the deep sea is very unique, and scientists have always been curious about it. For example, are the deep sea creatures really only able to eat the discarded organic matter in the shallow sea, and are they aggressive?

In 2020, in order to understand the ecosystem of the deep sea, research scientists Craig McClain and Clifton Nunnally of the Ocean Alliance of Louisiana University in the United States conducted an experiment. They tied three alligator carcasses with heavy objects and sank them. Sea.

The main reason for choosing alligators is that alligators are terrestrial animals, completely unfamiliar to marine benthic animals, and they have a very hard outer skin. The two scientists wondered whether such a "tough" marine snow could be consumed by marine benthic animals.

The bone structure on the back, tail and head of crocodiles is called scale armor, which is composed of keratin. In vertebrates, keratin is often used as a material for attack and defense. It can be very hard. Our nails, hair, Animal claws and hooves are made of this material.

The scales of the alligator are so strong that it is said that even ordinary bullets cannot penetrate them. So, can those benthic animals that are mainly scavengers in the ocean really eat alligators?

The end of the three crocodiles

The area chosen by the two scientists was a 2,000-meter-deep continental slope in the Gulf of Mexico that sinks the alligators, a deep species that is poorly understood.

However, the crocodiles selected by the researchers this time are all juvenile alligators that are less than 2 meters long, while adult alligators can grow to 4 meters and weigh up to 360 kilograms.

The first to sink was a 198.2 cm long and 29.7 kg alligator, which was eaten within 43 hours after sinking.

As soon as the researchers left, the crocodile's carcass attracted many giant isopods, which play a role in the ocean like vultures and are known to endure years without food.

The crocodile's keratin didn't work as expected, and it didn't take long for the giant isopod to tear open the crocodile scales and start eating the crocodile from the inside out.

In addition to giant isopods, other scavengers also participated in the feast, including amphipods, cods and some mysterious, unrecognizable fish, interestingly these dark bottoms Inhabitants can even enjoy food in peace.

The second crocodile was 175.3 centimeters long and 19.5 kilograms in weight. The crocodile still had bones when the researchers revisited it on the 51st day.

However, some brown hairs grew on the bones. Through DNA analysis, these hairs are still a new species. They belong to the genus of bone-eating worms on the bottom of the sea. The creatures of this genus mainly feed on animal bones.

The third is a crocodile with a length of 172.7 cm and 18.5 kg, which is the most controversial one. This crocodile disappeared on the 8th day after sinking.

The researchers searched all the surrounding areas to find them, but found traces of crocodiles being dragged around 10 meters from the initial sinking point, as well as heavy objects that had been bitten off ropes and discarded.

What happened to the third crocodile?

After the announcement of this incident, there are different opinions about what happened to the third crocodile. Many people think of sea monsters. After all, this animal directly dragged the whole crocodile and the heavy objects tied to the crocodile, and it also bit off the back. A rope to tie a heavy object.

In fact, the two researchers in this project gave an explanation. By comparing the bite force of biting the rope and the force of dragging the weight of the crocodile, they finally gave the "murderer" is the Greenland shark or the sixgill shark.

There are many ferocious giant marine animals in the deep sea, including several giant sharks, and some giant octopuses all live in the deep sea.

Due to the greater pressure in the deep ocean, the ocean water in the deep ocean has higher oxygen content, and because the sunlight cannot reach it, the deep ocean has a lower temperature.

Organisms living at low temperatures have increased cell size, while their metabolism is reduced, resulting in longer lifespans.

Longer lifespan and larger cell size make organisms larger, and higher oxygen levels make it possible for animals to become larger, so individuals of the same animal found in the deep sea tend to be larger, which is often It's called "deep sea gigantism".

In general, there is a 18kg crocodile that can drag and hang heavy objects in the deep sea. There are not many surprises. There are several kinds of huge sharks in the deep sea.

at last

In fact, the most surprising part of this project is not that animals dragged away crocodiles, nor that new species have been discovered, but that the deep-sea ecosystem is much more complex than imagined.

The three sinking crocodiles had completely different fates. One was eaten by many kinds of deep-sea scavengers in a short period of time.