Sunday 1 July 2007

Two for the price of one

Re my last blog: I've been reading about worms to find out if they do in fact regenerate if they are cut in half. This is what I've learned.

  • If a worm is cut in half only one half will regrow, usually the end with the head or the most intact segments
  • some worm species don't regenerate well
  • the worm will never regrow more segments than it has lost.
  • even today, little is known about the exact mechanism that regulates the regeneration of lost segments.

Now I have to finish reading Amy Stewart's very interesting, delightful and engrossing book The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms. And then I'll return it to the library for someone else to read. Aren't libraries great?

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