Phrenotopia | Speculative Evolution of Slimes | Alien Analysis @Phrenotopia | Uploaded 2 years ago | Updated 1 day ago
Patreon: patreon.com/phrenotopia
Slimes as living, bouncing blobs of goo, are a very popular trope in many fantasy stories and games. In this followup video to "The Biology of Slimes", I'm going to speculate on whether a creature like this could actually have evolved on our very own Earth! What lineage on our planet could be the best candidate for departing on such a journey? What evolutionary forces might drive a cascade of bodily innovations as to finally arrive at such an alien life form? And to what levels of complexity might we be able to take this weird but wonderful conceptual being?
BONUS: Interestingly, American roboticists have created a jumping robot that can leaps to record height and which mechanically is very similar to my slime's internal design.
Link to paper: nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04606-3
Link to @NatureVideoChannel : youtu.be/mvHXwTa5-DA
Speculative science is the central theme of my channel, where I apply mainstream science & humanities to analyse topics as diverse as astrobiology, alternate history and pop culture symbolism. My main focus right now is on alien biosphere evolution, but I will also regularly revisit alternate history, which is the most popular topic on my channel.
Website: phrenotopia.com
Twitter: twitter.com/Phrenotopian
Video Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:45 The Ideal Ancestor Candidate
3:55 Initial Evolutionary Pathway
7:39 The Evolution of Land Slimes
10:25 Final Remarks
10:47 Patreon Announcements
11:57 Outro
CREDITS
References:
- Ou, Qiang et al. “A vanished history of skeletonization in Cambrian comb jellies.” Science advances vol. 1,6 e1500092. 10 Jul. 2015, doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500092
- Mark Q. Martindale and J Q Henry "Reassessing embryogenesis in the Ctenophora: the inductive role of e1 micromeres in organizing ctene row formation in the 'mosaic' embryo, Mnemiopsis leidyi." Development (1997) 124:10
- Leonid L. Moroz "Convergent evolution of neural systems in ctenophores" J Exp Biol (2015) 218 (4): 598–611 doi.org/10.1242/jeb.110692
- Leonid L. Moroz et al. "The ctenophore genome and the evolutionary origins of neural systems" Nature (2014) 510
- Sidney L Tamm "Novel Structures Associated with Presumed Photoreceptors in the Aboral Sense Organ of Ctenophores" Biol Bull 2016 Oct; 231(2)
- Luke A. Parry, Rudy Lerosey-Aubril, James C. Weaver, Javier Ortega-Hernández "Cambrian comb jellies from Utah illuminate the early evolution of nervous and sensory systems in ctenophores" iScience (2021) 24:9 doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102943.
- Jason S. Presnell, Lauren E. Vandepas, Kaitlyn J. Warren, Billie J. Swalla, Chris T. Amemiya, William E. Browne "The Presence of a Functionally Tripartite Through-Gut in Ctenophora Has Implications for Metazoan Character Trait Evolution" Current Biology (Aug 25, 2016) doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.019
- Leonardi, N. D., Thuesen, E. V., & Haddock, S. H. (2020). A sticky thicket of glue cells: A comparative morphometric analysis of colloblasts in 20 species of comb jelly (phylum Ctenophora). Ciencias Marinas, 46(4), 211–225. doi.org/10.7773/cm.v46i4.3118
Images:
- "Beached comb jellies": theoutershores.com
- "Comb jellies on beach" Izzy McArthur
- commons.wikimedia.org
- pixabay.com
Footage:
- Syncytial Slime Mould: BBC ONE "The Great British Year" - @BBC youtu.be/GY_uMH8Xpy0
- Comb Jelly: Victoria High School, BC, Canada - @vichighmarine youtu.be/zsMUeo4qJjk
- The Lovely Lobed Comb Jelly - @MontereyBayAquarium youtu.be/bW3sqB7RTIc
Music:
- "Backyard Safari" by TechSmith
- "What Does Anybody Know About Anything" by Chris Zabriskie | http://chriszabriskie.com | CC BY 4.0
- "Digital Memories" by @Unicorn Heads
- "Progressive Chords Lead" by Frankum | soundcloud.com/frankumjay
- "Kick and Progressive Leads" by Frankum
Patreon: patreon.com/phrenotopia
Slimes as living, bouncing blobs of goo, are a very popular trope in many fantasy stories and games. In this followup video to "The Biology of Slimes", I'm going to speculate on whether a creature like this could actually have evolved on our very own Earth! What lineage on our planet could be the best candidate for departing on such a journey? What evolutionary forces might drive a cascade of bodily innovations as to finally arrive at such an alien life form? And to what levels of complexity might we be able to take this weird but wonderful conceptual being?
BONUS: Interestingly, American roboticists have created a jumping robot that can leaps to record height and which mechanically is very similar to my slime's internal design.
Link to paper: nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04606-3
Link to @NatureVideoChannel : youtu.be/mvHXwTa5-DA
Speculative science is the central theme of my channel, where I apply mainstream science & humanities to analyse topics as diverse as astrobiology, alternate history and pop culture symbolism. My main focus right now is on alien biosphere evolution, but I will also regularly revisit alternate history, which is the most popular topic on my channel.
Website: phrenotopia.com
Twitter: twitter.com/Phrenotopian
Video Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:45 The Ideal Ancestor Candidate
3:55 Initial Evolutionary Pathway
7:39 The Evolution of Land Slimes
10:25 Final Remarks
10:47 Patreon Announcements
11:57 Outro
CREDITS
References:
- Ou, Qiang et al. “A vanished history of skeletonization in Cambrian comb jellies.” Science advances vol. 1,6 e1500092. 10 Jul. 2015, doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500092
- Mark Q. Martindale and J Q Henry "Reassessing embryogenesis in the Ctenophora: the inductive role of e1 micromeres in organizing ctene row formation in the 'mosaic' embryo, Mnemiopsis leidyi." Development (1997) 124:10
- Leonid L. Moroz "Convergent evolution of neural systems in ctenophores" J Exp Biol (2015) 218 (4): 598–611 doi.org/10.1242/jeb.110692
- Leonid L. Moroz et al. "The ctenophore genome and the evolutionary origins of neural systems" Nature (2014) 510
- Sidney L Tamm "Novel Structures Associated with Presumed Photoreceptors in the Aboral Sense Organ of Ctenophores" Biol Bull 2016 Oct; 231(2)
- Luke A. Parry, Rudy Lerosey-Aubril, James C. Weaver, Javier Ortega-Hernández "Cambrian comb jellies from Utah illuminate the early evolution of nervous and sensory systems in ctenophores" iScience (2021) 24:9 doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102943.
- Jason S. Presnell, Lauren E. Vandepas, Kaitlyn J. Warren, Billie J. Swalla, Chris T. Amemiya, William E. Browne "The Presence of a Functionally Tripartite Through-Gut in Ctenophora Has Implications for Metazoan Character Trait Evolution" Current Biology (Aug 25, 2016) doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.019
- Leonardi, N. D., Thuesen, E. V., & Haddock, S. H. (2020). A sticky thicket of glue cells: A comparative morphometric analysis of colloblasts in 20 species of comb jelly (phylum Ctenophora). Ciencias Marinas, 46(4), 211–225. doi.org/10.7773/cm.v46i4.3118
Images:
- "Beached comb jellies": theoutershores.com
- "Comb jellies on beach" Izzy McArthur
- commons.wikimedia.org
- pixabay.com
Footage:
- Syncytial Slime Mould: BBC ONE "The Great British Year" - @BBC youtu.be/GY_uMH8Xpy0
- Comb Jelly: Victoria High School, BC, Canada - @vichighmarine youtu.be/zsMUeo4qJjk
- The Lovely Lobed Comb Jelly - @MontereyBayAquarium youtu.be/bW3sqB7RTIc
Music:
- "Backyard Safari" by TechSmith
- "What Does Anybody Know About Anything" by Chris Zabriskie | http://chriszabriskie.com | CC BY 4.0
- "Digital Memories" by @Unicorn Heads
- "Progressive Chords Lead" by Frankum | soundcloud.com/frankumjay
- "Kick and Progressive Leads" by Frankum
