Study Reveals that Zombie Worms - Osedax are the Cause of Extinction of Prehistoric Marine Life

Bone-eating, gruesome and strange species of worms which was believed to have evolved during the same time as the whales were found out to have existed during the prehistoric era according to the Science World Report news release.

It was also believed that these bone-eating Zombie worms or Osedax have consumed the marine reptiles' carcasses and have originated as early as 100 million years ago.  The marine reptiles include sea turtles and plesiosaurs.

Researcher Nicolas Higgs stated in his news release that these discoveries from deep sea explorations are giving them knowledge of hundreds of unique species.  It has also given them information on how they adapt in extreme and difficult environments in order to survive.

Questions on their origins and their evolution all this time may prove the existence of Osedax and its unusual beauty and adaptation that encapsulates the nature of alien life in deep sea environment.

The Osedax or bone-eating worms have the length and size of a forefinger.  They are usually found all over the glove in the deepest part of the ocean and can penetrate or consume the bone using its tendrils which are root-like and absorb the soft bone collagen and the lipids that are contained in the bones.  It is then converted by the bacteria into their energy inside the worm's body.

The study also revealed that the bones of the wales were not the only food they devour.  Scientists have discovered that fragments from fossils which were taken from plesiosaurs have been found to bear tell-tale signs of holes found within the reptiles' bones.

This research also becomes a strong evidence that the Osedax is present in the ocean and with their ability to consume rapidly a number of skeletons from vertebrates, it only suggests that it may significantly affects the preservation of the marine skeletons in the history's records.