The Biggest Single-Celled Creature in the World

Bright Side

The biggest single-celled creature in the world is a real whopper! We're talking about an organism called the xenophyophore, and it's no joke. These bad boys can grow up to 4 inches in size, which might not sound huge, but for a single cell, that's massive! They live deep down in the ocean, where they gobble up all sorts of tiny particles floating around. So yeah, next time you're swimming in the ocean, just remember – there might be a giant single-celled creature lurking beneath you!  #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00These weird-looking blobs are not just some random jellyballs in the ocean.

00:05Those are some of the biggest organisms with just one cell you'll find on Earth.

00:10And they pop if you squeeze them.

00:13We're looking at a specific type of algae that can be as small as a pinhead and as big as an eyeball.

00:19Or better yet, sailor's eyeball, as they're usually called.

00:23How large it's going to be depends on what's in its vacuole,

00:27which is the space inside of its cell wall.

00:31This organism is made of just one cell, but it can have more than one nucleus.

00:36It's like it has many control centers in just one cell.

00:39This happens because these organisms are so anecytic,

00:42which means they're made up of a bunch of nuclei that don't have walls that would separate them.

00:47These are not some mythical creatures hidden at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

00:51Divers around the world who like to explore coral reefs can stumble upon them.

00:56These algae come in different colors, such as black, bright green, or silvery.

01:01Their color depends on how their cell walls are set.

01:04In some cases, researchers stumbled upon a shiny orb on the seafloor that looked like a golden egg.

01:12The interesting thing is that the egg had a hole in it.

01:16So the question was if something had tried to get out or into this orb.

01:21Hopefully, it was just a jelly blob minding its own business.

01:26Normally, cells don't grow this big.

01:29It would mess up their balance.

01:31If something's too big, the ratio of surface area to volume won't be optimal anymore.

01:36But sailors' eyeballs have their own trick to end up this large.

01:40There are different parts inside them, and each has its own chloroplasts and nucleus.

01:45If you were to pop one of these jelly blobs, it wouldn't just burst like a balloon.

01:50Instead, it would probably pop up because they only need one nucleus for a whole new eyeball to grow.

01:57All this means is it would be hard to have them in aquariums.

02:01But they can at least live peacefully in the ocean, hoping no one will pop them.

02:06Now the question is, if a one-cell thing can grow to be this big, how large can real living beings get?

02:14The biggest animal that has ever walked on our planet was probably a dinosaur called Argentinosaurus,

02:20a giant that lived around 90 million years ago.

02:24We can compare it to the heaviest land creature we have today, the African elephant.

02:30It weighs less than 7 tons.

02:32Gigantic for us, it would look like a bug next to the Argentinosaurus, which weighed around 77 tons.

02:40They both look small next to the blue whale though, with a weight of 165 tons.

02:46That's probably the heaviest animal that has ever lived on Earth.

02:50In theory, and according to the laws of physics, creatures that live on land can gain up to 120 tons.

02:58There's a mathematical principle that explains why animals can't grow indefinitely.

03:03It says, the ratio of two volumes is greater than the ratio of their surfaces.

03:09It means that as some creature gets bigger, not all of its parts get bigger at the same rate.

03:15If the elephant gets three times as wide, tall, and long, its overall size will also increase.

03:22But its mass will increase way, way more than that.

03:27It means the volume will grow faster than the surface of the animal's body.

03:32That's why bigger animals need much larger limbs to support their weight.

03:36The problem is that limbs probably won't be strong enough to carry such an enormous weight.

03:42The only way our imaginary giant elephant could move such a heavy body is by having extremely big and thick legs,

03:50just to walk, let alone do other things.

03:54Physics is not the only element that sets size limits.

03:57Otherwise, we'd have to be very careful not to end up under giant, wide feet of 100-ton animals wandering around.

04:05Another important thing is whether there's enough food for them, because these giants certainly need a lot of it.

04:11It's not just quantity, of course.

04:14Creatures can only grow bigger when they live in productive environments with high-quality foods rich in nutrients.

04:22That probably explains why certain reptiles, such as titanosaurs, grew way bigger than, for example, the biggest mammals that roamed terrestrial areas.

04:32Warm-blooded mammals have faster metabolisms.

04:35That means they need around 10 times more food to support their body sizes than reptiles do.

04:41Reptiles not only have slower metabolisms, but they also have lower body temperatures,

04:47so they can eat less and still feel satisfied.

04:50And they'll grow big anyway, since they don't burn their calories that quickly.

04:55No wonder that the biggest dinosaurs that walked on land were 10 times larger than the biggest mammals.

05:01Now, blue whales are kinda exceptions to all these rules.

05:06They're warm-blooded mammals.

05:08But when you live in the ocean, being a giant is not a big problem.

05:12It's easier to be very large in the water because it takes away lots of stress and pressure from your bones and muscles.

05:19And that's something land animals can't avoid.

05:22That way, blue whales can swim around and look for food the whole day.

05:26They can just casually open their mouth and let zooplankton come in.

05:31So yeah, our planet has proven it can handle megacreatures, because for hundreds of millions of years, some of them walked on land, not just swam in the ocean.

05:41But in the last 20,000 years, most of them have vanished.

05:44Big land mammals such as rhinos and elephants exist only in some parts of the world, and their numbers are getting lower.

05:52There are fewer whales than before.

05:55And for these or some other giant animals to evolve that big again, humans would have to step back.

06:02We may not have gigantic dinosaurs, but some of the creatures living in today's world are still surprisingly and dangerously big.

06:10Like the saltwater crocodile, the biggest reptile in the world.

06:15A male can grow up to 23 feet and weigh about 2,200 pounds.

06:22That's not the only scary thing about them.

06:24They have the second most powerful bite on the planet, right behind that of the Nile crocodile.

06:31The title of the largest bird on Earth belongs to the ostrich.

06:35It has wings, but they're too short for flying.

06:38The animal holds them outstretched when it runs, and this way it stays balanced more easily.

06:44Plus, their body is too big for flying anyway.

06:47That's why evolution had to give them some other advantage, like being able to run very fast.

06:54Don't make an ostrich upset unless you can run faster than 40 miles per hour in short sprints, or at least 30 miles per hour over longer distances.

07:03In just one stride, this bird can cover up to 16 feet, which is how long a mid-sized family car is.

07:12Don't underestimate these fellas just because they're birds.

07:15They have very strong legs they use for self-defense.

07:19They can kick with a force that would take down even a lion.

07:23You wouldn't expect turtles to grow this big and to look so mean.

07:27But somehow, alligator-snapping turtles still manage to surprise us.

07:32With jaws that look like beaks, spiked shells, and thick, scaled tails, they really look like the dinosaur of the turtle world, or the main enemy from Super Mario games.

07:44They love to spend their time in lakes, rivers, and canals of the southeastern United States and live for up to 100 years.

07:52They have chemosensory organs in their necks, which means they can smell using their throats.

07:59That helps a lot because their eyes aren't much of use in the murky waters where they live.

08:04Instead, they just draw water into their throat in a specific method we call gullar pumping.

08:10To get samples of the water around them, they want to smell.

08:13They want…

08:14That's it for today!

08:15So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

08:20Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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