Extremophile Wonders

Life at crushing depths takes forms that challenge our definition of living. Xenophyophores are single-celled organisms that grow to 20 centimeters across — the largest individual cells on Earth — carpeting the abyssal plain.

The amphipod Hirondellea gigas thrives at 11,000 meters in the Mariana Trench, digesting wood that sinks from the surface with enzymes no other known animal has.

Strangest of all, zombie worms (Osedax) bore into whale bones with no mouth, stomach, or eyes. Symbiotic bacteria in their root-like tissue dissolve the bone and feed them.