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Scientists have discovered mushroom-shaped alien-like creatures dredged from the depths of the sea strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania.
The two species were called Dendrogramma, after researchers found that they could not be categorised in any existing phylum – large families of living things.
They are made up of an outer skin and inner stomach separated by a thick layer of jelly-like substance, and were caught at depths of 400-1,000 metres off the eastern area of the Bass Strait during a 1986 cruise.
Danish Lead Scientist Dr Jorgen Oleson, from the University of Copenhagen, said: “New mushroom-shaped animals from the deep sea have been discovered which could not be placed in any recognised group of animals.
“Two species are recognised and current evidence suggest that they represent an early branch on the tree of life, with similarities to the 600 million-year-old extinct Ediacara fauna.”
Recently discovered mammalsShow all 7 1 /7Recently discovered mammals Recently discovered mammals Other recently discovered mammals The olinguito was the first carnivorous mammal species discovered in the Americas since 1978
Getty
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PA
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AP
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AP
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Reuters
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EPA
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PA
The species have now been named Dendrogramma enigmatica and Dendrogramma discoides, with all of the team’s research detailed in a paper in the journal Public Library of Science ONE .
The rarest animals in the worldShow all 23 1 /23The rarest animals in the world The rarest animals in the world Goblin shark Dubbed the "alien of the deep", the goblin shark was caught by a commercial fisherman off the coast of Eden, New South Wales. The carcass of the terrifying looking creature was then donated to the Australian Museum in Sydney so that it could be dissected
YouTube/Australian Museum
The rarest animals in the world Glass frog Scientists in South America have discovered a brand new species of frog – and he’s a dead ringer for Kermit the frog. Hyalinobatrachium dianae is an inch-long glass frog with identical bright green skin, a translucent belly, and bulging white eyes with black pupils. The new species found by Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center on the Talamanca hills of the country, was named after the senior researcher’s mother Diane and brought the total known species of glass frogs on the island to 14
BBC via YouTube
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YouTube
The rarest animals in the world Frilled shark A rare and terrifying frilled shark has been pulled from the water by fishermen near Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia. Also known as the "living fossil", the frilled shark is named for its six pairs of frill-like gills. The shark’s origin dates back 80 million years, and is one of two species that is still alive from this period
SETFA
The rarest animals in the world Black Sea Devil anglerfish Researchers in the US have released what they believe to be the first video footage showing a bizarre-looking Black Sea Devil anglerfish in the wild. As anglerfish live in the deep sea, they are very rarely seen in their natural habitat, and fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video in the wild, according to experts at the Monterrey Bay Acquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
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AP Photo/Meghan LaPlante
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AP
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CONANPHO/AFP/Getty Images
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Peter Liley, Moffat Beach, Queensland
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AP/Satyabhama Das Biju
The rarest animals in the world Kakapo Conservationists in New Zealand are celebrating after an extremely rare kakapo chick hatched from a cracked egg held together by nothing more than tape and glue. The bird joins a global kakapo population of just 125 birds
Creative Commons. Photo: jidanchaomian, via Flickr.
The rarest animals in the world Migaloo the white whale Migaloo the white whale, sighted at the Bernard Islands
Twitter/Migaloo the Whale
The rarest animals in the world Domed land snail Living in complete darkness more than 900 metres below the surface has left this tiny snail with no pigmentation in its shell. Discovered in the caves of western Croatia the Zospeum tholussum is also a slow mover, creeping just a few centimeters each week.
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Conrad Hoskin
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PA
The rarest animals in the world Megamouth shark An extremely rare female deep-water megamouth shark has been caught off the coast of Shizuoka, Japan, and is believed to be only the 58 sighting of the animal on record
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youtube
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Irish Farmers Journal
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PA
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Sea Shepherd/EPA
The rarest animals in the world Stone curlew The stone curlew is one of the UK's most threatened birds and has recently returned from their wintering grounds in Africa and Spain
Getty Images
The rarest animals in the world Mascarene Petrel A unique photograph has been taken of a bird with a visible egg showing after experts sent to study a critically endangered Mascarene Petrel on a remote Indian Ocean tropical island encountered an undeniably pregnant member of the species
Hadoram Shirihai
The rarest animals in the world Albino cobra A "very dangerous and venomous" albino cobra has been found in a suburban Los Angeles neighbourhood after escaping from a home there
Dept. of Animal Care and Control, County of Los Angeles
Their discovery could totally reshape the animal family tree, the National Geographic has said, with the creatures a contender for one of its earliest branches.
Leonid Moroz, a Neurobiologist at the University of Florida, said the new species could “rewrite whole textbooks in zoology.”
The team is now expected to look for other examples of the mushroom-like animals.
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