Why do these species appear not to die by natural causes? And is death inevitable?Īgeing was described in the mid-20th Century as a trade-off between reproduction and cell maintenance. Their regenerative properties have piqued the interest of biologists looking for evidence of immortality in nature. If you cut a hydra into many pieces, each bit will regrow into a complete, new individual. But they have a remarkable property that makes them a curiosity of biology: they can regenerate. A little like a dandelion seed, with a long body and tuft of tentacles on one end, there's not much to see. Named after the Ancient Greek mythological serpent that could regrow its heads, it is a freshwater relative of jellyfish, anemones and corals. Of all the weird and wonderful aquatic organisms that bob about in our oceans and rivers, you would be forgiven for overlooking the hydra.
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