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Scientists in Louisiana captured a video showing big insects the size of a football ball devouring a dead alligator that they had placed on the bottom of the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.
In February, scientists Craig McClain, Clifton Nunnally and River Dixon dropped two alligators into the ocean as part of what they described as "the very first experience of reptilian falls".
Researchers at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium wanted a first – hand insight into seabed food networks and what could have happened millions of years ago when reptiles that have disappeared have fallen to the ground. bottom of the ocean.
The state of Louisiana donated the "humanely euthanized" alligators of the study, the researchers said.
What happened?
According to the video, the reptiles were weighed and taken to dozens of kilometers from the Louisiana coast, where they were immersed in the ocean.
In less than 24 hours, "giant isopods of the deep sea" the size of a football began to eat the alligator.
Isopods are related to roly-polies or bedbugs that are found on land.
"These are scavengers that eat dead animals," said one of the researchers in the video.
The pinkish isopods crawled on and inside the dead carcass while gorging themselves throughout the 6-minute video. They ate so quickly that they seemed to become "motionless or stupefied," noted the researchers.
One of the most surprising discoveries is the ease with which the isopods could eat through the hard skin of the dead alligator.
"Obviously, their plucked and crushed mandibles made it easier to work with the skin," the researcher explains in the video.
These types of incidents are described as "food falls" and scientists believe that alligators and crocodiles could be the last source of food for some invertebrates that lived millions of years ago.
"Indeed, alligator and crocodile food scares could be the last refuge of specialized invertebrates that were also found in ancient oceans," according to the video.
First fall of alligator food offshore
Youtube
What else?
The alligator falls could be common in the ocean, according to the video. Hurricanes and other tropical storms are thought to carry reptile fish at sea.
Scientists plan to return to the site in a few months to see what other species the dead alligator could have attracted.
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