This fascinating creature carves out quite the niche for itself in an impressive range of conditions, all while expending so little energy it was initially believed to be an inanimate object. A static organism, it is unable to move by its own accord and must depend on the help of … (read more)

This fascinating creature carves out quite the niche for itself in an impressive range of conditions, all while expending so little energy it was initially believed to be an inanimate object. A static organism, it is unable to move by its own accord and must depend on the help of another to do so. Rather than containing a nucleus, the vacant cavern at its core invites any animal capable of fitting within to take refuge. Once a new partner is comfortably lodged inside Veteris armis (old armor), it acts as a protective living shell for its new friend while it benefits from transport to various energy hotspots and pollination zones in exchange. Thick brittle skin and and the resilient form behind it offer formidable protection from what we can only assume are threats we are not yet aware of at this phase in our research.

Flowing like tree bark across its body, it is the perpetual movement of a rumbling shell’s tough hide that gives rise to the signature growl that marked it as the first noisy species of cryptobiotic to ever be documented.