Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
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- dragonblade
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Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
I reckon that Vorticella could be a contender for the fastest moving life form or perhaps one of the fastest. Though when I read online about what is believed to be the fastest examples of living things, Vorticella is not mentioned. Actually, no microscopic organisms are mentioned. What makes these lists are usually the Peregrine falcon, cheetah and insects.
What really impresses me about Vorticella is the speed at which it retracts. It is blindingly fast. Too fast for our eyes to register. I find it hard to believe that any other life form could be faster.
What really impresses me about Vorticella is the speed at which it retracts. It is blindingly fast. Too fast for our eyes to register. I find it hard to believe that any other life form could be faster.
Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
I think things that use physics to give them speed, like the Peregrine, have a huge advantage over anything relying on muscles. And creatures in a less dense and less viscous medium like air will also have an advantage over creatures in a dense viscous medium.
I bet that if a Peregrine passed under your miscroscope at 200mph it would look really fast!
I bet that if a Peregrine passed under your miscroscope at 200mph it would look really fast!
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Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2134872/
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But on a relative scale (say, body lengths per unit time), Vorticella is quite impressive.
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...which converts to 0.36 km/h. Which is of course not very fast compared to a cheetah.When a Vorticella cell is frightened, it can contract its tail, which contains a striated fiber called the spasmoneme, at a rate of 10 cm/s.
But on a relative scale (say, body lengths per unit time), Vorticella is quite impressive.
- dragonblade
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Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
That is interesting when you put it into perspective. When a cheetah is running, you can clearly see it's movement from point A to point B. But with Vorticella, I cannot see the movement of the contraction of it's tail in real time. My eyes don't register it. I'm not sure if the shorter distance of travel has anything to do with Vorticella appearing to move faster than a cheetah when in actual fact, it is not faster.viktor j nilsson wrote: ↑Sun Dec 20, 2020 8:21 amhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2134872/
Quote:...which converts to 0.36 km/h. Which is of course not very fast compared to a cheetah.When a Vorticella cell is frightened, it can contract its tail, which contains a striated fiber called the spasmoneme, at a rate of 10 cm/s.
But on a relative scale (say, body lengths per unit time), Vorticella is quite impressive.
Lou, a Peregrine falcon flying under my microscope would probably give me quite a shock!
- dragonblade
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Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
Another speedy creature worth mentioning is the mantis shrimp. Apparently, it's strike is equivalent to a low caliber bullet and can even smash glass.
Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
Don't forget, you are looking at it under high magnification. A Peregrine passing through your scope would appear to move at 2000-10000mph. That's faster than a bullet.I'm not sure if the shorter distance of travel has anything to do with Vorticella appearing to move faster than a cheetah when in actual fact, it is not faster.
- iconoclastica
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Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
Which is nothing, compared to how that falcon would feel.Lou, a Peregrine falcon flying under my microscope would probably give me quite a shock!
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- dragonblade
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Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
Oh yea that thought made more sense to me after I made my last post.
And logically, I wouldn't even be able to see the Peregrine falcon flying under my scope. It would be too fast for my eyes to notice. Unless it started in a stationary position and then took off in which case it would look like it suddenly vanished.
Last edited by dragonblade on Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- dragonblade
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Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
Fair point! I think a cheetah running under my scope would feel equally stressed / traumatised.iconoclastica wrote: ↑Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:09 pmWhich is nothing, compared to how that falcon would feel.Lou, a Peregrine falcon flying under my microscope would probably give me quite a shock!
- MarkSturtevant
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Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
As mentioned above, the strike of a mantis shrimp (and for that matter, there is the similarly deadly snapper claw of the pistol shrimp). Non of these rely on muscle, but (I think) more on elastic recoil of very resilient cuticle that stores tremendous energy. A figure I found for the 'smasher' club of a mantis shrimp is 23 meters / sec!
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
Dept. of Still Waters
Re: Vorticella - fastest moving organism?
That's pretty amazing. But having to move through a dense medium like water is a big disadvantage for setting speed records. A peregrine in air travels 90m/s, and not just for an instant.
Of course, the terminal velocity of an elephant falling from a plane is probably even in excess of that....
Edit: Well, the internet is full of elephant terminal velocity calculations. Turns out that it is close to that of a peregrine, with estimates on either side of 90m/s!
Edit 2:https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-toda ... 68/?page=1
Looks like a skydiver with a trained falcon has measured the actual speed of the peregrine by diving with it. 240mph max!
Of course, the terminal velocity of an elephant falling from a plane is probably even in excess of that....
Edit: Well, the internet is full of elephant terminal velocity calculations. Turns out that it is close to that of a peregrine, with estimates on either side of 90m/s!
Edit 2:https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-toda ... 68/?page=1
Looks like a skydiver with a trained falcon has measured the actual speed of the peregrine by diving with it. 240mph max!