They still live among us …
Giant worms once in the distant past were widely represented on our planet, however, until recently it was believed that this is a relic that has become extinct for many millennia almost everywhere, with the exception of Australia. It was believed that now they live only in Australia, and only in one area of this country - in Southeast Victoria. Giant worms were discovered and described back in 1878 by researcher and biologist Frederick McCoy. However, just a few days ago, science was shocked by the discovery: in South America, too, it turns out, such incredible creatures still live!..
The appearance of mysterious large mounds on the surface in the Los Llanos savannah in South America has found a scientific explanation. According to British scientists from the University of Exeter, the unusual slides were created by giant worms.
The mounds have previously been discovered near the Orinoco River in Colombia and Venezuela. They are called "surales". After studying their composition, the researchers concluded that the bumps are made up of half of the excrement of worms. Surales can be more than 5 meters in diameter, and sometimes their height is 2 meters or more. According to the researchers, hills are formed when worms ingest soil particles in an area of a flooded savanna.
The terrain where surales is found looks bumpy and covered with "bumps" from a bird's eye view. On the ground, it is a swampy area with many mounds.
Research conducted by scientists has shown that termites have nothing to do with the formation of mounds. Surales is created by nine types of worms. Most (almost 93%) are the giant Andiorrhinus worms, which grow up to 1 meter in length.
Recall that the Gobi Desert is also suspected of the existence of giant worms, which even received a separate name: olgoi-khorhoi - a giant annelid worm that acquired a special protective skin in the desert. Indirect evidence suggests that the Gobi is also home to several species (and not one) of such relict creatures, vaguely reminiscent of the terrible creatures from "Dune" by Frank Herbert …
We can watch a short video about the giant olgoe-khorhoi worm from the Gobi Desert:
Promotional video: