Something Has Been Making This Mark For 500 Million Years

Paleodictyon, a hexagonal-patterned fossil, is a bit of a mystery. We don’t even know if it’s a trace fossil, or the organism itself. So… what could it be?
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References: docs.google.com/document/d/1V...

[@AvelierPlays]

Only explanation is…intergalactic bees coming to Earth to turn the planet into a giant honey pot

[@rickb3078]

Most likely explanation indeed. I was thinking the same

[@troylentz6580]

I mean any other conclusion would just be ridiculous

[@solomonthefoolish]

Brand new sentence right here folks step right up

[@jimmylaze]

It's bee people 100%

[@SophiaAstatine]

Lava bees

[@jokervynehahaha5568]

Even amongst fossilized mysteries, hexagons are the bestagons.

[@restezlameme]

Most underrated comment

[@EG-hy9mv]

They're better than all the restagons

[@DrBunnyMedicinal]

Y'all are shapist! ;D

[@wateringplamts2382]

needs more likes!!

[@Lorachzwan]

Average CGP Grey Enjoyer

[@ryanwalsh5019]

Hexagonal stacking is actually the most physically efficient pattern. If you put a bunch of round bubbles together, they will actually make this pattern.

[@dannycorrea6773]

I've seen that, always found it cool that it defaulted to hexagons.

[@LineOfThy]

PEOPLE? WHAT SHAPE IS THE BESTAGON

[@TheTuxedoCreeper]

There's a hexagon cloud at the poles of the Saturn.

[@dirk-hennerlankenau4899]

honey combs

[@harryniedecken5321]

​@@TheTuxedoCreeper Yes that is there and completely expected based on how thermal convection works. You can see the same effect in some cloud formations from a passenger jet looking down.

[@mersito3955]

I'm swiss and I've found a rock with this honeycomb pattern while hicking in the alps. I thought it was a piece of concrete from a bunker or something like that. I never thought it was a fossil.

[@WeWereOnline]

it is most likely ancient building.

[@aphanez]

@@WeWereOnline Actually, unless it was somewhere where buildings were or had been, it most likely wasn't. And given that people hiking in the Alps are statistically far more likely to be in areas where there aren't buildings in their locale, then it's also more likely not to be from a building.

[@WeWereOnline]

@@aphanez have you ever considered a cataclysm?

[@toodlesX14]

What a surprisingly thrilling fossil! The jump from "we don't know what this is" to "oh, it looks like it's still alive today" to "but....we still can't figure out what it is..." our world is just so endlessly mysterious and exciting!

[@ryanadcox2654]

Something I think is interesting is that it could be made from frequency given off from earth. At the bottom of the ocean we see this perfect hexagonal pattern formed near the surface and requires not much weight to be on to so it can form. At the surface land level bees form perfect hexagonal designs and studies on how bees inform other members of the hive where flowers are is done through a "dance" where they state that clockwise and counterclockwise rotation plus the time taken to do this give direction but, they also shake during this which isn't mentioned as useful even though to me bees would navigate using 3 points since they fly. Finally perfect snowflakes also form symmetrical hexagonal patterns as they form in the atmosphere.

[@DianaDeLuna]

@@ryanadcox2654 Basalt erodes in hexagonal columns as well (think "Devil's Tower" & Giant's Causeway). Then there's the hugest hexagon in the solar system on the north pole of Saturn! What's up with nature settling into hexagons?

[@mikethompson2745]

Fish egg beds. Squishy spheres aligned together will make that pattern. Think on it. You're welcome, - Not my real name, attribute "in honor of Da Vinci"

[@donivanpotter2762]

Hell, people can't even accept the fact transgender people are born. It amazes me how ignorant most people are and how truly little we know even about the human race.

[@mikethompson2745]

@@donivanpotter2762 ... I could interpret that a few ways... the interpretation most likely what you mean doesn't fair well for you.

[@CyBirr]

One of the stranger episodes. The fact there is modern remains and zero confirmed source organism... amazing.

[@austinwald2731]

I found a couple interesting specimens near Bismarck, ND, where there was once a large inland ocean. I thought they were honeycombs, but seeing as how they were found with a variety of other marine fossils, it must be Paleodictyon! One of the ones I found is even agatized!

[@benvinar2876]

There 3d cubes , the nature of space

[@mm-qd1ho]

Not necessarily. Look up images of Petoskey stones and fossilized Hexagonaria corals.

[@gregkientop559]

Among the first fossils I found as a child. I followed a passion to become a geologist, now retired. Thank You for a great video!

[@Dee-jp7ek]

That's hilarious, every single time I'm nerding out about how little we know about the ocean I also need to include a little 'but not megalodon' because everybody's so hell bent on insisting it might still be out there

[@boyinblue.]

Every time I talk to my grandmother about extinct animals I preface with "it is no longer alive" and she still tries to say it could still be out there.

[@BigChapDidNothingWrong]

Who's to say it isn't Megalodon creating these patterns?

[@cwillis92]

@@boyinblue. I mean technically she has a point there have been multiple examples of species thought to be extinct, just for scientist to find the animals years sometimes decades later.

[@boyinblue.]

@@cwillis92 She is one of the Bigfoot crazed people, she keeps telling me that she thinks mammoths are in the artic causing earthquakes. I'm pretty sure her points are just coming from those paranormal shows.

[@cwillis92]

@@boyinblue. aww yea that's a bit much. It's always crazy how even the most logical ideas can still lead us to some of the most illogical ideas in other areas of life lol

[@KooriPlays]

"Who knows what the next dive will bring us? Not Megalodon, that's for sure." Crushing dreams with facts and logic.

[@Krishnath.Dragon]

Eh, we might discover another giant fish, or another species of giant squid. You never know.

[@youtubealt243]

Honestly, we’re more likely to find a fish sized mosasaur species than megalodon

[@modliving]

These are likely formed like honeycomb. They are not formed in a hexagonal shape. They are circles placed next to each other and the tension creates the hexagon

[@sandruu]

You know, I once found a bucket in the sea taken over by a web of coral in hexagon shape while scuba diving.

[@gabe4804]

One of my favorite fossils, because ot literally represents what's fascinating about paleontolgy: it's like being a detective of the natural science, putting together the little clues you have to solve mysteries sometimes as old as life itself.

[@johannageisel5390]

Scientists: "What are you?" Paleodictyon: ...⬡⬡⬡⬡⬡⬡... Scientists: "That's no answer." Paleodictyon: ..........

[@wallylasd]

Maybe they are related to bees

[@PondScummer]

@@wallylasd highly unlikely

[@allocater2]

reminded me of the quote: "Starfleet was founded to seek out new life - well, there it sits! ...waiting."

[@johannageisel5390]

@@wallylasd Or they are related to things that have realized that hexagons are one of only three geometrical figures with which you can tile an even surface completely. :) (The other two being squares and triangles.)

[@judeangione3732]

This is gonna sound crazy but I have been thinking about this for a long time. There are other hexagons in nature - think Devil's Causeway and honeycomb. Here's the thing, if circles are packed touching each other and they expand, they turn into hexagons. There is an easy experiment you can try at home. Get a tube of refrigerator biscuits - not homemade, they have to be perfect circles - put them in a baking pan where they just touch. Bake them and when you take out the pan - hexagonal biscuits. My theory is that you end up with hexagons in nature because there was something there that was originally round - a round organism, a tube, a drop of water, an air bubble. Then they either expand or contract - Devil's Causeway - and voila hexagons. Is it possible that some of this stuff is merely geometry at work in nature.

[@alexanderlapp5048]

You just gave me an idea. If biscuits were cut into hexagons instead of circles, there wouldnt be waste dough between the biscuits when they are cut out.

[@ArsenicDrone]

You could have written something a lot more crazy than that. Perhaps there's evidence out there that the source of the fossils is organic, but I wonder if it's not even produced by an organism, but by crystallization of some sort. It would be a bit more surprising if the modern things on the sea floor weren't made by an organism, though.

[@lordmeow7241]

@@alexanderlapp5048 is this the start of a cookie revolution??!

[@keirfarnum6811]

And many places with basaltic columns. You can find them in multiple places in the US; including the Devil’s Tower which is composed of such basaltic columns. I have been a number of places where they can be found on the side of the road where a highway has been cut right through them.

[@shamblesgalore7468]

Cookie theory is true, I've baked many

[@brutalbrital]

I found an ancient ocean basin above my house in the hills , I found many fossils and won an award for them at high school. I also found many hexagon fossils as well. I never knew what caused them…until now

[@diliscollective9743]

you still dont know. not for sure, at least

[@willcass8494]

The flood

[@harryhicks404]

I found a stone with the honeycomb pattern on my farm in Alabama. I believe the rocks there were from an ancient mud flat that may had hosted sea life and or simply foamed with bubbles that became stone. A lot of conglomerate there so it developed around different geological events.

[@67comet]

It's the crazy "We have no idea" stuff that makes my ears perk up. I loved the feeling when we found the first planet(s). It is a life experience to go from "We don't know" to "We found an answer" .. Great job as always Kelli (and yes, I know I probably spelled that wrong).

[@Games_and_Music]

You probably meant exoplanets, haha, or, you're just _reeeaaallly_ old.

[@67comet]

@@Games_and_Music correct.. Exo

[@limiv5272]

These videos have end credits with the names of all the people who worked on them if you're curious. They list "Kallie Moore" as one of the hosts, that must be her [seems they don't change the credits per episode to reflect who the current host was]

[@kaboomsihal1164]

Lmao someone just outed themselves as a vampire I see

[@fandroid6491]

@@67comet The boy band? Oh no I've been listening too many Kpop songs lately

[@LieseFury]

Being a protist doesn't mean it's necessarily related to algae and amoebas. it's just the box we throw everything into when it's not an animal, plant. fungus, bacteria, or archaea.

[@tsmspace]

I'm an antitist

[@BackYardScience2000]

@@tsmspace you mean antitheist?

[@TiagoH1710]

@@BackYardScience2000 no, a non-protist xD

[@tsmspace]

@@BackYardScience2000 well, not a protist anyway

[@adhoclavaman]

Ah, seaweed. The plantiest non-plant to ever plant.

[@scraps7624]

8:12 "As if perhaps they were doing some sort of hydroponics things to farm their poop bacteria" Man what a sentence that was

[@megardyn]

All PBS Eons videos are pretty good, but for this one, the sound design really shines. The music is so fitting for the subject matter. Great job to the sound editor!

[@PotRoast666]

I was just thinking how unneeded the music is.

[@PendragonDaGreat]

I remember watching an IMAX movie about an expedition to find these guys probably 15 years ago, but I could never remember the name "paleodictyon" and I was beginning to think the entire thing was a dream, until just now with this vid.

[@patlee8539]

YES. I saw that film, but I could never remember the name! I even tried to Google it once, but I couldn't find it!

[@mirthenary]

@@patlee8539 It's called Volcanoes of the Deep Sea, I've had a blu ray copy of it for years

[@troutwarrior6735]

It’s actually not too unbelievable when you think of the geometric shapes that appear in molecules (such as carbon rings), or especially the hexagonal shape of honeycomb. Now I’m just a curious as to what made this!

[@brentweissert6524]

honeycomb is right. contrary to popular opinion, bees do not make honeycomb structures; they make round structures which, when they crowd in on each other, become hexagonal.. i wonder if a similar process is at work here.

[@Caio-sw7hh]

o think it has something to do with the stability of the angles inside, although, when you study carbon rings deeper, you learn that they arent exact hexagons, they have boat and hat arrengements, cause molecules are 3D

[@onebylandtwoifbysearunifby5475]

@@pbajnow Saturn's pole has a pentagonal ring caused by a double vortex. Oddly, we know what causes that, but not the ocean floor hexagons. Jupiter has a hexagonal pole vortex. It's remarkable such huge shapes exist in nature. And how small these shapes get too, atomic scale. This one is a puzzler. Hopefully we don't drive it to extinction before we figure out what caused these hexagons

[@georgeuferov1497]

Because hexagon is the bestagon

[@superluminalsquirrel9359]

@@brentweissert6524 I’ve never heard this, more research is needed. ADHD dive into bees incoming lol

[@CristhianYi]

This exact pattern forms when some viscosity exists on the floor level and there is resonance from water above it, check videos of the honeycomb pattern formed on honey when water is stirred gently on top of it. Not so crazy to recreate on this medium.

[@KaiiWinter-nw4vi]

That kind of digestive adaptation would be a useful trait to engineer .

[@ScooBdont]

I have a few fossils that have this honeycomb pattern. there are relatively common where I live in southern Indiana. I put them in vinegar overnight and it really exposes the individual cells and remnants of what was inside them. Great video 🙂👍 Edit: Just to be clear, the fossils I’m referring to are not fossils of the same creature featured in this vid, it just has the same honeycomb pattern ✌️🙂

[@leagarner3675]

Ikr, I have a similar. I'm in Iowa. I assumed someone, just not me, knew what it was

[@PerfectionHunter]

Got any Twitter where we can see pictures of these bathed in vinegar?

[@GTaichou]

Same here on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin!

[@ScooBdont]

@@PerfectionHunter for some reason I can’t say goo gull in the comments or it gets erased. This will be the third time I’ve tried to reply to you. Search the G word for “fossils in vinegar” or something similar. It’s commonly used to clean and/or expose fossils

[@butterybiscuit346]

Fellow Hoosier here, but more north. Didnt know we had common bestagon fossils hanging around.

[@crystaldragon471]

I've found similar specimens in Utah near an extinct hot spring/ volcanic dome. The rocks are travertine calcite, and contain traces of petrified and/or mummiffied plant materials. The area was notably under water during deposition and would have been a geothermal vent where the specimens were found.

[@_Painted]

Maybe they are extremophiles, flourishing inside volcanic vents and expanding out to the surrounding sea floor at times when the water is heated during periods of volcanic activity. When the water cools, or maybe when some vented material dissipates, they retreat back into the vents or die off.

[@_Painted]

Maybe when a hot spring or vent brings up certain sulfur compounds or petroleum, this creature colonizes the area, scavenging the chemicals as its food source. It could even be a familiar organism that changes its behavior to build the hexagon structures only in certain scenarios to take advantage when an underwater eruption provides its favorite food. Or maybe it builds and uses the structures as a survival tactic only when food is particularly scarce or the environment is hostile. Maybe when exposed to rising levels of toxic gases, it builds the hexagons as a filtered environment to live in until a return to more livable conditions.

[@crystaldragon471]

@@_Painted I've thought maybe they are a crustacean that built hives similar to a wasp/muddobber that would have, as you said, sought food sources around geothermal vents. Or perhaps even some kind of organized microbial colonies or some kind of coral-like organism. Hard to say, but I tend to believe it is biological in origin.

[@keirfarnum6811]

I like my giant bee hypothesis. 😆

[@benvinar2876]

There 3d cubes, the nature of space

[@xemiii]

this is by far the most interesting I've ever heard of in paleontology or biology, looks so surreal and other-wordly

[@jforce91]

So with no organic remains associated with the fossils, and no one home in the actual burrows on the sea floor (so far) are we sure this isnt some gas (or fluid) escape structure, which would be why it's so common in turbidites and near hydrothermal vents?

[@cameronstewart8561]

I found paleodyction in core CT scans. Pyrite formed in the fossil which highlighted highlighted it in CT. As I was viewing the scans, I saw the flashes of hexagonal patterns with depth. It was thrilling.

[@Zappygunshot]

I don't suppose you have any images or footage of that? Because if you do, and you're at liberty to share them, I imagine that'd look super interesting! And who knows, it might give someone more educated than I some ideas they hadn't thought of yet ;)

[@coyleigh6902]

Big deal.

[@WarPigstheHun]

Did you catch it and eat it? If so what does paleodycteon taste like?

[@benvinar2876]

It's the fabric of space.

[@-oiiio-3993]

@@benvinar2876 The 'fabric of space isn't Spandex?

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

This story of elusive sub-surface organisms reminds me of my experiences as a kid on the beaches of Georgia and its neighboring states: These beaches had common things that would squirt water (actually usually a mixture of water and sand) up after a wave would retract . . . and no matter how hard I tried I could never find the responsible organism. I also noticed that the beaches had plenty of tiny rapidly burrowing clams (Donax variabilis?), which would be plausible candidates for a squirting organism, but these didn't seem to do that.

[@fried-dodo-thigh]

Those are hermit crabs. If you dig deep and quick enough you can catch them.

[@richardcarter9107]

I'm in SC, and love the beaches.

[@supme7558]

Thats cuz they dig once you start to

[@jsmcguireIII]

The study site is so extreme it’s like a mars mission.

[@taytayz3]

I found these all the time. Crystalized so beautiful when they sparkle ✨️

[@joemerino3243]

Inexplicable geometric markings from across the unbridgeable gulfs of time, made by organisms native to the fuliginous abyss, still extant, yet totally unknown to modern science? Lovecraft would have loved this episode.

[@Ragnarra]

Indeed he would have.

[@tomspoors768]

​@@Ragnarra Perhaps he wrote it...😐

[@Krane2000]

Do we know for sure these tubes are made by an organic creature? I know hexagons show up a lot in things like thermal geology, and if they’re found on the sea floor near vents it might be related to that?

[@elijazfrazelsassafraz3100]

I feel like the people working on this have probably either ruled that out or they don't have enough info to do that yet.

[@rdizzy1]

Can probably tell by the chemical make up of the fossil, or samples from these in the ocean, there would inherently be chemical deposits from the venting.

[@abebuckingham8198]

Hexagonal lattices are a common crystal shape but typically they'd get this property from their molecular structure and it becomes less uniform as you scale up. These are uniform at large scales and made of sediment so that suggests a living creature rather than a geological phenomenon.

[@ericray1676]

My Sister Gave Me Something Like That. She Said She Found It Near Rock Home Garden, In Illinois. The One I Have Looks Better Than Any You Showed. Different, Kinda More Tan. One Side Has Geometric Shapes. The Other Side Looks Like Kind of Tubes. It is My Favorite Rock. I Wish I Had A Camera So I Could Show You How Cool it Is. I Saw Your Picture, And Thought I Had Coral. I Am Glad, It Is Much More.

[@CusterSurvivors]

I found a large chunk of this on my Texas property. It's definitely dried/fossilized mud, but the walls are hypnotizing. Three inches (~1 cm) in depth.

[@WildFyreful]

This is a fossil I've *never* heard of before now. Fascinating!

[@lubetester]

I live on a farm in Northern Illinois on top of the Marengo Ridge, and every year after the plows come through the fields, I find these.

[@annameowwwwww]

Volcanoes of the Deep Sea (2003) covers this topic! It has always been one of my favorite films

[@cowboygeologist7772]

Interesting video; thanks for posting.

[@kmk8284]

As CGP grey once said: Hexagons are the bestagons

[@geoffzuo9831]

Very cool, would like to see more content on the more ambiguous stuff like this

[@pwned689]

See their podcast!

[@KellyClowers]

Pretty sure they have an episode about the Tully Monster

[@SandyRiverBlue]

I'm thinking of an animal that feeds a lot like a woodpecker. With the top layer of the sediment being less soluble than its underlying layer, as soon as an opening is made along with a counter shaft the sub strata of sediment dissolves and is carried away resulting in the hexagonal concavities.

[@TheDaggwood]

I'd be curious what a cross section of a hexagon finds. Performing a simple mineral analysis would answer most questions.

[@ericwilson8867]

I love how in science, "we don't know yet" is just as interesting as an actual answer, sometimes even more.

[@WanderTheNomad]

I like it when there are multiple competing theories for what it is and all of them are equally possible until further evidence is found.

[@demonzabrak]

@@WanderTheNomad *appear equally possible The rules, while including things like observer effects, are not themselves subject to observation effects. The right answer was right the whole time, it only appeared to be as likely as the other wrong answers. The difference is subtle, but important.

[@WanderTheNomad]

@@demonzabrak I didn't think I would ever say this, but isn't that just semantics?

[@demonzabrak]

@@WanderTheNomad in a surprising plot twist, semantics are important. It’s literally how any of us can convey information reliably. (Yes. It is 100% semantics. Feel free to ignore the rest) That said, I’ll try and make more sense. The original phrasing you used implies that the rules of physics become concrete and definite when observed, which is something you should avoid implying about a rule set that includes literal changes based on if something is observed or not. Double slit experiment, electron uncertainty, quantum states changing between entangled particles, things of that nature. It muddies the waters a bit, and I kinda feel like a lot of modern problems could be significantly mitigated if we were all sorta just better at communicating. So I make a lot of semantic arguments and meta arguments about other peoples arguments to people on KZbin. It’s basically trolling, but in a way that hopefully makes people better at communicating.

[@WanderTheNomad]

@@demonzabrak If your goal is improving people's communication skills, this seems like quite the roundabout way to do it.

[@liambohl]

Maybe paleodictyon lives as a biofilm on the walls of the tubes? Or maybe it's something with legs that digs and maintains the burrows like an ant? This is such a fascinating find!

[@Bluepizza1684]

all i can think of is sea ants and how wierd they might look (edit: so there is a species that is called a sea ant/lice but i was thinking more litteral sea ants)

[@limiv5272]

Hmmm could a biofilm create tubes? That would be scary

[@PondScummer]

considering it's age it might be unlikely to be anything with legs

[@DelinahLovesHouseBunnies]

The host said that it couldn't be dug burrows, because the corners were too sharp (4:11-4:22). Given the info in this video, which is all I know so far, I'm leaning toward paleodictyon being a glass sponge, rather than a xenophyophore. But, I wonder if it could possibly be both!? Could a xenophyophore have symbiotically combined with a glass sponge, the way algae combined with corals? Mmm, or maybe not symbiotically; hiding in the hexagonal tubes and waiting for the food to be swept in would benefit the xenophyophore in feeding and avoiding predation, but I'm not sure how the glass sponge would benefit from the arrangement. ////Bunny kisses for all!

[@Blessed_by_Yeshua]

I could write forever about this subject. From the tiniest particles to the largest things in the universe, hexagons are everywhere. Molecular structures that make up chemicals are hexagons that are three dimensional, possibly four dimensional. I had a near death experience and when I lifted my head up I saw what I said was “golden honeycomb.” I muttered “golden honeycomb” over and over again. There were billions and billions or trillions of them three-dimensional as far as the eye could see. I couldn’t see past them. I knew if I walked in that direction I would walk through the veil and I would be dead and in a heavenly realm. Two years later my father died and when he did, I felt his body move through me or was pulled through me by the Holy Spirit or an angel. As he was pulled through me I felt him in every molecule of my body and saw that same golden hexagonal pattern across his forehead as he passed through me. I could feel it. I don’t know how to explain it other than to say I could feel the hexagons I could feel my father‘s presence I could hear him. He said four words to me that he had never said in my lifetime. It was hard for him to express himself. He wasn’t taught growing up by his parents to say I love you or express pride in his offspring. He said “I’m proud of you.“ I heard it in every tiny molecule of my body. Then as he faded through me and away I jumped up and down and laughed and cried and threw my arms up in the air, saying “thank you.“ He had given me the best gift I really ever got in my life. Hexagons are the foundation of everything. I am so surprised that people who have near death experiences don’t describe anything like that happening.

[@helm2505]

schizoposting

[@prestonbacchus4204]

It's left over from a fossilized fungal colony formation.

[@BoomBoomBrucey]

The only thing we know for sure is, hexagons are bestagons.

[@richardedgemon758]

That allergy test comparison was so specific but I'm shocked at how accurate that is. Eons sure does know their audience 😂

[@ChristopherSibert]

Those sand holes are setting of my Trypophobia ick 🤣

[@JDrwal2]

I found exactly the same stone with the same pattern on a river bank in Rochester Hills, Michigan, USA. That is near the Great Lakes.

[@Beryllahawk]

The first thing I thought on seeing the fossil was "beehive" - and then I thought about just how common a hexagonal shape can be in certain things. Like chemistry, right? It's kind of a natural form that performs certain functions, but there's so MANY functions that can link to that arrangement - definitely a puzzler!! And fascinating that even though they found modern "new" ones, there was no one home?! That's so weird and wondrous!

[@fubberpish3614]

beehive was my first thought as well! but if it's known from 500 million years ago from deep sea sediments, I don't think it's a beehive :P

[@audreydeatherage2131]

check out the video "hexagons are the bestagons" by CGP Grey!

[@Beryllahawk]

@@audreydeatherage2131 Yeah! That's a great one!

[@johnfreeman4435]

Hollow hexagons occurring is no surprise, since any group of multiple things of malleable form, but equal size (like bubbles), will automatically seek to fill in as densely as possible (because gaps are weak spots, and as 'nature abhors a vacuum', natural movement will 'seek' to fill in the weaknesses in the pattern) and form hexagons. However, what makes these formations so interesting is that they are solid hexagons with hollow sides (tubes)! This means it's NOT forming from the automatic process of the settling of malleable equal size bodies, but forms theoretically UNDER a fully opaque mass (mud), yet with extreme regularity! As the diagram showed when she was talking about the vent tubes not all being the same height, those vent tubes form in the MIDDLE of single submerged tube lines, NOT at the intersections...but how did those positions end up so constantly equidistant, and spaced exactly as needed to keep from crowding any OTHER coming (or prior) tube positions? The tube height difference WOULD seem to point to the organism(s?) originating from the center point and expanding outward, but then WHY would the tubes be so perfectly spaced in relation to each other even as it expanded outward?? Logic (and normal biological patterns) would call for the arrangement to get more widely spaced the further the growth of the creature (colony?) got from the point of origin, yet in total denial of that tendency to expand through growth, the pattern remains consistent, no matter how far from the high tube 'center' of the organism (colony). And the fact that ALL tubes connect to ALL OTHER tubes in the same way, without ever breaking away on the edges... I'd never been aware of this fossil before this video (that I recall, I'm old enough that memory no longer serves so well), and I find the whole thing fascinating!

[@Cocollyt]

Sonja, you gotta watch CGP Grey’s hexagon video. It’s fascinating. I’d link it but KZbin will assume I’m a bot, it’s easy to find and worth a watch. ✨

[@diegog1853]

I was about to comment something like: We will never know what could possibly have made such strange fossils. Then a miracle happens, the strange animal actually is still alive among us (Edit: we might have to improve our mining craft in order to excavate these seemingly fallen guys out of their sub-aquatic forts at night), how often does that happen? And still... we don't know what it is, such a bizarre mix of events.

[@PigeonLord]

It happens more often than you’d think; I mean, it’s still unlikely and quite rare but they’re called Lazarus taxon. I’m not sure if that applies to this thing entirely since it never really disappeared from the fossil record, but was found to still exist in modern times after fossils of it were found… so maybe?

[@JohnVKaravitis]

English, please.

[@diegog1853]

@@JohnVKaravitis Sorry, not first language.

[@assgoblin-uh9zu]

@@diegog1853 Your english is perfectly fine. Perhaps John was referring to some of the scientific terminology in Pigeon Lord's comment?

[@brunona7361]

Amogus

[@mrhassell]

Bees are central to pollination of many plants, evolved on Earth. It stands to reason, Bees!

[@the6ig6adwolf]

That's the tread pattern of a Vans shoe.

[@tiktaalik7160]

I’m confused. The only reason we found these things living today was because we found the holes they make. They use those holes to feed with. Despite that, we found no dna and nothing inside it, like it was already abandoned. But it had to have been there, since the only reason we found it was because of the holes it uses to feed with. Did I miss something or did this just make things weirder?

[@eljanrimsa5843]

We shot a squirt gun at it.

[@BobbyHill26]

She mentioned that sediment only builds up in the areas they are found at a rate of 1 cm every 650 years or something like that, so these whole could be abandoned for decades or even centuries and would be nearly unchanged in appearance.

[@tiktaalik7160]

@@BobbyHill26 oooo yah that makes sense.

[@limiv5272]

@@BobbyHill26 I really hope whatever made these shapes hasn't gone extinct in that time

[@smittywerben1849]

@@limiv5272 well the bottom of the ocean is pretty much untouched by humans thankfully so whatever it is it has a better chance down there.

[@lizzykay9912]

The regular pattern reminded me of something you'd see with a sand dollar on the shore, they burrow and leave regular patterns. So I would have guessed something from the urchin family (Clypeasteroida) , but it's amazing to have such clear fossil records going back so far with little change.

[@mjfrohlich]

Will there be more Eons podcasts made? They're so neat! I listen to them when I'm lying in bed. They're relaxing, but also compelling.

[@anarchistangler]

Looks like when you scrape barnacles off something.

[@tokilladaemon]

Im so mad that I did an entire marine biology degree and no one ever mentioned this

[@MrZoomZone]

dont be mad, it's a fossil. It might have been land based - like ancestors of bees building these things ... for their degree courses.

[@joshuamidgette4846]

Obviously, they are hangars for ancient mini robots.

[@charlesw9875]

Nature's really the most extraordinary thing. I like the commentator's style - easy on the ear, but yet engaging.

[@noatrope]

"But what about the IOUIs?" "Invertebrates of Uncertain Identity? I don't think they exist."

[@r-pupz7032]

Hexagons are the bestagons. Nature knows what's up ✨

[@jayw6034]

I used to find myself thinking "I mean, really though?" when I watched scifi. Then I hear about stuff like this and then I realize how unimaginative scifi really is compared to real life.

[@pauloazuela8488]

Writers are humans whatever inspiration we have is always connected to what we know . Being too abstract in Sci-fi can also ended up ruining it like a random brush stroke of paints that doesn't resemble anything

[@mnomadvfx]

It's not that sci fi is unimaginative. It's more that the process of natural selection is the ultimate random number generator for species differentiation. The human brain cannot hope to compete with over 600 million years of continuity with that process .

[@larsonfamilyhouse]

Truth is stranger than fiction.

[@waleedkhalid7486]

Love the jab at the history channel at the end.

[@vomm]

My first thought was: Crystals.

[@PharaohFluidity]

Mind-blower, wow. Seems that the hexagonal formations have a maximum size, which steers me away from corals, sponges, mollusk colonies, worm colonies, bacteria and fungi. An individual organism is my best guess. Echinodermata, the starfish family have very geometric shapes and a limited size.

[@sugarfrosted2005]

5:15 Protist is more or less a junk drawer. They can be as related to each other as plants are to animals.

[@spellingquestionable]

Insects were at their largest around 300 million years ago, during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods. This was the time of the griffinflies, giant dragonfly-like insects with wingspans of up to 28 inches. Heritage Daily The Carboniferous period lasted from about 359 to 299 million years ago. Fossils from this period show that giant dragonflies and huge cockroaches were common. The Paleozoic era, which lasted from 542 to 250 million years ago, is divided into six periods. The last two periods, the Carboniferous and the Permian, saw the development of the largest insects.

[@darianbell9614]

The pattern immediately makes my brain go to those videos where they set sand on top of speakers and the vibrations cause the sand to form into a complex geometric patterns.

[@timsullivan4566]

What about sea-bees? Underwater honeycomb - why not?

[@westrim]

At the beginning I thought "seems obvious to me that it's the cells of a nest for larvae or eggs" and I still think that.

[@robseraphine]

MIND BLOWN

[@lazarusrat6159]

IDK if it's possible but it would be really cool if they found out it was a really really ancient thing like, from the time of Charnia.

[@edschultheis9537]

It is not a surprise that these are nested and hexagonal in shape. Such a hexagonal shape is simply the most efficient way to approximate a round hole (or cell) while covering a comparably large area and while leaving no unused spaces between cells. Honey bees have also figured this out. Another example... When many round balls are put onto a 2-dimensional surface and then bunched together, they will ALWAYs bunch together in a hexagonal pattern, as that is the position which requires the least energy to maintain its shape.

[@gottathinkupanewone]

I used to have a Y-shaped piece of fossil like that. I always just assumed it had once been part of an organism from the bottom of a long-gone body of water. It just had the look of a petrified organism.

[@lokdog257]

I think this fossil print was mentioned in Lovecraft's story Mountains of Madness

[@thomasdimlad8112]

I have seen this hiking in the Utah desert, but we were under a prehistoric sea once upon a time.

[@jakenguyen7463]

Really heartening to see how quickly this channel has grown.

[@syferz]

I wonder if this is a hatchery of sorts... Whatever it is, lays them in this order, then they hatch and abandon the structure. It would explain why with so many modern versions of these structures are abandoned by the time we find them.

[@spicylemon7475]

Ancient sneakers are clearly to blame for these fossils

[@Hezekiah1]

Sphere stacking will always make this pattern as long as a sphere are the same size. Kepler conjunction naturally occurs everywhere

[@proximacentaur1654]

05:05 Xenophyophore might be my new favourite animal. I heart the deep sea.

[@P.K.Veiller]

Oh my, I have this fossil. I was always sure it's just a part of some building, never sure what to think about it

[@aleksanderagiurre29]

0:25 I was thinking of a footprint from vans or something

[@TEE19622]

One concept caught my attention... when she described how they seem to prefer areas where sedimentary buildup was slower... wouldnt they be hidden in areas where buildup was faster? How is it known that they arent there as well?

[@FlorianWendelborn]

Well, given that it’s likely that they need or at least want the water circulation they’d probably die if buildup is too fast for them to outgrow

[@Krypto137]

When I saw your community post about it, my first thought was it might be imprints from those scale trees you made a video about years ago. They look identical. But then I looked it up and these are found in the ocean, so it couldn't be.

[@lordgarion514]

"Squirt guns for science" Fun fact: the Super Soaker was invented by a literal rocket scientist.

[@wcraft]

That's funny. That same pattern is on the back of a lot of porcelain floor and wall tiles. It provides a little more surface area for mortar to adhere to.

[@jagitmax]

Sorry folks, it's just my old tennis shoes.

[@justmilfy]

During a dmt trip, it looked like the universe had a neon blue gridding all over (mapping out space) that had the same pattern. Obviously doesn’t mean much, but it’s interesting how geometrical shapes seem so unnatural to us to form in nature.

[@ThePoxx]

Yo can you tell me more about Ur trip?

[@lulumoon6942]

Seen that same netting.

[@gfloflo]

I was on Shrooms and every i looked I saw fractals and hexagons like that. Nuts what we can create with some chemicals in our mind

[@Nedula007]

yea yea yea. OK druggie

[@himedo1512]

That's just the grid map. We're in a Turn based strategy

[@neemapaxima6116]

I'm trypophobic but I still managed to watch this whole episode for the sake of science

[@stephanie3121]

Same 😂😅

[@SPECTRE_Madman]

I have trypophobia as well

[@bartho5212]

That’s awesome! You did your own exposure therapy 😊 (Side note: I am sincere, I know tone can read obscure at times.)

[@eyle6839]

It was kind of hard for me, i had to just listen at some points

[@bigpicturethinking5620]

Lol, that “fad” was a few years ago. You can all drop the quirky act now. We get it, you’re different.

[@mydogbrian4814]

> Bees don't make hexagon shaped wax cells. - They make round ones. Which, because of their composition, stretches into more stable hexagon shapes. - These 500 million year old fossils may work on the same principle. But may be natural gas bubble channels doing the same thing in certain types of soil.

[@wizardoffrobozz]

beautiful presentation interesting.

[@TomatoFettuccini]

I love how every few episodes either PBS Eons or SciShow reminds us that Megalodon hasn't survived. "No guys, Megalodon definitely _is_ extinct."

[@Secret_Takodachi]

there a lot of idiots in florida that need to be reminded of that daily 😂

[@111bella]

please please keep uploading on the Eons podcast! it is absolutely amazing and the content is incredible!! just finished the first podcast of “The Only Human In The La Brea Tar Pits” and i’m so amazed :)

[@Stroopwaffe1]

Flying spaghetti monster or something similar feeding holes is my best guess

[@Raptorman0909]

Those hexagonal honeycombs must have been made be Bees ... Sea Bees!