This Microbe Hasn't Been Seen Since The 1930s

After an absence of almost 90 years, we’ve found a rare ciliate last written about about in 1933.
To learn more about the Bryophyllum caudatum, check out our Master of Microscopes James Weiss' paper all about them: www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
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SOURCES:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933
This video has been dubbed using an artificial voice via aloud.area120.google.com to increase accessibility. You can change the audio track language in the Settings menu.

[@journeytomicro]

So… we’re pretty sure the pronunciation of “Bryophyllum” isn’t quite right in this episode. We apologize for getting that wrong. It turns out that when a ciliate hasn’t been seen in 90 years, it can be a bit harder to verify pronunciations.

[@lamia197]

So.... we have just witnessed a very unique event in the history of Microcosmos? Something that wasn't found for 90 years?

[@kraneiathedancingdryad6333]

considering the folks who found it last time are probably all dead by now, who's to say it's wrong? ;)

[@aikineo]

It sounds exactly as it should, Hank, no worries

[@MagicPlants]

"bri" - "off" - "uh" - "lum"

[@MelissaThompson432]

Bryophyllum ("sprout leaf,") is remarkably similar to bryophyte (nonvascular plants such as mosses) which is pronounced (bri-like-Brian) "Bri uh fight." Presumably bryophyllum is "Bri OFF fill 'em," based on accepted pronunciation of similar word forms. 🤷🤔🤷🤔🤷🤔

[@xnopytt]

Imagine how many people may have found this in a school project or something and just skimmed over it.

[@firstnamelastname8058]

I think this happens a lot with many things.. I imagine lots of fossils and artifact just get bulldozed over or destroyed, Interesting space phenomena go unwitnessed, deep sea creatures stay clear of the massive lights of submersibles, unknown and rare bug species just getting cleaned off windscreens... ect.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

I seem to remember "Bryophyllium" from my middle school biology days. I don't remember tailed species, but I knew this genus. That was only about 45 years ago, but I knew of them. So glad James found the tailed one!

[@AKSnowbat907]

Imagine how many millions are on your phone screen right now.

[@user-xj8wy4uu1q]

@@AKSnowbat9070

[@itzmedb8290]

@@AKSnowbat907bro lives in Bikini Bottom

[@ziizification]

As a teacher of small children, I truly believe that scientific curiosity gets crushed forever the moment someone says 'you're wrong I don't believe you' instead of exploring and investigating alongside you from the perspective of an interested collaborator. I'm so glad James found the right interested collaborator to both not give up on this particular quest, but to build a long term partner to journey through the microcosmos with. We're all benefiting from their wonderful scientific collaboration!!!

[@At0mix]

I disagree, extreme scrutiny is what science is all about. Finding increasingly creative ways to prove yourself wrong is like 90% of a scientists job.

[@MazTheMeh16]

​​@@At0mixwouldn't the ability to be creative be stumped if someone just says 'no you're wrong' though? Finding out you're wrong after *trying* different things just wouldn't happen in that case.

[@At0mix]

@MazTheMeh16 Yea if they don't elaborate then it's not constructive. But in this case James was told to check his sample preparation, he did, and everybody learned something new as a result. Science working as intended.

[@titaniumfinger3039]

@@At0mix I understand your reasoning, but I find that most people just give up after being told they're wrong. There are better ways to be constructive.

[@lsedge7280]

@@At0mix Extreme scrutiny IS what science is about. Disbelief IS NOT what science is about. Dismissing a possibility because it's unexpected is extremely bad science. Offering an initial alternative explanation to the image, "maybe it was damaged", fine. So this James fella took more samples showing the same pattern (something which the scientist should have suggested perhaps, as opposed to just dismissing out of hand). By that point though the scientist should've been considering perhaps James was right - Multiple samples are showing the same pattern. I would have started asking where James got his samples, how he was processing his samples. It's not random error at this point, it's some reproducible finding. "I don't believe you" is not how you conduct science. Science is not about dismissing findings, even ones which are "incorrect" or don't support a specific hypothesis. It's about taking evidence, all the evidence you can, and determining why that evidence is what it is. Disbelief is not scrutiny. You can as blindly disbelieve in something as you can believe in it, and both are bad science.

[@gergelysz2997]

Btw this mysterious J.V. Gelei (Jozef von Gelei) is probably József Gelei hungarian (micro)biologist (1885-1952) but he published in german in a germanized name as it was common then.Several microorganisms are named after him.

[@pattheplanter]

The name of the 1933 paper starts: Ciliatenfauna der Umgebung von Szeged. Clearly the sample Gelei found was from Szeged in the very southernmost parts of Hungary, where he was a professor at the university in 1933. 660 km (410 miles) from where James found his samples. I can't find the original paper online but if you look for Tracking down the rare ciliate biosphere you will find the new one by James and Genoveva. Open Access, thankfully.

[@StratospheralNurse]

@@pattheplanterit would be interesting to investigate the oldest ponds in the area around the school and see if any relatives could be found :)

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

James Weiss rediscovering a microbe that hadn't been seen in over 90 years sounds similar to how amateur astronomers sometimes discover new comets or asteroids. So, very awesome!

[@pocpic]

Maybe their rarity is due to some specific trigger needed for their development? Like they chill as cysts for years, then when the environment is right, they "bloom" and reproduce, then become dormant for years again.

[@GeoffryGifari]

Could be... its like that for cicadas

[@user-xj8wy4uu1q]

Or maybe it’s a form of a more common cilliate

[@volodyanarchist]

My thought was "rock-paper-scizors". Let's say you have species A, B, and C. If B shows up in a pond, it kills off all A, and calmly lives there until C comes along and destroys all of them. But surprisingly A makes environment in any pond uninhabitable for C.

[@m0sspunk]

"James just rolled his eyes and made a hand-held microscope" is giving the same energy as Elle Woods' "what, like it's hard?" for me - but I've never attempted to make a hand-held microscope, maybe it is easier than it sounds?

[@earthknight60]

It's not really difficult. There are many hand-held ones commercially available at very low prices. It's essentially a tube with a couple of lenses in it, the main thing is to get the lens spacing right, but there's software and many formula for that, and you can get an enormous variety of lenses from scientific supply shops or even places like eBay. It's a cool thing to do, for sure, but it's not really all that much different from making a pin-hole camera, or any other sort of hand-held size DIY project. Here's a simple homemade microscope project from NASA (just remove the space after the NASA.) NASA. gov/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/350502main_Optics_Building_a_Microscope.pdf

[@CricketsBay]

I have 1. There's lots of handheld microscopes for sale on Amazon. It works, too, which I found very surprising at first.

[@trevinbeattie4888]

Hank’s alternate accent at the start of the newsreel intro was really good. I didn’t recognize him until about halfway through, as he gradually transitioned to his regular narrative voice.

[@lijohnyoutube101]

I don’t was wondering if he was drinking. I worry about the volume he seems to drink. I think he overly uses it potentially as a coping mechanism. The overly phrased words can be when someone is severely trying to mask addiction. Of course it could always be a stylist choice and I could be mistaken and jumping to conclusions etc.

[@jordanbell4736]

Didn't he just have chemotherapy? Or still having it? Maybe you can drink during that. I don't know anything about him except that he has cancer. So since that's what we know, he could be an alcoholic but the simpler explanation is if he presenter is "off" (which I didn't sense myself but I haven't been an alcoholic to knows the nuances) is it is from chemo.

[@lijohnyoutube101]

@@jordanbell4736 he’s been in remission for a few months now.

[@a-bird-lover]

​@@lijohnyoutube101that is a _lot_ of assumptions about a guy you don't even know? Even if having a drinking problem gave you a measured documentary-style voice (???), that's none of any of our business!

[@felixmerz6229]

Might be worth putting the name in the title or description, so that somebody would actually be able to find this video if he found this Ciliate.

[@pattheplanter]

And a link to the new paper James and Genoveva just published on this and other discoveries - Tracking down the rare ciliate biosphere - Open Access and quite interesting. They also describe several other seldom-seen ciliates and possible new species.

[@applegal3058]

I second both if these suggestions.

[@EinsteinsHair]

It looks like they have put the name in the description. But my question is, wouldn't someone already need to know the name to search for it? Anyway, future search AI will probably find it from the image in the thumbnail.

[@felixmerz6229]

@@EinsteinsHair That's part of the idea, though discoverability through descriptions of characteristics and discussions in the comment section might also get someone on a search here. Either way, it's hard to argue not to include it.

[@gasdive]

Imagine how hard it is for people with diseases that are new or rare or that have confusing symptoms.

[@ferolcat2009]

I love how other organisms are just casually eating and being eaten has he narrates. Don't mind us, nom, nom.

[@firstnamelastname8058]

I'm thinking how good it would be to get a device that we at home could just put a few drops in.. and it'll show it on a screen like a fish tank!... I could watch it all day.

[@ferolcat2009]

@@firstnamelastname8058 Yeah, me too. I would love that as well.

[@CricketsBay]

@firstnamelastname8058 Amazon sells digital microscopes. They're pretty cheap. Any suppliers of scientific supplies will have them for sale as well, but more expensive and guaranteed not to be counterfeit.

[@Tser]

This might be the most adorable ciliate ever.... So glad James was persistent! I hope they show up in the pond again.

[@AphidKirby]

This video turned surprisingly emotional at the end there... this little creature's existence influences our human nature in such a beautiful way

[@cosmecurious]

The end bit about how meaningful it is to have someone who believes in you made me tear up. I'm not a microbiologist or a scientist of any kind, but these videos are always so beautiful and moving to me. Thanks for all that you guys do, JttM crew!

[@laszlo-bencsik]

J. Gelei was not a german, he was a Hungarian zoologist, expert on ciliates and turbellarias (1885-1952).

[@pattheplanter]

He found this ciliate in Szeged, so Bryophyllum caudatum was not German either. The paper was in a German journal, but that is hardly the important part of the discovery.

[@kaylafinch4206]

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for Hank and his team for putting together such wonderful educational content. And, now offering ways for people to get college credit! Truly a godsend. Thank you all for you work!

[@Dyna07]

Same!! This channel and all the other ones are simply too amazing for words!!

[@alexyz9430]

I've always wondered how a microorganism can be rare. Does their life cycle involve "hibernating" for decades? Maybe they tuck themselves away into little nooks and crannies in their pond before waking up in swarms again?

[@Microskopic]

In a way, it's kind of like hibernation lol. Many ciliates have the ability to form cysts that can protect them for decades.

[@DrBunnyMedicinal]

Rare in the case of a microbe could well just mean we haven't been looking in the right place, at the right time or in the right way. Consider how many undiscovered/undescribed species of macroscopic species there are still out there, and then multiply it by the vastly larger space there is to miss something in the microcosmos.

[@respectbossmon]

Why not? In the macro-cosmos there are broods of cicada that gestate for over a decade. The difference is how these ciliates spread. Are they like milkweed or dandelions where, as the theory suggests, their 'seeds' or cysts are spread by the wind? And, is this annual or governed by something else; perhaps a solar cycle (even one astrophysicists haven't detected)?

[@pattheplanter]

In addition to the other suggestions here, these are predators, there are always fewer predators than prey and they are susceptible to changes in prey abundance.

[@DrBunnyMedicinal]

@@pattheplanter An excellent and highly pertinent observation. Thank you for reminding me/us of this fact.

[@Unsinkable2.0]

This is an incredible find!!! I'm consistently surprised by not only the cohesiveness of the scientific community when faced with a new challenge but also how many established minds will vehemently deny something instead of keeping the one thing science demands, an open mind. I may have never even known this critter existed without you guys!

[@Dismythed]

It could be jealousy. They work their entire careers to be the one to find something new or rare so that they can immortalize themselves, and here a kid with a baroque microscope shows up claiming to have found something new. "He's just inexperienced, naive and clumsy and screwed up his slide. He couldn't possibly do something I've failed to do. Go away kid, you bother me."

[@Unsinkable2.0]

@@Dismythed Yeah, but it gives off the same "let's burn Bruno because the Earth is obviously the center of the universe" vibes. I'm not a scientist but I love learning about science, and the best places to find new discoveries are rarely where you think they'll be. It's more a refusal to challenge belief even to the point of laziness. Sad, understandable to a point, but still a hinderance to actual discovery. I used to believe a bunch of juvenile things about the universe until I was proven, through fact and repeatable experimentation, wrong. Give up on feeling embarrassment, you now know the truth, and more often than not even more questions can be raised and explored! Perhaps it is irrational jealousy, but science isn't done irrationally.

[@cataraxis-jn9fu]

established and end-of-career scientists can turn dogmatic

[@shanerooney7288]

Microbe: "it's me, your buddy who used to prank you all the time in college." JttM: "You're not Josh."

[@Joemama555]

for the well-fed Bryophyllum stuffed with rotifers, it would be neat to somehow physically immobilize it in some tiny tiny cage and do a time lapse of it's digestion!

[@evilsharkey8954]

Unfortunately, it looks like it’s seconds away from lysing, hence the bulges (blebs) coming out the sides.

[@GehtRektSon]

I have loved this channel even since before you guys got your fourth type of microscopy lighting but it absolutely blows me away how you can see the texture on these microbes.

[@stevenkarnisky411]

Of course I thought it was James who had made the discovery! Persistance and determination, sooner or later, result in success! Over several years now, you have shown us just how persistant and determined James is. Has James been able to keep his colony alive at home, or have they disappeared along with the pond dwellers?

[@woodenpints]

It's going to be pretty exciting to see advancements in microscope tech over the next as many years as I'm alive.

[@jennifersaar1611]

That tail also acts like a rudder when it's long enough and twisted enough. I wouldn't be surprised if its useful for evading predators by creating those corkscrew movements. Also, a thought - having just seen ze Frank's video about butterfly wings, is it possible that the tail provides significant thrust by creating a vortex in the viscous fluid behind it?

[@dforrest4503]

That’s so cool to have rediscovered something so unique. A shame that so many people doubted James, especially with such good evidence.

[@Shnatsel]

Did you get their DNA sequenced? Is it possible that the tail only develops under certain specific conditions, and the ciliate looks completely unremarkable otherwise?

[@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88]

That intro was 10/10!! Absolutely golden!!

[@raimunduuu]

You guys have no idea how much thankful I am (and many) for your marvelous work ! Your channel is like the Netflix of biology , I would rather watch your videos than waste my time on meaningless TV shows ! Please keep up this blessing and I wish you all the best

[@mafarmerga]

I love seeing single celled ciliates that are so much larger than the animals around them.

[@Clutch275]

James should get an Award for finding something lost for 90+ Years!!!

[@aundria7773]

Ok but I just gotta say, that subtle fade-out of the radio filter in the intro was actually awesome. Kinda gave me chills

[@eggintheshell9801]

Hanks voice suits that old-timey narration so well

[@TheBcoolGuy]

I think it's amazing that something the sheer teeniness of which is so difficult to understand is alive and an animal. There's not much to it, but the fact that it can have a tail really made me start to think about what the hell these little critters are.

[@nikodemjelonek8420]

so cool that theyve just been hanging out in a pond in warsaw for so long

[@gavshox]

This is amazing! I love Hank's enthusiasm, and James' knowledge and skill.❤

[@willmendoza8498]

Go James!

[@dia9491]

That’s so cool. I’m so glad that Professor Esteban was able to see James’ work for what it was and not discourage him.

[@dannileigh6426]

Congratulations James!

[@artmakersworlds]

OH how cool. Should call this one the unicorn ciliate.

[@ccantrell4053]

Great story. should be on PBS. We believe you, James!

[@melodyszadkowski5256]

This was AWESOME. You go, James!! You beat out the experts.

[@KirstenMarie_MS3]

As someone who spent several years desperately wanting to go back to school but could not, initially, afford it and later lacked access, I absolutely love some of the innovations I've been seeing lately. My initial college career was derailed when I sustained traumatic injuries in a car accident. The only thing is people need to be aware that there are career paths that haven't quite caught up yet.

[@roserandomde]

How amazing! Thanks for being persistent James!

[@margodphd]

Wait, these were found quite close to my home..😮 Adventure time!

[@soranuareane]

James! You caught a shiny Byrophyllum! It's rare and you'll want to take good care of it!

[@nblmqst1167]

Congratulations to James on such a rare find.

[@dinoco2061]

What an incredible find! Congrats!

[@lvelez1999]

What an Amazing universe God Created ✝️

[@nathanaelcard]

Such a cili lil friend

[@DisheveledSuccess]

I thought the curly tail was cute, and imagined they were tiny harmless piglets…rotifer murdering piglets. 😂 congrats James and the Microcosmos team❤

[@TheSonOfDumb]

Scientists are not immune to ego. lol.

[@joanfregapane8683]

Incredible! Thank goodness for persistence!

[@tahwnikcufos]

It's not uncommon for supposed experts in a given field to crap on discoveries made through the pure joy of learning for the sake of their own egos.

[@eewilson9835]

I love your website, older pond and lakeside meditation expert here, and massive sized single celled with the longest tail "things" appear when nothing and no one else is around. Keep looking!

[@Nono-hk3is]

Lovely story!

[@roykay4709]

Always fun and interesting to see new (old) developments.

[@MumboMod]

This is incredible!

[@kaarlimakela3413]

That Study Hall thing at the end looks intriguing. I'm going to follow up.

[@Arkie80]

Well done James. You're a scientist in the truest sense

[@jmm1233]

Awesome find , this be like finding ancient unique relic from archaeological dig

[@sdjhgfkshfswdfhskljh3360]

Interactions with microbes are easier than interactions with people 😄

[@Microskopic]

You haven't seen some of the microbes I interact with. I had a rotifer yesterday that wouldn't cooperate 😆

[@evilsharkey8954]

I was going to say people with giardia would beg to differ, but then I remembered how some people are.

[@Jmjmjmjmjmjmjmjmjmjmjm1]

Researcher calling experts: “I’ve found something new and exciting!” “I’m on break…”

[@Rubrickety]

That intro was wonderful. 🙂

[@bnthern]

great and VERY, interesting study and news!

[@brendakrieger7000]

Very interesting!!

[@bengoodwin2141]

Question: how do we know that rare microbes like this aren't variants, maybe some mutation or form they take under very specific conditions of other more common species? Maybe not just for this one, but other strange cases too.

[@thekaxmax]

That's what the problem is. But it exactly matches an already-described one, so it's unlikely to be a mutation.

[@bengoodwin2141]

@@thekaxmax I mean with the other already described one too, since we didn't have genetic tests back then. I've also been thinking that since some species change forms in complex ways under specific conditions, like cnidarians for example, maybe some microbes could act like that too, in more ways than just turning into cysts.

[@thekaxmax]

@@bengoodwin2141 That's not a mutation, then, that's a new species. Given the appearance and movements are entirely consistent across all the finds.

[@bengoodwin2141]

@@thekaxmax That's not what I meant, I meant an already known species that under specific conditions changes it's appearance to something different, or has offspring that have a different appearance (and we don't know that it does that)

[@Yezpahr]

​@@bengoodwin2141 That this microbe is an intermediate step is an interesting idea for sure. There's also an interesting possibility it's a symbiosis with a virus or a microbe. I'm leaning towards virus because it just looks so wildly different on each specimen, like it's just slapping on modules it can find instead of building through a designated blueprint like DNA. I'm curious if they split when reproducing and if that tail is possibly too complex to split, maybe one of the two clones needs to grow a new tail.

[@SynthRockViking]

Next, it'll be "Its growing" then "We should have listened" 💀

[@bituniverse8677]

The way this thing swims is so mesmerizing.

[@isaacthek]

I love that the German microbiologist's name J V Gelie rhymes with flagellai

[@NecromancyForKids]

It's very cool to show something to someone else and they straight up call you a liar. lol

[@evilsharkey8954]

The other microbes and microfauna in the background are all like “Hey, over here! I’m being active and silly. C’mon, notice me!”

[@sinclairmarcus]

Great upload

[@TheTrueOSSS]

I can't upvote hard enough. It's too often we get caught up in our beliefs in the status quo. This serves as a reflection on the importance of having an open mind and putting in the effort to find the truth. Thankyou.

[@evilsharkey8954]

That one B. caudatum at 6:40 looks like it’s starting to lyse from eating too many rotifers!

[@colorbugoriginals4457]

James found a needle in a haystack that would fit on the tip of a needle

[@CricketsBay]

Fantastic!

[@Ziffer777]

Honestly, shame on the "scientists" who dismissed this outright

[@Dmanjack]

james finds quuite a few rare fellas

[@SophiaAstatine]

Suppose that's what you get from filling your home with microscopy samples

[@GeoffryGifari]

A long-lost microbe suddenly appeared after 9 decades? One wonders what this mythical "James, Master of Microscope" is up to all this time

[@jessechaffin8593]

cool video man!

[@chaosPneumatic]

I was wondering why they are so rare when an interesting thought occurred to me: How many indigenous New World microbes have gone extinct since the arrival of Europeans and the introduction of Old World microbes? Has there been any research about possible ecological damage on the microscopic level?

[@chomp_5412]

Incredible

[@wildflower1397]

I like to believe that some species somewhere evolved a tail simply because having one made them happier.

[@constanceaverman4364]

How exciting!

[@ConnorHay]

Tbf I *did* assume James was the one who found it. James is just so cool it hadn’t occurred to me you might be reporting on some other microscope master’s finding!

[@RickStormT]

Fk yeah, let's hear for James, the master of microscopes! J A M E S 😄

[@ruggerogabbrielli6831]

Could you show us a slow-motion video of the cilia of this Bryophyllum (at something like 240 fps possibly)? KZbin can only go down to 0.25 the normal speed.

[@SIK_Mephisto]

Unicorns of the microcosmos

[@lezlieobrien]

Beautiful movement

[@TheTurkjojuq]

Wow this is awesome

[@AM-fs1je]

It's true. I've seen the posters & It's been on milk cartons for years.

[@zipsey]

Lets go James

[@ulob]

I live in Warsaw. Which pond is that? I'll go and take a look!

[@JoBoToGo]

Old timey intro ++

[@skivvy3565]

I saw this the other year with Elvis, Bigfoot and Emilia Airheart

[@Alondro77]

We have some strange microcritters in the highly acidic sand and gravel quarry ponds in the NJ Pine Barrens. Only a few species larger than bacteria can survive in the water, which often as a pH as low as 4!

[@coffeepot3123]

They knew it was from the 30's by the "Howdy!" ;)

[@andreasschmidt2846]

I would say one of the purposes of that tale is to be able to turn around (quickly).

[@austinxd572]

👍+No clickbaits'Nice vid! :D

[@bryancmcdonald3978]

I got spanked in study hall in Junior high for making paper Jets. ==== In college the last course I had to take for English - Technical writing. The door opens and the doctor says make paper jets , pass them back with instructions on how you made your jet .

[@kevinbyrne4538]

3:47 -- Prof Genoveva Esteban (Bournemouth University, England)