Frankenworm
Bob Thurman, Chris Morgan
Paperback
(Hodder Headline Australia, Sept. 1, 1994)
Frankenworm is about worms [and inventing things and having fun]! Who would have thought that the ribbon worm, also known as the boot-lace worm, is the longest animal in the world? In 1864 a specimen was found in the shallow coastal waters of the North Sea, which measured more than 60 meters in length!Nothing common about this creature - the most common animal in the world is thought to be the sea worm. There are an estimated 40 trillion trillion [40,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000] nematode sea-worms alive!Did you know that:* The record for attracting earthworms to the surface of the ground by vibration for one square-meter of soil is 149 worms in fifteen minutes!* Some ribbon worms absorb themselves when food is scarce. One worm was found to have digested 95% of its own body without suffering any ill-effects. When food became available the lost tissue was restored.* The ice worm of Alaska has an internal temperature of -25 degrees Centigrade. That is cold enough to freeze water, yet the ice worm is able to live and grow!* The earthworm has five hearts!* Earthworms are hermaphrodites [which means they are male and female at the same time]!