Anaerobic Metazoans: No longer an oxymoron

Abstract

The sediments of a deep-sea hypersaline and sulfidic Mediterranean basin have yielded an unexpected discovery, the first multicellular animals living entirely without oxygen. Reported by Danovaro et al. in BMC Biology, these three new species of Loricifera add a new and remarkable dimension to anoxic ecosystems previously thought to support only unicellular life.© 2010 Levin; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.