Sunday 17 January 2016

Giant worms discovered on remote Scottish island


Earthworms the size of a baby snake, weighing as much as a small mouse, have been discovered on the Isle of Rum


3:45PM GMT 16 Jan 2016

It sounds like the stuff of nightmares – giant earthworms that, if left alone, keep growing and growing to the size of a baby snake.

But this is no bad dream – scientists working on the Isle of Rum, off the coast of Scotland, have found the biggest specimens ever seen in the UK, more than three times the length and weight of a normal worm.

The exceptionally large invertebrates measure up 40 cm (1.3 ft) long, having blossomed due to rich soil and a lack of predators. They’re similar in size to a newly-hatched adder.

In an interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Dr Kevin Butt, lead researcher on the earthworm study, carried out by the University of Central Lancashire, said: “These things weigh about twelve and a half grams - but the normal size for these things is about four to five grams.”

“When these things came out of their burrows they were like small snakes"
Worm expert Dr Kevin Butt

He agreed with presenter John Humphrys that the whole thing is “slightly spooky”.

The worms, Latin name Lumbricus terrestris, were found at Papadil, an abandoned settlement on Rum, which is home to a tiny population of around 30 people.

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