Rotifera: A visual celebration of the smallest animals

[huttarl]

@SoenRyu15: The words are the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.

[SoenRyu15]

Please.. I really need to know the title.. :((

[Firepalm1234]

@SoenRyu15 Baba Yetu

[SoenRyu15]

what's the title of the song?

[DarkCard]

Oh, I fall in love with them everytime I see those trocal discs moving <3

[natashakggm]

Great video, is so much easier to understand what rotifera by seeing them instead of just reading about.

[Shydrasnake]

That is so amaaaaaazzzziiiing... I'm planning to get a microscope soon. Those incredibly tiny life forms make life on earth seem so much more than it seems to be.. love the music too. :)

[Mindravel]

@Firepalm1234 Nice clip! What magnification is that?

[Firepalm1234]

@Mindravel to be perfectly honest, I don't remember! probably between 40x and 20x

[ytkoekie2000]

@Firepalm1234 huh this 40x magnification? I have just seen these cool creatures through my microscope wht a magnification of 400x, and they looked just that big! maybe a little bigger but not that much...

[rascolnikovtube]

could you show us your camera's frame?

[Firepalm1234]

@rascolnikovtube perhaps at some point in the future I might submit a photo of the "new" version I made all those years ago. The original that most of this footage was taken with I threw away (since it was embarassingly made of cerealbox cardboard and masking tape....)

[immortalx50]

yeah, music from Civilization! are rotiferas good at capturing cities? :)

[Anomalocaris42]

Absolutely brilliant video - amazing that you made this at home. Thanks very much for showing us these wonderful creatures.

[element74]

what song is this and what type? I want more songs like this!

[Firepalm1234]

@element74 Then check out the composer Christopher Tin! His work is amazing.

[melrobRTF]

Awesome! what camera did you use?

[Firepalm1234]

@melrobRTF I used a three year old canon powershot which I made a frame for that mounted around the eyepiece. I used a cut out film canister to mesh the extended lense of the camera with the eyepiece and it worked surprisingly well! much better resolution than any microscope camera I've seen.

[melrobRTF]

@Firepalm1234 yes, special cameras are often more expensive and not as good. Thanks!

[BirdWhisperer46]

I have looked at a number of rotifer videos and was still confused about the rotation effect. It looks almost like little wheels, but that had to be impossible. :o)

[BirdWhisperer46]

Do Rotifers have a truly rotary organ? Doesn't seem possible.

[Firepalm1234]

@BirdWhisperer46 It is not in fact a rotary organ, you're right. It's a pair of palates that are covered in brilliantly synchronized flickering cilia. The cilia work like oars to generate the currents seen in the video and draw food particles into the mouth. The cilia move in waves much like a centipedes legs would, except in a circle giving the impression of rotation....

[bionat24]

That was amazing!!! like 4 species of Rotofera here !! nice video

[jessemartijn]

the smallest animals are truly perfect in life. Never seen one wich was mismade in any way.

[JBTYpr]

very nice video the music makes a big impact !

[lushfauna]

what magnification is this?

[jenngriggs]

very cool video

[sodzee]

Haha, I like this song :) Those things are pretty cool eh!

[QuimicoInd1982]

I'm in the wastewater treatment business, and these microorganisms (Rotifers) are the best friends of all operators of wastewater treatment plants, as a mater of fact. Our designs are focused to provide a perfect habitat for them, so they can reproduce and help us to clean waster water.

Untreated wastewater is one of the world worst health nightmares, and thanks to bacteria, especially Rotifers, we are winning the battle, and producing water with reuse characteristics.

Thanks Rotifers..!!

[drago07]

They 're actually animals with multiple eukaryotic cells, not bacteria at all. But I get what you 're saying ;).

[enjoiskate3]

This shit grosses me out lol

[ljackson39]

What song is this???

[Bozeman42]

@ljackson39

It sounds to me like the song on the introduction of the game Civilization 4.

[Ann963]

Yes, I just confirmed this and got some more details. It is "Baba Yetu" which means "Our Father" in Swahili. The song is the Lord's prayer, mixed around in this catchy tune. The song was written by Christopher Tin. Unsure about the proper use of swahili grammar, but it sure sounds amazing! :)

[Ann963]

And by "confirm this", I mean, yes, it is from Civilization 4. For some reason, my reply comment posts at the top, instead of under the comment I was replying to (Bozeman42)

[ljackson39]

thanks!

[sweetsacredsword]

2:57 Appears an Euglena??

[crt0191]

cool video! :D rotiferans are everywhere!! :D

[jeffborr77]

notice how at 3:00 exactly the rotira "comes out" of its body to create the water flow again with it's ciliums

[OlleLindestad]

yeah, it's beautiful.

[evilsharkey]

Pond and lake bottom water, near the shore. Make sure you get a little mud, rock scum, algae, and other fun stuff. You may have to prepare several slides before you find one.

[bogusik15]

wow, respect  for you :D

what's a species of this Rotiferia?? plz

[Firepalm1234]

Bdelloidia is the general class, the species are differentiated generally by the shape of the jaw which requires an electron microscope....

[bearachute]

what song is this?

[Firepalm1234]

baba yetu , but generally when inquiring about this information in a video, you look to see if it's in the credits...

[evilsharkey]

I've been trying to identify some interesting rotifers from lake water. There seems to be a dearth of good information on them on the internet. Thanks for posting this. These little guys get so little recognition. The gastrotrychia I've seen looked smaller than rotifers, but they're not as fun to watch.

[ajawad08]

Cool video! Just learned about them in class :D Awesome song for it, too, haha.

[Scythemantis]

Really beautiful epic song and it somehow suits the footage perfectly. I love these creatures and have never seen such a clear collection of footage of them!

[snowwolfsabertooth]

wait...a brain of 15 cells? what can 15 cells do?

just asking

i like the way they crawl around

[prolulzem]

How can you not find the song, it's listed in the credits.

[prolulzem]

Song is Baba Yetu

[ilretaggio2]

song???

[FyerEgg]

0:20

Are those teeth?? Scary!

[Firepalm1234]

Not teeth, those are cilia. You can think of them like tiny tentacles.

[ganike]

This video is fantastic. It's nice to clearly see how the cilia draws water through its buccal field.

[spytrap56]

who is the music in this video?¿?

[Osmium192]

Actually, rotifers aren't the world's smallest animals but very good video nonetheless

[Firepalm1234]

I'm rather curious to know the smallest species of the Kingdom Animalia. You're not referring to nematodes I hope?

[artman40]

Parasitic Myxozoa are smaller, with size of some species being only 10μm.

[Firepalm1234]

cool!

[08A1A5KA]

Very well done!

[morningofmagicians]

That is beautiful.

[shortclayman]

3:00 its so cool when it just opens it mouth and sucks stuff up. like a living vacum cleaner with

[HalfBreedMix]

Rotifer meeting at 1:19, what, you didn't get the memo? Shhhhheeeeshhh.

[Cabrera0323]

where did you get this microscope, or where were you able to use it

[Firepalm1234]

There were actually three microscopes used in the making of this video over a year. The first was a small very old 30x slide microscope borrowed from a friend. The 2nd was actually a 30+ year old binocular materials 100x max microscope that an institution was kind enough to lend to me. The 3rd was a monocular 100x max microscope from edmunds scientific that I actually won for my science fair project on this subject...Most people just get permission to use microscopes from universities etc.

[coolboiz713]

these things look kinda wierd like how the move and stuff

[Caeltm]

dont know where you live but im more than happy with life atm =\ plus these things live for how long? .. im sure their extatic!! -.-'

[Firepalm1234]

Define happiness. Buddhist monks will tell you it is finding a place in the world and simply, and totally believing that it is perfect. Rotifers may not be able to think, but they're bodies are designed to perfectly suit their evironment...if their environment changes dramatically, they simply cyst and die painlessly....we humans must continually alter ours because we live so long...

[Firepalm1234]

and I believe extaticness requires endorphins/adrenaline/other very complex biological molecules that these creatures do not need, as they do not remember anything. (this is not a personal attack...I merely was feeling rather contemplative this morning...)

[Raphael2885]

waterbears have all living forms beat they can shut themselves down anytime thier environment doesnt suit them for up to 120 years just waiting for water alone. so compaired to us as humans Id have to agree with Firepalm these little things are alot happier than us. and id go as far to say comming back as one of them would probably be the ultimate reward in a religion that teaches reincarnation.

[dalibor22]

it is so hard to understand why are we complicated humans so unhappy when those simple animals look so happy..

[dalibor22]

this vid is touching

[Daniel39363]

BRAVO! Nicely done, great choice of music to go with the video as well. Rotifers are very interesting. When I first stumbled upon rotifers in my bird bath, I was fascinated by them, I think I observed them the entire day. Thanks again for the video, five stars.

[JELLY624]

hi~~can I ask a question?

How did you get those rotifers? We are doing a project and it will be great if you can tell us how to get them.because we are doing a presentation on them! thank you!!!!

[Firepalm1234]

Well, they like wet moss, algae, and damp sand. basically, any water that is thick with algae should be full of them, however, I needed a dense population, so I ordered them online. I do not remember from where, sorry!

[JELLY624]

thank you very much~~~~I guess I'll just try the wet areas around my community~~~~

p.s . it's a really nice video~~~

[Daniel39363]

I don't know if you're still looking for them, but if you are, a great place to find an abundance of them is in a bird bath or a rain puddle that has been stagnant for at least a day or two. They get there because they become spores when their old water source has been depleated. The wind picks them up and they blow in the wind and hopefully land in a new water source. They can live up to 15 years as a spore!

[JELLY624]

cool!~ I'll try that out too! thanks a lot~~~~hopefully it will rain the next few days~~~

[dequadix]

Bel video: complimenti! Ottima illuminazione obliqua, immagini ben contrastate. Bravo!

[Carcinus85]

very well done!

[imatroll5]

WOW! Lovely video and music. Baba Yetu... I know Baba means Father.. Do you have a translation of that song? Beautiful.

[TheDarkOn3]

It's the lord's prayer in Swahili (or close to it). It's main theme song from Sid Meier's Civilization IV.

[twothlesswonder]

Nice! 5 stars!

@1:20 chilodonella makes the scene.....

[Firepalm1234]

That little protist on the right? I've always wanted to know what the heck those things were called...I see them everywhere! they have a very distinctive in & and out motion....merci beaucoup!

[twothlesswonder]

Yes, their patterns of movement are very distinctive. It's often described as a mechanical mouse in a maze...

Happy New Year!

[diabloescarlata]

very nice video I have a test next thursday about this animals...it is a much better view than the one in the boook!!! thanks for sharing

[monopolova]

Very nice!

[eddy85br]

Great images!!

[byronw14850]

really beautiful video of one of my favorite organisms - the rotifer. great video, perfect music, dramatic microcinematography, fantastic job!!! i love the ending, really puts things in perspective