Paris Zoo Just Unveiled Bizarre Organism Called the 'Blob' — A Self-Healing 'Living Being'
The Paris Zoological Park may be home to the most unusual organism in the world — the “blob.”
The latest addition to the zoo, the “blob” is a bright yellow, unicellular, small living organism that looks like a fungus, but acts like an animal, Reuters reported.
The organism, which is set to go on display to the public on Saturday, has no mouth, no stomach and no eyes, yet it can detect food and digest it.
The “blob” has almost 720 sexes, and can move without any legs or wings. In addition, it can heal itself in nearly two minutes if it is cut in half, according to Reuters.
Bruno David, director of the Paris Museum of Natural History, confirmed to the outlet that the “blob” is indeed a “living being.”
“It surprises us because it has no brain but is able to learn … and if you merge two blobs, the one that has learned will transmit its knowledge to the other,” David said.
However, David noted that they still have yet to identify what the organism can truly be categorized as.
“We know for sure it is not a plant but we don’t really if it’s an animal or a fungus,” he said. “It behaves very surprisingly for something that looks like a mushroom … it has the behavior of an animal, it is able to learn.”
While the unicellular organism is believed to have been around for a billion years now, it first came to the public’s attention in May 1973, when a woman from Texas discovered a rapidly expanding “blob” growing in her backyard, The New York Times reported at the time.
RELATED: Rare Disease That Spreads from Animals to Humans Reported in Utah and Oklahoma Dogs
According to a video shared by the Paris Zoological Park, the “blob” was grown by the park’s scientists in Petri dishes and fed oatmeal. After reaching a specific size, the organism was moved onto tree bark and then placed in a terrarium, where it will reside for visitors to see.
The blob was named after a 1958 sci-fi horror film of the same name, which followed an alien life form that wreaks havoc on a small town, Reuters said.
