Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Mushroom named after Spongebob Squarepants?

Spongiforma Squarepantsii:

That's right, a Mushroom found in Borneo is named after the one and only Spongebob Squarepants. It was given the name Spongiforma Squarepantsii by Dennis Desjardin who is a Professor at the San Francisco State University. They were discovered when Professor Dennis Desjardin and his colleagues went to search whether mushrooms found under trees had a mutual relationship with each other or just happen to be there by chance. The Spongiforma Squarepantsii Mushroom is known to be very terrestrial and reproduce just like other mushrooms which is using Spores. Although it may be just a mushroom, when it is wet and moist you can wring the water out of it and it will instantly spring back to it's original size just like an real sponge. And instead of letting it's spores dry out, it will instantly adapt by changing their spores into a gelatinous, rubbery substance which will collect moisture from the air!

Fun Fact: If you look at a Spongiforma Squarepantsii Mushroom through a microscope, it will look like the bottom of the sea floor carpeted in tube sponges.






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