Myxozoans

Several years ago Dutch artist Joep van Lieshout suggested that rather than reduce human height to 50cm (as The Incredible Shrinking Man has investigated) people should shrink to the size of a parasite and live in the stomach of  a cow. It’s an interesting suggestion, not only because it opens up perspectives on collective use of resources, ecological connectivity and community but because it’s been done before, by size-shifting jellyfish also known as myxozoans.

Myxozoans are cnidarians, just like corals, sea anemones and regular sized jellyfish. In the process of shrinking the myxozoans lost their jellyfish characteristics to a degree that hadn’t been thought possible. “It would be like finding a one-celled creature and discovering that genetically, it’s a mammal that had lost its genes for lactation and keratinaceous hair”, explains team leader Dorothee Huchon of the Department of Zoology Tel Aviv University. During this process of extreme evolutionary transition they embraced a parasitic life, surrounding themselves with other organism’s organs so they need almost none of their own. Simple, effective, easy; just like Joep van Lieshout suggested.