the strange blob comes out of the wood

You have probably crossed in the forest, or in your cellar, without knowing who it was: the blob, biological curiosity composed of a single cell but capable of complex behaviors, landed at the Zoological Park of Paris.

The new zoo star at the Bois de Vincennes – the first in the world to welcome this non-animal species – has taken up residence in the vivarium, where the public will be able to meet him from Saturday.

"Our mission is also to show the mysteries of nature", welcomed Bruno David, President of the National Museum of Natural History and Zoological Park, during the presentation to the press.

Installed in his "blob area", away from light, the"physarum polycephalum"(its scientific name) looks like a spongy, yellow and viscous mass.

Neither animal, nor plant, nor mushroom, it is a primitive organism, appeared 500 million years ago, before the animal kingdom. "It is not clear where to put it in the tree of life", explains Bruno David.

It was long considered a mushroom, before being removed from this reign to join, in the 1990s, myxomycetes subclass of amoebozoa (including amoebae).

As it has only one cell, it is microscopic at the start of its cycle, and therefore difficult to locate in its environment – temperate forests, in the shade, or some cellars.

But it has several nuclei, which can multiply, or divide, at will. "We can create blobs of all sizes, there is no known limit", AFP explains Audrey Dussutour, CNRS ethologist and blob specialist.

"Almost immortal"

The creature can reach up to 10 meters in the laboratory, where it can also be subdivided by cutting it – there are even "molds"Blob – because the fragments heal.

In the culture chambers of the zoo, gardeners create new specimens every day, from the same sample, to have a maximum to present to the public.

Marlene Itan, "blobicultrice"recently, comes every day to water and feed the"sclerotia"(kinds of" babies ") that grow in her breeding. "It usually changes, you never know what to expect when you arrive!" she rejoices.

Because the blob does not stop surprising. It can die in many ways, but can also go dormant, drying out. "In this state, it is almost immortal … It can even be put in the microwave a few minutes!", according to Audrey Dussutour.

Once re-moistened, he can start again, restarting his cycle to zero, adds the researcher, who has in the laboratory specimens over 70 years old.

Another curiosity: thanks to the current circulating its venous network, the blob moves, at a rate of 1 to 4 centimeters per hour. Observing through a window is not very spectacular, the zoo has designed an interactive museography to stage, including via accelerated videos.

His complex vascular system fascinates physicists. Some even try to draw inspiration from it to apply it to electricity grids.

Despite his lack of nervous system, he is able to memorize. The zoo traces an experiment showing a blob learn, little by little, to ignore salt (which a priori regrowth) deposited on the path leading to his food.

With its 720 different sexes, the blob has a sexual reproduction similar to that of the mushroom. "He was there before, so it's more mushrooms and animals that have been inspired than the reverse"concludes Audrey Dussutour.

She is the one who found her nickname, in homage to the movie "The blob" with Steeve McQueen (1958), where an extra-terrestrial slimy mass grows as it devours everything in its path.

The physarum polycephalum is harmless.