Facts about Jellyfish Immortality Phenomenon
- 06
A single Turritopsis dohrnii individual is small enough to fit on a fingernail, with adult medusae typically measuring only a few millimeters in diameter.
- 05
Scientists refer to Turritopsis dohrnii as biologically immortal, distinguishing it from organisms that simply have long lifespans by its unique capacity for life-cycle reversal.
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Discovered primarily in the Mediterranean Sea, Turritopsis dohrnii is the only known animal capable of repeatedly cycling back through its entire life cycle.
- 03
Stress, starvation, or physical damage can trigger Turritopsis dohrnii to initiate its reversal process back to the polyp stage.
- 02
Transdifferentiation, the process by which Turritopsis dohrnii converts specialized adult cells back into an undifferentiated state, is the cellular mechanism underlying its biological immortality.
- 01
The species Turritopsis dohrnii can revert from its adult medusa stage back to a juvenile polyp stage, theoretically allowing indefinite repetition of its life cycle.