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Imagine being in your garden and stumble on an tremendous angleworm that measures about as long as a stock bowling pin is grandiloquent , and that weighs about the same as a small chocolate bar . The coming upon , while likely startling , ended up being a phonograph recording - setting confrontation for a man in the United Kingdom , after he come across what has now been crowned the crawler that is not only the longest ever regain in the U.K. , but also the heaviest known wild worm in the earth .
Theearthwormwas bring up Dave by the stepson of the serviceman who expose it . It was then sent to the Natural History Museum in London for evaluation , where museum expert determined that Dave is a lob louse , Lumbricus terrestris .
The huge size of the earthworm becomes apparent when compared to an Oyster card (a London public transit ticket).
The worm measures nearly 16 inches ( 40 centimeter ) long and count almost 1 ounce ( 26 gm ) , which sets new record in both categories . In fact , Dave nearly doubled the previous heavyweight record holder : a worm see in Scotland that weighed just 0.5 ounces ( 15 grams ) . [ No Creepy Crawlies Here : Gallery of the Cutest Bugs ]
Emma Sherlock , aged conservator of free - living worms at the Natural History Museum and chair of the Earthworm Society of Britain , said that Dave ’s size is astounding .
" I was bowl over by the sizing of this worm when I opened the plastic box they sent it in , " Sherlocksaid in a command . " Not only is it really long , it is almost twice as heavy as any other crazy earthworm ever visualise , weighing the same as a modest chocolate bar . "
Dave ’s sizing is particularly telling for a worm in the state of nature , according to experts . With plenty ofnatural predatorsand other scourge , the Natural History Museum noted that angleworm do n’t typically exist long enough in the natural state to make such a record sizing . Sherlock said that the vegetable game in which Dave was found must have been " fabulously fertile and well - drained . "
fishing worm play a key use in keep on stain intelligent . grant to Earthworm Watch — a survey of earthworms and soil quality that is run for by the museum and the Earthwatch Institute , in tie with the Earthworm Society of Britain — earthworms improve territory rankness and theability for soil to store carbonby mixing in utter plant material .
As part of continue research into earthworms , the museum routinely monitor worms , discover them and release them back into the wild . However , a few are kept at the museum as a platter of the universe , especially if they are particularly strange .
Given Dave ’s significant sizing , the louse was anesthetized by museum scientists to be preserved , the mental institution said . Dave will now link up a scientific collection of 80 million specimen at the Natural History Museum .
" This may seem sad , but by being part of the scientific collection this earthworm will have a bequest that endure beyond all of our life-time , avail scientist today and tomorrow to understand and protect this species and its environment , " Sherlock said .
Original article onLive Science .
