Single-celled Lacrymaria olor Hunts Down Another Cell

This is a Lacrymaria olor hunting down another single-celled organism. Look how precise and vicious it is, LOVING it!
.
Lacrymaria olor is a beautifully named single-celled organism, its name means "tears of a swan". So poetic!
.
Lacrymaria olor beats the hair-like cilia around its 'head" and extends its neck up to 8 times its body length. If we were able to do that, it would be like flapping your ears rapidly and extending your neck to ground level from the fourth floor. 😂 What a scene!
.
And can you see how it swallows the whole thing? Ahh, I really cannot get enough of them! So fascinating! The prey was already killed when the head touched it because there are also toxin ejecting harpoon-like structures at the tip of the cell. They puncture the prey and killed it right away. Sometimes, if the prey is bigger, it gets away but loses a chunk of its body.
.
Thank you for reading, and please click the link to donate to my campaign.
.
Best,
James Weiss

[JamsGerms]

I post on Instagram on a daily basis with descriptions, here is the link!

[phyose]

Crazy how familiar this behavior of predation looks, even down to the single cell level.

[h_sarraf]

So even on a single-cellular level existence is brutal. Thanks.

[alinalexandru]

"Now I'm a double-cell organism!"

[Vivenk]

Without having a nervous system, it's amazing how much coordination it has.

[aldopolgeo]

Interesting how a single cell organism without brain can detect another organism, decide it can be defeated, organize its attack and deliver it, eat it, and then move to another task.
Without a single neuron.
It would be even more interesting an explanation of how this process happens at the molecular level.

[kitcat]

It's so amazing that despite being so small and simple they know what they have to do to survive

[JunohNebula]

I've never seen a living thing emulate rubberhose cartoon physics quite like this lil guy.

[VulcanXIV]

I want to one-up the other comments talking about how crazy it is that such a small organism can still show such behavior. For me, I find it more fascinating to think about how a SINGLE-CELL organism can behave like this. Like my goodness, it's a single-cell and yet it has just as many different body parts in function. Insane. Truly some osmosis-jones shit right here

[elizabethblack]

When you consider that this is going on around you (and inside you), it's quite unnerving, not to mention creepy! Sometimes it's just best not to know!

[scottbogfoot]

Ok, now let's get him addicted to cancerous cells.

[rubysmith]

He's a step closer to achieving his perfect form

[dothetruffleshuffle]

That looks like something out of a science fiction movie where this organism has grown in size and attacks a small town.

[rob]

I have so many questions but I'll start with one:- How does he detect where his prey is?

[michaelojok]

This is so terrifying! Glad it a tiny being we don't "see" everyday

[spaceman]

Frightening that something as 'simple' as a single cell can be so effective as a predator.

[funnyjewguy]

I didn't know they made snakes this small

[caijuu]

Interesting to see that even at this most basic of levels there exist a recognizable diversification in areas of the cell as to partition particular tasks or needs. One part is the "mouth", there are structures used for locomotion, etc.

[yepee]

Crazy that cells can stretch so far... It looks like a living thinking thing. It's able to recognize food and act differently accordingly.

[nowknow]

How does a single cell organism like this break down and process the other organisms?