WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, ERYN BLAIRE
Collodictyon is not a virus, but it has gone viral. This obscure unicellular species, isolated from a lake in Norway, is fast becoming this year’s most talked about microbe. A cursory Google search of its name, pronounced co-low-dic-tee-on, gives dozens of hits from major international newspapers, magazines, and online media, many with flashy headlines like: “Oldest Human Ancestor Found in Lake Sludge,” “Man’s Remotest Relative,” “World’s Oldest Living Organism,” or as The Scientist put it, “A New Branch of Life?”
So what is this mysterious single-celled creature? Contrary to what is being reported, Collodictyon is not our remotest relative or the world’s oldest living organism. But it is an interesting species, and one that merits attention.
First described from samples collected in India 150 years ...
