Bizarre New Form of Life Found in Arctic Ocean, Scientists Announce

An entirely new group of tiny and bizarre marine algae has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean.

A team of European researchers found the new organisms while analyzing DNA sequences in samples of seawater. (Related: "Extreme New Species Discovered by Sea-Life Survey" [December 11, 2006].)

Genetic evidence pointed to the presence of an unknown type of microalgae, which the researchers named picobiliphytes ("pico" means "a trillionth of a part of") because of their miniscule size.

But the discovery may be huge—scientifically speaking.

"These organisms represent a new evolutionary lineage," said team member Fabrice Not. Not is a marine biologist at the Institut de Ciències del Mar, a part of Spain's National Research Council.

National Geographic