Wonderful worms
The humble earth-worm is much more than bait for fish hooks
Earthworms are highly specialized creatures. They seem obviously designed for their
important task of burrowing through soil. They burrow into the ground in nearly
all parts of the world, and make an important contribution to the fertilization,
aeration and drainage of the soil.
Earthworms drag organic material from the surface into the ground. They also swallow
huge amounts of earth, digest the nutritive matter it contains, then cast up the
remains on to the surface of the ground or in their burrows. In this way they work
at a constant and effective system of ploughing, which enriches and oxygenates the
soil. An average acre (0.4 hectare) may house three million earthworms, which can
move about 18 tonnes of soil per year.
Most are found in the top 12 centimetres (five inches) of soil. Their work is so
thorough that in the areas in which they live almost all the soil to a depth of
many centimetres has passed through the alimentary tract (gut) of an earthworm at
some time.
Can evolution explain the earthworm’s activities of loosening, stirring up
and aerating the soil to make it more fertile? Could its valuable work come about
through mutations and natural selection (the supposed methods of evolution)? Did
the earthworm choose to dig everlastingly, to pass countless tons of earth through
its body over the centuries to help cultivate the soil for plant life?
A better explanation is that the Creator designed and planned the earthworm in the
beginning, to be a willing, if humble, servant of the plant world. By which means,
therefore, it helps to sustain the balance of all other life on this earth.
Fascinating earthworm facts
- Worms are deaf, and have no eyes. However, they can detect light, as well as vibrations.
- Charles Darwin wrote a whole book on worms.1 He noted that objects on
the surface of soil, such as stones and archaeological relics, sink into the ground
as they are buried by worm casts. At the rate he measured, in 1,000 years, an object
could end up being about 5.5 metres (18 feet) underground by this mechanism alone.
- A worm cut in half will usually not survive. However, if the tail is severed
near the end, new tail segments can form and the worm will be as before.
- 90% of the leaves that fall from orchard trees are dragged into the soil by earthworms.
- The world’s largest earthworm is found in the State of Victoria, Australia
(see photos). These can
grow up to three metres (10 feet) long.
Reference
1. C. Darwin, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms with
observations on their habits, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1896.
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