‘Superorganisms’ were just seen in the wild for the first time ever

For years, scientists have watched nematodes build massive superorganisms in the form of writhing towers. But, they’ve only seen it happen in the lab. Now, though, researchers write that they’ve observed these massive, disturbing towers writhing in the wild for the first time ever.

Previously, researchers believed that the behavior was meant to be an attempt to escape from the rest of the group. However, new images of the writhing towers appear to suggest they’re actually used cooperatively, to benefit many worms instead of just one.