More miscellany Parts One & Two (Evolution)

by dhw, Monday, October 21, 2024, 11:56 (21 hours, 40 minutes ago) @ dhw

You haven’t responded to my post of yesterday. Did something go wrong? I can’t imagine you being struck dumb!

Sponges collect molybdenum

QUOTES: "'Perhaps the molybdenum protects the sponge, by announcing: 'I'm toxic! Don't eat me!', and in return for this service the sponge does not eat the bacteria and serves as their host."
"Entotheonella was found to be largely responsible for hoarding the metals and turning them into minerals, thereby neutralizing their toxicity," Shoham explains.

DAVID: a sponge is like a cave for a bacteria to nestle in. It's existence there is not a surprise. But the bacteria collecting molybdenum is a surprise. That it protects sponges is a secondary effect. Design not needed, all happened naturally.

I must confess, whenever there is talk of symbiosis, I think of Lynn Margulis, who not only established its massive importance to evolution but was also a champion of cellular intelligence. It sounds as if the sponge protected Entotheonella because the bacterium protected the sponge. Sounds like intelligent cooperation to me.