(buzzing)

[Narrator] Looks like a buzzsaw,

don't it?

Well, it's not.

It's a rotifer,

a teeny tiny aquatic animal.

And I mean teeny tiny.

Most species don't grow bigger

than a hundredth of an inch long.

Those spinning parts are the business end of the critter.

They're known as cilia.

By rapidly beating these,

the rotifer creates a vortex that sucks in food.

Check this out.

Oops, missed it.

Yep, got that one.

And, those as well.

The rotifer ain't picky about what it eats,

animal material, plant material, whatever.

Some species tend to more gnaw on things.

Once it's got ahold of food,

the rotifer grinds it's stuff up with little jaws.

It even has a stomach to digest the grub

and critically, an anus to expel the waste.

Those beating cilia also help propel the rotifer around.

Though some species simply stick to one stop

and wait for food to come to them.

Pretty neat, right?

Well, you may be able to get some rotifers of your own.

They're everywhere,

even damp soil in your backyard.

Just draw up some dirty water with a pipette

and apply it to a slide.

Put the slide under a microscope

and you'll probably catch sight of a rotifer or two.

(buzzing)

okay, I'm done.