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Takeaways:
- Scientists have recently discovered 300 year old sponges on the Langseth Ridge, part of a former volcanic seamount in the Central Arctic.
- They’ve found that the sponges have survived by digesting the remains of deceased animals that once inhabited the areas where the sponges now live.
- The results of the study showed that bacteria played an important role in degrading the animals which released a dissolved organic matter that kept the sponge well-fed and alive for all this time.