![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/12\/Pacific_hagfish_Myxine.jpg\")
Source: Wikipedia<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n Hagfish literally tie themselves in knots to escape a tricky situation \u2013 and that includes tying their bodies into complicated three-twist knots.<\/p>\n In many ways,\u00a0hagfish<\/a>\u00a0are extraordinary. They are long, eel-like marine animals that carry far more blood relative to their body volume\u00a0than any other fish<\/a>, have\u00a0four hearts<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and\u00a0only half a jaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is partly because of this last feature that it is so useful for hagfish to tie knots in their long bodies. When the animal ties a knot at its tail end and slips it along the body to the head, it forms a broad flat surface that the hagfish\u2019s upper jaw can work against, creating a makeshift lower jaw. Slipping a thick body knot along its body can also help a hagfish pull its head out of a tight spot if it gets stuck during hunting or feeding.\u00a0[NewScientist<\/strong><\/a> (11 January 2020)]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sounds like a critter designed by a committee meeting at a bar, doesn’t it? I mean, four hearts?!<\/p>\n And I must be in an odd frame of mind, because I keep wondering if our Universe is just a little particle in the gut of a cosmic hagfish<\/em> …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I found this fascinating and oddly disturbing: Hagfish literally tie themselves in knots to escape a tricky situation \u2013 and that includes tying their bodies into complicated three-twist knots. In many ways,\u00a0hagfish\u00a0are extraordinary. They are long, eel-like marine animals that carry far more blood relative to their body volume\u00a0than any \u2026 Continue reading