Adrian's mission is to uncover the secrets of these bone-eating worms, from how they reproduce to the way the bacteria inside them digest the oil-rich bones. But they aren't the only mysterious characters that have been discovered living in this unique ecosystem. Meet the carpet worm, the candy floss worm and even the snowboarding worm, all specially adapted to live on whale bones. But I was curious to know why we need to study these bizarre forms of life. Does understanding the bone-eating snot flower have any wider relevance? To some people it might just seem that this is a weird worm sitting on a whale bone. Well, that's how I saw it, first of all. That's right. I mean that's what you think. But what it really tells us about is the process of evolution, and particularly evolution in the most extreme environment? How did this bizarre animal evolve? What's its closest relatives? How did it evolve to actually live on what's quite a toxic and quite difficult place to live? And, really, the sort of bigger picture is, how does a life evolve anyway, what is the process of evolution over time?


艾德里安的任务，就是揭开这些食骨虫的秘密。从它们如何繁殖，到其体内细菌如何消化富含油脂的骨骼，在这独一无二的生态系统中，它们并非唯一的神奇生物。 来看看地毯虫，棉花糖虫，甚至还有滑雪板虫，完全进化为适应在鲸骨上生存的形态，但我很好奇，我们为何要研究这些形态怪异的生命？了解这种食骨鼻涕花虫，有什么更深远的意义吗？ 在有些人眼里他们或许只是，鲸骨上长出的奇怪蠕虫。一开始，我也是这样认为。 没错，一开始都会这样想，但是从它们身上 我们能了解到进化的过程。特别是最极端环境中的进化过程。 这种奇特的生物到底是怎样进化的？它的近亲是什么？能够在毒性如此之大，如此严酷的环境中生存，它们的进化历程究竟是怎样的呢？ 总之，从宏观上看就是，生命如何进化？随时间的流逝，进化的过程又是怎样？