Earthworms are small animals commonly found burrowing through the soil, aerating the earth, and serving as food for various other species.
In terms of classification, earthworms are considered low-level animals. They possess a head, a tail, a mouth, a stomach, intestines, and an anus, and their bodies resemble a patterned tube with two pointed ends.
Earthworm.
Earthworms possess a remarkable ability; if they are cut into two segments, they do not die. After a few days, they will regenerate into several perfect individuals depending on the number of segments that were severed.
The reason for this is that when cut into multiple segments, the muscle tissue at the site of the cut immediately contracts and forms new cells to close the wound. A portion of undifferentiated cells in the body quickly moves to the “regeneration site”, where they combine with newly formed cells to create regeneration buds.
Simultaneously, the cellular structures in the internal organs, nervous systems, and blood vessels of the earthworm rapidly proliferate through division, significantly increasing in number at the regeneration site. Soon after, the segment lacking a head grows a new head, and the segment lacking a tail grows a new tail, resulting in one earthworm transforming into several complete earthworms corresponding to the number of segments that were cut.
The phenomenon where an earthworm is severed and regenerates into several complete worms is referred to as “regeneration,” and this capability is also seen in species like leeches. Generally, animals at lower levels of the biological hierarchy exhibit greater regenerative abilities.
