Article: WORM WORLD THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION HAS A COLLECTION DEVOTED TO 12.8 MILLION SPECIMENS SOME OF THE LOWLY CREATURES THAT LINK THE FOOD CHAIN.(LIFE & LEISURE)

Byline: LINDA K. HARRIS Knight-Ridder

Suppose you wanted to see an animal so hellbent on survival that it figured a way to turn poison gas into food. And suppose this animal had inhabited Earth for 400 million years, and the likes of it lived 1 miles below the swim line of the Pacific Ocean near a hot water vent that spewed toxic gas from below the sea floor.

It would be possible. Indeed, as a taxpayer, you could almost say you own this amazing creature, as it is just one of the 12.8 million specimens gathered in priceless but understated glory in giant Room No. 218C of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.: home of the National Collection ...

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