Scientists have recently revealed H.P. Lovecraft's monstrous, tentacled elder god Cthulhu to be a lot smaller than anyone (including the author himself) ever imagined... small enough, in fact, to fit inside a termite's digestive system.
Photo: PLoS ONE
Okay, to be fair, the creature they discovered is actually a species of single-celled microbe called a “protist,” one of many types of amoeba that live in the digestive system of termites (this particular host bug is native to Cuba). According to Scientific American, this teardrop-shaped protist's long, creepy tentacles – called flagella – inspired Lovecraft-reading biologists to dub their new find Cthulhu macrofasciculumque.
Photo: PLoS ONE
A similar but smaller creature was also found in the guts of a different breed of termite, given the name Cthylla microfasciculumque, nicknamed the “daughter of Cthulhu.” Thankfully, neither species was found to feed on human souls; in fact, they're all vegetarians, living off wood cellulose digested by the termite.
The researchers published their findings in the journal PLoS ONE, and captured the following video of the micro-monster in action:
Not all the spawn of Cthulhu are this small, of course... some are big enough to hang on your wall, like this amazing DIY creation!