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LIVE ROTIFER BIRTH
An Amateur Microscopy movie
© Microscopy-UK 1997
Download a multimedia ZIPPED version!

This is a video sequence of an event that is rarely seen. A rotifer giving birth to live young! Most species of rotifer are egg layers where eggs are laid either outside or inside the body; these hatch into live young. However, some genus of rotifers give birth to live young. The video shows a rotifer of the order Bdelloidea, family Philodinidae and genus Rotaria. The birth occurred while the author was watching the rotifer on a slide under a cover slip! The mother seems to contract quite markedly during the birth before the single youngster is ejected from the posterior end. The youngster is fully formed and not much smaller than its mother. The mother was lethargic after birth, unlike the lively youngster. Rotifers of this species are typically up to 500um long.

Click twice SLOWLY on the video image to replay the movie!

The video sequence was filmed by David Walker, a keen amateur microscopist, (and the current editor of Micscape Magazine). It is just one of the amazing slidesets which can be viewed with the astonishing virtual microscope called Microscope for the PC!

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DOWNLOAD A ZIPPED VERSION
You can DOWNLOAD a multimedia ZIPPED version of this page which includes a fully-working avi with synchronised sound. When unzipped, use your browser off-line and load the file called: WALKER1X.HTM

Microscopy-UK is a non-profit making group made up of people offering their time freely to promote further amateur study of our world though the use of microscopes in a non-professional environment. We have been established for about 18 months prior to the creation of this article. If you are interested in what we are doing, please contact us. We love to hear from folks around the world.