Rock ‘ard debate

Debate. It is, in so many ways, the bedrock of science. Without dissemination and, more importantly, critical analysis then findings become isolated – they wither on the vine.

Discussion is how we move forward, how we climb onto the shoulders of giants. It’s important. Please remember this – the esteem in which we hold the practice of debate – when we present you, dear long-suffering reader, with a discussion recently held on the Science Lite desk. It started innocently enough; a team member lost in a simple moment of contemplation. Contemplation which bubbled to the surface. “Bear or shark?” He asked. Hmmm…intriguing we thought. But bear or shark what, exactly? Well, predictably they were pondering which of the two notorious roughians would win out in a ‘celebrity death match’ style fight.

We’d like to say we are mature enough to shrug off this nonsense without as much as a passing comment. Alas we can’t as the next three hours were spent earnestly pairing together increasingly unlikely bouts in order to establish the toughest living thing. Rules came and went – can we include beasts from the past? Can a water dweller take on a land lubber? Do we correct for size-to-weight ratio? Heads were scratched, brows became increasingly furrowed and tempers began to flare. But after many, many imaginary battles – each hosting some truly horrific scenes – a clear winner emerged.

And what a fine champion it is. A true ‘ard nut of nature. So, allow us to introduce in the red corner, weighing in at a mere 2 grams, it the undisputed king of the rock pool, the gastropod who puts the vulgar in Patella vulgata – the bulldozer of the seashore…

IT’S…THE…common limpet.

Believe us; we were as surprised as you at the rise of this unlikely victor. A veritable David in a mob of jostling Goliaths…but you know what happened to him. And so it is for our plucky limpet. For all the battered tigers, bloodied sharks and baffled bears we had better offer an explanation – it all comes down to the teeth.

Findings from engineers at the University of Portsmouth show that the teeth of the common limpet consist of the strongest biological material ever tested. Have that Great White. Yes, you may have the reputation and yes, you can replace your teeth…but that’s because they break. Limpets teeth don’t break…these little nutters can eat rock. In fact that is how they feed. Limpets use a tongue bristling with teeth to scrape food from rocks and into their mouths, often swallowing particles of rock in the process.

And they don’t just eat rock, they make it too. Once they excavate the rock, they pass it through their gut and it re-hardens leaving faecal pellets described by one expert as “like concrete blocks”. Publishing in the journal Interface, the team behind this remarkable test thinks the material’s strength is due to the thinness of its tightly packed mineral fibres. These Fibres consist of an iron-based mineral called goethite and are laced through a protein base – or, as we have taken to calling it, THE LATTICE OF IMPENDING DOOM.

They found the average strength for the tooth material to be about five gigapascals – to put that in context, it is about the same pressure needed to turn carbon into diamond beneath the Earth’s crust. Yeah…you want some Lions? Stick that mate… And it’s not just brawn…there are brains here too. The engineers behind the study think we could learn a thing or two from the structure of the teeth. They say the small and densely packed fibers reduce the number of flaws in the overall structure – something materials scientists could take inspiration from to improve man made composites.

So it eats and poops rock. And it does so whilst brandishing the strongest teeth yet found in nature. Teeth so strong that the pressure need to break them could forge diamonds in the very mantle of the Earth. Assorted Goliaths of Nature – don’t feel bad, you fought well and with honour, but you just can’t compete with that.