A giant earthworm called Dave has wriggled his way into the record books after surfacing in Cheshire. The 40cm (15.7 inch) annelid, weighing 26g, is the size of a small snake and the largest earthworm ever found in the UK. But while those worms were almost as long as Dave, measuring 39.6cm, they only weighed 12.6g, to Dave’s 26g. How Dave got to be such a size in Cheshire – three times longer and more than five times heavier than an average worm – remains a mystery. “I look forward to seeing if anyone can find an even bigger example by taking part in the Earthworm Watch survey this autumn.”Earthworm Watch is a survey of earthworms and soil quality run by the Natural History Museum and the Earthwatch Institute in association with the Earthworm Society of Britain.

Source: The Guardian November 04, 2016 00:53 UTC