Gribble

A team of British researchers has learned that gribble have a gift for digesting wood not seen in any other organism. Enzymes produced by the tiny creatures are able to break down woody cellulose and turn it into energy-rich sugars. This excites scientists investigating green fuel sources because it means gribble could hold the key to converting wood and straw into liquid biofuel.

You learn something every day.

Photograph: Dr Simon Cragg and Graham Malyon/PA