The amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum , an organism with known social behavior that feeds on bacteria, decides under certain circumstances not to consume all the resources of an area to incorporate some microbes into its body, where they fertilize, and then deposit them in a culture in a new location. , as a team of researchers has been able to verify.
The work, directed by scientist Debra Brock, from Rice University (Texas, USA) and published in the journal Nature , points out that this unicellular organism develops a "sophisticated and surprising" behavior when it feeds , given that a third of the Individuals of this species observed by researchers have shown abilities similar to those of the primitive "farmers" , transporting, cultivating and gathering their own food.
Agriculture is recognized as one of the key points for the success of human adaptation to the environment, and it is a skill commonly associated with forms of life that have developed structured social relationships. Scientists had previously discovered that some social species of insects, such as termites and certain classes of ants, are capable of establishing cooperative systems between their individuals and practice some kind of primitive agriculture.
