A team of UK researchers believe earthworms could provide a
window into past climates, allowing scientists to piece together the prevailing
weather conditions thousands of years ago.
A laboratory study by researchers from the Universities of
Reading and York has demonstrated that balls of calcium carbonate (small lumps
of chalk-like material) excreted by the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris –
commonly known as lobworms or nightcrawlers - maintain a memory of the
temperature at which they were formed.