Spongebob is real!

A new species of mushroom was found in the forests of Borneo in 2011. According to BBC, it is shaped like a sea sponge and has a fruity smell. Its appearance reminded scientists of a cartoon character which we are all familiar with – Spongebob Squarepants and that is how the mushroom got its name - Spongiforma squarepantsii.

To help children understand more about  Spongebob and Spongiforma, I did a quick analysis of both. We don’t want children to get confused and sing “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea, Spongiforma squarepantsii!” do we? The song has got to be sung right!

So, here we go!

 versus  

Spongebob Squarepants versus Spongiforma squarepantsii:

Similarities:

- Sponge like.

-         - Takes up its original shape if water is squeezed out.

Differences:

-         - Spongebob is from Bikini Bottom, Pacific Ocean. Spongiforma is from a forest in Borneo.

-         - Spongebob is square (kind of implied by the fact that his pants are square). Spongiforma is spherical to oval (probably resembles the shape of the mushroom cap its ancestor used to have).

It seems like cartoon characters are coming to live in the 21^st century.  I for one cannot wait for more cartoon characters to be discovered under the sea and in forests.

In case you were wondering, Patrick has been around for quite a while:

     

-Pictures of Spongiforma squarepantsii and pink sea star are from Wikipedia-