Deep Sea Gigantism | Why the Ocean Breeds Giants

Deep Sea Gigantism | Why Creatures of the Deep Grow so Large. Enter at for your chance to win a Custom Tesla® Model S-APEX and support a great cause, the Petersen Automotive Museum. The experience closes on January 27th at 11:59pm PST and I promise, you don’t want to miss this! Deep sea (abyssal) gigantism demonstrates the role of natural selection in driving evolution and survival, particularly in an environment characterised by challenging conditions and limited resources. Evolution tends towards the most effective adaptations to grant animals the best chances of survival. And whether large or small, evolution selects for the best-adapted body size to survive these conditions. Though widely debated and often controversial, the research that has been done into the science behind deep sea gigantism has significant implications in the human world; it is believed that climate change may have a greater impact on ocean dwellers than any other population of animals. As the colder oceans warm up, the balance of temperature, oxygen supply, and what organisms are present, will throw the equilibrium off course. And the giants, which rely so heavily on this fine balance, may be the first to go. Support me on Patreon: 00:00 - Introduction to Deep Sea Gigantism 02:27 - Kleiber’s Rule - The Pressure Misconception 04:06 - Kleiber’s Rule - How Buoyancy Enables Gigantism 05:00 - Kleiber’s Rule - The Efficiency of Larger Animals 05:52 - Kleiber’s Rule - Food Availability in the Deep Sea 07:00 - Gigantism Examples - Gigantism in Amphipods 08:45 - Gigantism Examples - The Colossal Squid 09:18 - Gigantism Examples - The Humboldt Squid 09:38 - Gigantism Examples - The Magnapinna (Bigfin Squid) 10:52 - Gigantism Examples - The Sleeper Sharks 13:41 - Kleiber’s Rule - Metabolism of Deep Sea Giants 14:59 - Kleiber’s Rule - Gigantism in Sponges 16:02 - Polar Gigantism - Bergmann’s Rule 17:43 - Polar Gigantism - Giant Polar Invertebrates 20:00 - Polar Gigantism - The Oxygen-Temperature Hypothesis 21:34 - Polar Gigantism - A Fragile Ecosystem 23:05 - The Island Rule - A Scale Model of Evolution 24:20 - The Island Rule - Adaptive Radiation (Darwin’s Finches) 25:19 - Insular Gigantism and Dwarfism 26:29 - Deep Sea Gigantism and Dwarfism 28:16 - The Island Rule - Islands and the Deep Sea 29:40 - Conclusion CHECK OUT MY DEEP SEA WEBSITE: []() Written, Narrated and Edited by Leo Richards I do not own any of the footage. I write the script, narrate, and edit what footage I can find, which is allowed due to YouTube’s ’Fair Use’ policy as these films are transformative and for educational purposes. Footage used belongs to the incredible marine conservation societies of Schmidt Ocean Institute, MBARI, WHOI and the Ocean Exploration Institute, along with various other YouTube sources. Most footage is used with explicit permission of the copyright owner. In cases where I cannot contact the owner or have not received a reply, I use certain clips in accordance with the Fair Use policy. Music Used: Ocean by Aleksey Chistilin Il. Largo by Hawkins Under Canopies by Spearfisher Ripples by Tamuz Dekel Parallel Dimension by Onyx Music Marakana by Alon Peretz Come Back Home by Ardie Son Elapsed by Sémø Life by O.B Waiting for a New Day by Aleksey Chistilin Stream by ANBR Sun Up by Laurel Violet Home of the Gumon by Gareth Coker Slow Tides by Eleven Tales Beneath the Mountain by Rising Tide Autumn Nights by O.B #deepsea #wildlife #nature #documentary #ocean #marinebiology #science #biology Bibliography: The Island Rule and the evolution of body size in the deep sea - JSTOR (no date). Available at: Vermeij, G.J. (2016) Gigantism and its implications for the history of life, PloS one. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Available at: (Accessed: November 14, 2022). Why do some creatures in the deep sea grow to enormous sizes? (2022) Science ABC. Available at: