Movie 1

Attachment of Trichoplax to a substrate, top view. Time lapse recording one frame per 5 seconds. The animal folds up with the ventral surface inside after detachment from the substrate as seen at the beginning of the movie. It moves in place by ciliary beating. Then it unfolds slowly, establishing the contact with a substrate with an exposed surface of the ventral epithelium. The area of the contact with a substrate expands as the body spreads.