Australian researchers have discovered a huge number of new species of invertebrate animals living in underground water, caves and "micro-caverns" amid the harsh conditions of the Australian outback.
A national team of 18 researchers has discovered 850 new species of invertebrates, which include various insects, small crustaceans, spiders, worms and many others.
Read more here.
5 comments:
Yay! Job security for the scientists!
As if!
And I suppose I shouldn't complain about the dearth of molluscs (especially when I don't know it for sure), because new land snail species have been popping up all over the islands of the Kimberley coast in Western Australia.
LOL! Just read a Dept of Environment and Conservation info sheet about the Kimberley survey. It refers to "the normally allusive [sic] brown tree snake".
I wonder if they write poetry?
What would the snails be eating where the sun did't shine?
Not sure, Aydin. I suppose they might feed on stuff that gets washed in, bat crap or maybe on bacterial mats.
The cave snails I've dealt with here (at Chillagoe) live in areas of the cave where there's light, albeit filtered or indirect, so I can't draw any conclusions from those!
Post a Comment