by Playfuls Staff |
19th January 2006
Deep caves sometimes hold the greatest mysteries, sometimes acting as real “time capsules” in which ancient organisms are maintained, or even evolve into completely new species. And that’s exactly what scientists have discovered in some Californian caves.[more]
According to AP, Spiders, centipedes and scorpion-like critters are among the 27 new animal species that biologists have discovered in the dark, damp caves of two Central California national parks, officials have just announced in a statement.
The finds were made during a three-year study of 30 caves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. Many of the creatures live only in caves - and some only in one particular cave of Sequoia and Kings Canyon, according to the study, conducted by park staff and biologists from Austin, Texas-based Zara Environmental .
"Not only are these animals new to science, but they're adapted to very specific environments -- some of them, to a single room in one cave," said Joel Despain, a cave specialist who helped explore 30 of the 238 known caves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. "We thought we might find a handful of new species. It was amazing to find 27," he added.
While it's extremely rare to find new mammal or bird species on the surface, caves still hold an abundance of secrets. They are often difficult to reach and seldom explored, so the likelihood of finding an unknown creature in their folds is much greater, said Darrell Ubick, a cave biologist with the California Academy of Sciences.
"It's not necessarily unusual to find something new, but that doesn't make this less spectacular," he said. "Many people will be looking at these trying to find where they fit in the tree of life."
In the process of evolving to survive in complete darkness, millipedes, spiders, insects and organisms can develop characteristics that make them seem like ghostly, nightmarish versions of their relatives above.
Discovering so many unknown species was thrilling, said Jean Krejca, a consulting biologist with Zara Environmental who helped lead the three-year exploration, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
"You get the feeling you're Lewis and Clark, charting undiscovered territory," she said. "Caves are one of the last frontiers."
