zaphod Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Link "Until now eight species of animals were found in the cave, all of them unknown to science." - Dr Hanan Dimantman, biologist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While drilling rock at a quarry near Ramle, miners uncovered a cave that had recieved no sunlight in over 5 million years. There, Israeli scientists have uncovered an entire ecosystem adapted to its environment. Along with various bacteria, 8 different life forms which closely resembled scorpions were found. "Every species we examined had no eyes which means they lost their sight due to evolution," added Dimantman. "This is a cave of fantastic biodiversity." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Neat! I just wish there was more info on the animals themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 It looks more like a shrimp than a scorpion to me; the carapase, uropods and antennae are all shrimpy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herpguy Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Cool! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royston Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Thanks zaphod, for anyone interested the bbc link below has a short film on the discovery, and a bit more detail... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5036618.stm Apparently there were no live scorpions found, but there is still much to explore, they're even hoping to find animals that may feed on the scorpions. The main source of food for this ecosystem appears to be bacteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I'm guessing this is going to be the greatest new species discovery since the hydrothermal vent system. Simply incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillTheNewf Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 new species????? it'd definately aliens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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