In the Australian outbacks, 18 scientists have just discovered over 850 new species living underground.
[social_buttons]
Working together, 18 researchers discovered nearly 1,000 new “insects, small crustaceans, spiders, worms” and others species. This is all from a 4-year study of “underground water, caves and micro-caverns across arid and semi-arid Australia.”
The scientists believe that the species only account for about one fifth of the new species living in these hard to explore ecosystems.
Only about half of the new species have been named. Ever tried to name a baby? Imagine trying to name nearly 1,000 new species!
The main researcher, Professor Andy Austin of the University of Adelaide, has a theory about why all these species remained undiscovered for so long. “Essentially what we are seeing is the result of past climate change. Central and southern Australia was a much wetter place 15 million years ago when there was a flourishing diversity of invertebrate fauna living on the surface. But the continent became drier, a process that last until about 1-2 million years ago, resulting in our current arid environment. Species took refuge in isolated favorable habitats, such as in underground waters and micro-caverns, where they survived and evolved in isolation from each other.”
Conservation is already an issue for these new species, as they are threatened by “pastoral activities” and mining, according to Austin.
This is an amazing new discovery (or 850). Hopefully the species will thrive.
A conference on evolution and biodiversity and celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin, finishing today, is where the research team presented its findings.
Related Story:
3 New Species Found in Underwater Cave in Canary Islands
Image Credit 1: doug.deep via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: ccdoh1 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: nic_pepsi via flickr under a Creative Commons license