25 October 2009

Life underground in central Australia


A survey commissioned by the National Geographic Society has identified 850 new invertebrates living underground in the arid central region of Australia. It is believed that these creatures retreated to a subterranean environment about 15 million years ago when the continent's climate changed. They have survived in underground springs, aquifers, and "microcaverns."

Pictured above is a blind cave eel; other blind creatures discovered incude a spider, a fish, and a pseudoscorpion. A gallery of nine photos is available at the National Geographic website. See also related links here.

Photo credit Douglas Elford, Western Australian Museum.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for explaining that photo!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder how many medical wonders they may represent before we find ways to drive them to extinction.

    ReplyDelete

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