New Cave Species

[sskasser]

Live Science (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090928/sc_livescience/850mostlyblindpalecreaturesdiscoveredunderground)

Very cool discovery of 850 mostly blind new cave creatures in Australia.

[MORGAN]

Very Cool!

My original education was in wildlife biology, but I concentrated on mammals. For years I have wished that I'd spent more time on invertebrates, amphibians, and fish - underwater cave critters!

Though I do have to say - as a paramedic and ER nurse, a background in wildlife biology has come in handy more than once! :)

Mike

[phillip1]

Sounds cool very cool, that's a ton of new species, very cool stuff.
I dove with Tom Illife a while ago here and he found 2 previously unknown species in a cave that Thomas (my dive buddy) and I had been exploring.
Up to that point I had never really paid attention to cave critters, but Tom showed us what to look for and ever since I have really been enjoying checking these creatures out every time I see one. Most of those critters are full on monsters under a microscope, imagine if those things were feet long instead of millimeters, there would be a whole new set of cave diving hazards, and we would need more "rules"..lol...

[sskasser]

Reports like this always make me wish I knew more about the creatures in the cave (and in the ocean). Seriously, I wonder how many of us have seen "new species" but didn't know it or recognize it? Some of these are so close in appearance to previously identified organisms, one has to be not only in the right place at the right time, but also have the right knowledge. Kudos to those of you who have this skill set! Thanks!

[Brian Kakuk]

For those of you who are really interested in cave critters, check out Dr. Tom Iliffe's awesome website:

www.cavebiology.com

We are fortunate here in the Bahamas that we have the worlds most diverse underwater cave biology. The critter in my avatar is a new species that I collected here last year, is the only one ever seen and is currently being described by Dr. Iliffe and the "shrimp" expert in Mexico.

It's amazing what can be found by simply changing your focus! I'm not a scientist, but I do consider myself an observer of life. That passion is now how I make part of my living.

I have learned that these caves are not just holes in the ground, but living breathing eco-systems that often represent some of the oldest life forms on earth. It's been an amazing education that cannot be derived from books and will hopefully continue till my last day.

Do check out Dr. Iliffe's website. He and his students have put tons of time and effort into it.

Safe diving,

Brian

[sskasser]

Thank you, Brian! That's some great info!

Congratulations on the new discovery!