Soxy Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 Cool! Prehistoric ecosystem found in Israeli cave Wed May 31, 8:10 AM ET JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli scientists said on Wednesday they had discovered a prehistoric ecosystem dating back millions of years. The discovery was made in a cave near the central Israeli city of Ramle during rock drilling at a quarry. Scientists were called in and soon found eight previously unknown species of crustaceans and invertebrates similar to scorpions. "Until now eight species of animals were found in the cave, all of them unknown to science," said Dr Hanan Dimantman, a biologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He said the cave's ecosystem probably dates back around five million years when the Mediterranean Sea covered parts of Israel. The cave was completely sealed off from the world, including from water and nutrients seeping through rock crevices above. Scientists who discovered the cave believe it has been intact for millions of years. "Every species we examined had no eyes which means they lost their sight due to evolution," said Dimantman. Samples of the animals discovered in the cave were sent for DNA tests which found they were unique, he said. The cave has been closed off as scientists conduct a more detailed survey. "This is a cave of fantastic biodiversity," Dimantman said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 Wow. Pretty amazing find. Now the real trick will be preserving the system now that it is no longer completely isolated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapkomet Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 Wow. So how do you seal it back off, now that modern air has gotten through, etc.? And - how did it stay intact? I mean, the air had to come from somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 QUOTE(kapkomet @ May 31, 2006 -> 02:05 PM) Wow. So how do you seal it back off, now that modern air has gotten through, etc.? And - how did it stay intact? I mean, the air had to come from somewhere? Good questions. The short news story obviously is sketchy on a lot of details. And unfortunately there is no reference to a more complete communication in a refereed scientific journal. But the story's claim that the cave was completely isolated from the outside system is most certainly an overstatement. There is no indication that this is an chemotrophic system, so there have to be connections linking the cave system to external primary production. If the mysterious scorpion-like animals are similar in habit to most scorpions, they are ambush predators that are feeding on a prey base that is in turn grazing on something else. It's not a closed system from a trophic standpoint. There also seem to be some so-far flimsy arguments suggesting [at least teh way the news story presents it] that the animals found are there as a result of prolonged reproductive isolation and resulting allopatric speciation events within the cave. The likelihood that that is actually the case is vanishingly small. Much, much, much more likely, the cave system represents a suite of relict populations whose members were all much more widespread in the geologic past but apparently only survived to the present in this isolated and ecologically accomodating cave system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie hayes Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ May 31, 2006 -> 02:30 PM) Good questions. The short news story obviously is sketchy on a lot of details. And unfortunately there is no reference to a more complete communication in a refereed scientific journal. But the story's claim that the cave was completely isolated from the outside system is most certainly an overstatement. There is no indication that this is an chemotrophic system, so there have to be connections linking the cave system to external primary production. If the mysterious scorpion-like animals are similar in habit to most scorpions, they are ambush predators that are feeding on a prey base that is in turn grazing on something else. It's not a closed system from a trophic standpoint. There also seem to be some so-far flimsy arguments suggesting [at least teh way the news story presents it] that the animals found are there as a result of prolonged reproductive isolation and resulting allopatric speciation events within the cave. The likelihood that that is actually the case is vanishingly small. Much, much, much more likely, the cave system represents a suite of relict populations whose members were all much more widespread in the geologic past but apparently only survived to the present in this isolated and ecologically accomodating cave system. Lol, if you seriously believe that a periphronastic cistern does not have the ameliorative ability to regulate funicular vegetation, then you really are a bimbo. And a semihydrogenous one, at that. All this scienceporn makes me so jealous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 QUOTE(jackie hayes @ May 31, 2006 -> 05:48 PM) Lol, if you seriously believe that a periphronastic cistern does not have the ameliorative ability to regulate funicular vegetation, then you really are a bimbo. And a semihydrogenous one, at that. I stand. . . er. . . , corrected? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_genius Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 QUOTE(jackie hayes @ May 31, 2006 -> 04:48 PM) Lol, if you seriously believe that a periphronastic cistern does not have the ameliorative ability to regulate funicular vegetation, then you really are a bimbo. And a semihydrogenous one, at that. haha good one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSHAWKS Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 (edited) Carl Everett doesn't believe in Prehistoric ecosystems because they aren't discussed in the bible. Edited June 1, 2006 by MSHAWKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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