Lost world found inside Israeli cave.Previously unknown species lurk in cavern.

[cartoon]

JERUSALEM - Israeli scientists say they have 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,” Hanan Dimantman, a biologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Wednesday.
He said the cave’s ecosystem probably dates back around 5 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.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

That is pretty interesting. It is almost a shame that the ecosystem will be corrupted by human contact after over a million years of isolation. I have read that scientists estimate that only 5 - 15 percent of life forms have been discovered and classified, which makes me wonder what other life forms we are sharing our planet with that we have no idea about.

The part about the evolution of the creatures to become eyeless due to the absence of light also makes me wonder in what ways the human species will evolve if we survive long enough to witness such a change. It seems that something drastic would need to occur so that only a certain number of humans with a special adaptation to the problem could survive. Otherwise because of humans mass reproduction tendencies, ie. even the weak among us reproduce, it seems that we would evolve at a much slower rate than most other species. Maybe in the relatively near future global warming could be a force that increased the speed of human evolution by naturally selecting those individuals better suited to warmer climates. However, those that survived because of their ability to live in warm temperature would have a hard winter when the next ice age comes around.