(Israël) Teenager discovers prehistoric ecosystem (10 June 2006)

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Teenager discovers prehistoric ecosystem (10 June

2006)http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19025553.200.html

IT IS not every day you stumble across a complete prehistoric ecosystem, sealed

off for millions of years. Yet that is what teenager Matan Avital did after he

volunteered to explore a cave discovered by quarry workers near the Israeli city

of Ramle.

 

Animals new to science appear fairly regularly, especially invertebrates, but it

is rare to discover an entire ecosystem. So far eight new species have turned

up, including a blind albino shrimp (pictured, page 6) and a scorpion.

Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who are exploring the cave

say they expect to find more.

 

Pitch black, some 2.5 kilometres long and with its own lake, the Ayalon Cave, as

it has been named, lies deep under a layer of impermeable chalk. The cave's

menagerie dates back around 5 million years. All the animals found so far lack

eyes.

 

The ecosystem is probably powered not by the sun but by chemoautotrophs that

oxidise sulphur as an energy source, says Amos Frumkin of the Hebrew University.

Like plants on the surface, these bacteria form the base of the food chain.

 

From issue 2555 of New Scientist magazine, 10 June 2006, page 6