A huge number of new species of invertebrate animals have been found living in underground water, caves and micro-caverns amid the harsh conditions of the Australian outback.

Insects, crustaceans, spiders, worms and many others are among 850 species found by a national team of 18 researchers, according to the University of Adelaide.

The team--led by Andy Austin, from the University of Adelaide, Steve Cooper of the South Australian Museum, and and Bill Humphreys of the Western Australian Museum--has conducted a comprehensive four-year survey of underground water, caves and micro-caverns across arid and semi-arid Australia, the university said in a statement about the discovery.

"What we've found is that you don't have to go searching in the depths of the ocean to discover new species of invertebrate animals--you just have to look in your own 'backyard'," says Austin, who is a professor at the Australian Center for Evolutionary Biology & Biodiversity at the University of Adelaide.

"Our research has revealed whole communities of invertebrate animals that were previously unknown just a few years ago. What we have discovered is a completely new component to Australia's biodiversity. It is a huge discovery and it is only about one fifth of the number of new species we believe exist underground in the Australian outback."

Phreatomerus latipes, a freshwater ispod from Mound Springs, South Australia--previously thought to be a single species but now known to be eight different species, seven of them new.

Only half of the species discovered have so far been named, according the University of Adelaide says. Generically, the animals found in underground water are known as "stygofauna" and those from caves and micro-caverns are known as "troglofauna", the university explained.

Austin says the team has a theory as to why so many new species have been hidden away underground and in caves.

"Essentially what we are seeing is the result of past climate change...Species took refuge in isolated favorable habitats, such as in underground waters and micro-caverns, where they survived and evolved in isolation."

"Essentially what we are seeing is the result of past climate change. Central and southern Australia was a much wetter place 15 million years ago when there was a flourishing diversity of invertebrate fauna living on the surface.

"But the continent became drier, a process that last until about 1-2 million years ago, resulting in our current arid environment. Species took refuge in isolated favorable habitats, such as in underground waters and micro-caverns, where they survived and evolved in isolation from each other.

Some of the 850 new species discovered in underground water, caves and micro-caverns across outback Australia.

Copyright © 2009 The University of Adelaide

"Discovery of this 'new' biodiversity, although exciting scientifically, also poses a number of challenges for conservation in that many of these species are found in areas that are potentially impacted by mining and pastoral activities," he says.

The research team reported its findings last week at a scientific conference on evolution and biodiversity in Darwin, which celebrated the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin.

The research was funded in part by the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration.

Photo of Cave Without a Name courtesy National Park Service

A rare ecosystem in Pennsylvania, the sixth longest cave in Texas, and major fossil sites in Kentucky, New York, and Vermont were recently named National Natural Landmarks (NNL), the National Park Service said yesterday.

"There are now 586 listed sites in the National Natural Landmarks Program, which recognizes significant examples of natural history and supports property owners and managers in conservation efforts," the National Park Service said in a press statement. The program is administered by the National Park Service.

The four new landmarks, announced by acting National Park Service Director Dan Wenk, are Nottingham Park Serpentine Barrens, Cave Without a Name, Big Bone Lick, and Chazy Fossil Reef. "Each of these sites has been identified, evaluated, and designated through a scientific process that formally acknowledges their outstanding biological or geological features," Wenk said in the release.

John Francis is a member of the National Park System Advisory Board  and oversees the reviews and recommendations of NNL listings as Chair of its Science Committee. He is also National Geographic Vice President of Research, Conservation, and Exploration. "The NNL program is a lesser known, but very special part of the park system that should be celebrated," Francis said in an email. "It reflects the true depth of natural wonders in our country and helps people connect to a wealth of treasures sometimes in their own backyards."

Citizen Support

Students in 3rd grade at the New Haven Elementary School in Union, Kentucky, wrote letters in support of making Big Bone Lick a National Natural Landmark.

"Their letters were really great," said Margi Brooks, National Natural Landmarks Program Manager. "They wrote in during the required 60-day comment period. They told me all the reasons they enjoyed the site, some of the things they do there, and urged me to take good care of our United States of America. 

"I wrote them back right away, thanked them, and sent them all Landmark calendars. They were flabbergasted that someone in the federal government actually WROTE BACK!

"I think, and their teacher pointed this out, that it is so important for kids to feel that we listen to them, and that places they care about can be recognized and conserved if they speak up and state their case. These third graders did an outstanding job of doing that -- and look what they helped accomplish.

"I believe the scientist who evaluated the site will be speaking to this class on Friday -- so they continue to be interested and involved."

Photo of 3rd Grade students courtesy New Haven Elementary School

"We have only had six new Landmarks designated during the past 20 years, so this is exciting for us as well as for the owners and managers of these sites," said National Natural Landmarks Program Manager Margi Brooks. 

"The designation process is really quite rigorous, and ensures that sites chosen are outstanding examples of the resources they represent.

"Designation as a National Natural Landmark allows the National Park Service to act as an advocate for the conservation of the Landmark resources. It also allows us to become partners with the site managers and assist them if they so request. This might include working together on grant applications, site improvements, or educational materials," Brooks said in an email.

Another part of the program's role is information exchange and outreach, Brooks said -- "making the public aware of our country's incredible natural heritage is an important part of this program."

For a site, designation as a National Natural Landmark recognizes that they have one of the best examples of a particular resource, "and this is something they can be very proud of," Brooks added.

The National Park Service provided the following descriptions of the four new National Natural Landmarks:

The Nottingham Park Serpentine Barrens in Chester County, Pennsylvania support unique vegetation communities that contain many rare and endemic species, including one of the northernmost occurrences of fame flower.The site also has one of the state's largest stands of pitch pine forest.

Nottingham Park Serpentine Barrens photo courtesy National Park Service

Cave Without a Name in Kendall County, Texas contains exceptional cave formations, a rare and threatened salamander, and significant paleontological deposits.

Big Bone Lick in Boone County, Kentucky is unique for its combination of salt springs and associated Late Pleistocene bone beds. The site has been referred to as the birthplace of vertebrate paleontology in North America.

The Big Bone fossils played a very important role in the development of scientific thought regarding the idea of extinction and the relationship of geology and paleontology.

The Chazy Fossil Reef in Grand Isle County, Vermont and Clinton County, New York contains surface exposures of an Ordovician fossil reef. The reef recounts the tropical, marine environment that existed approximately 450 million years ago on the continental shelf of North America.

This paleontological treasure represents the oldest known occurrence of a biologically diverse fossil reef in the world, the earliest appearance of fossil coral in a reef environment, and the first documented example of the ecological principle of faunal succession.

The Fisk Quarry Preserve on Isle La Motte, Vermont is one site of several sites exposing the  Chazy Fossil Reef. This ancient fossil reef was formed 480-450 million years ago in a shallow tropical sea straddling the equator. It is the oldest known biologically diverse fossil reef in the history of life on earth. Fossils called stromotoporoids can be found in the quarry walls. The Fisk Quarry Preserve along with the nearby Goodsell Ridge Preserve, is owned and managed by the Isle La Motte Preservation Trust.

Photo and caption courtesy Isle La Motte Preservation Trust

National Natural Landmarks Frequently Asked Questions

Related National Geographic News story:
Fossil "Pompeii" of Prehistoric Animals Named U.S. Landmark

Last seen two million years ago, one of the early stone tools discovered in Wonderwerk Cave.

Photo by M. Chazan

The earliest evidence for cave occupation by hominids has been discovered in South Africa.

Stone tools found at the bottom level of Wonderwerk Cave show that human ancestors were in the cave two million years ago, earlier than thought, according to an international research team led by Michael Chazan, director of the University of Toronto's Archaeology Centre.

Geological evidence indicates that the tools were deposited in the cave by ancestors, not washed into the site from the outside, the team announced last week.

"There were a number of species of hominids in southern Africa two million years ago," according to a University of Toronto news release. "The most likely candidate as the manufacturer of the stone tools found at Wonderwerk is Homo habilis."

Image of inside of Wanxiang Cave courtesy of Science/AAAS

A stalagmite found on the floor of a Chinese cave suggests that several Chinese dynasties may have been connected to the varying strength of the Monsoon, seasonal winds that bring heavy summer rains to much of Asia.

Sweeping up moisture from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Monsoon affects nearly a third of the world's people, particularly those in eastern and southern Asia who depend on seasonal harvests to make a living. Variations in the Monsoon can result in feast or famine.

"The 1,810-year climate record gleaned from the Wanxiang stalagmite suggests that dependence on the Monsoon was no less critical hundreds of years ago," Pingzhong Zhang of China's Lanzhou University and colleagues reported in today's issue of the journal Science.