CAVES - finding rare life in dark places
14 January 2014
Last year, schoolchildren were invited to dig up the Earth in search of creepy-crawlies such as beetles, woodlice and worms, during the Catch that bug! experiment. At the same time, astronauts taking part in ESA’s CAVES underground training course joined the worldwide experiment from deep beneath the Italian island of Sardinia.
During CAVES 2013, ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli worked with biologist Paolo Marcia to survey part of the Sos Jocos cave. Despite the permanent darkness they found 25 species in a square only 20 cm across. Altogether, 124 creepy-crawlies were found, suggesting a population density of over 3 billion creatures per square kilometre.
One of the 25 species identified was a rare, woodlouse-like animal that had never been seen before in this cave. Only discovered in 2009, it is the only species in its family that can live both in caves and above ground.
Another rare species found by astronauts during CAVES2013 was a beetle which is found only in Sardinian caves. Now that biologists have three examples of the beetle, they can perform a DNA test to understand where it fits in the evolutionary tree.
Also recovered was a 4 mm long, woodlouse-like creature that belongs to a new species discovered by Paolo Marcia three years ago. Thanks to the work of the astronauts this animal will soon be given a scientific name.
Watch Paolo and Paolo run through the experiment and download the details for your classroom. Who knows what you may find beneath your feet.
