Cavers find mass fossil deposit Down Under

Australian scientists said Wednesday cavers had stumbled upon a vast network of tunnels containing fossils that could offer key insights into species' adaptation to climate change.

A living desert underground

Hidden underneath the hilly grasslands studded with ocotillos and mesquite trees in southeastern Arizona lies a world shrouded in perpetual darkness: Kartchner Caverns, a limestone cave system renowned for its untouched cave ...

Unearthing the sources of cave-forming sulfuric acid

A study published in the journal Geology uses isotopes of sulfur to fingerprint the sources of sulfuric acid that have carved unique and beautiful cave systems in the Pyrenees mountains of southern France.

Eyeless Australian fish have closest relatives in Madagascar

A team of researchers from Louisiana State University and the American Museum of Natural History has discovered that two groups of blind cave fishes on opposite sides of the Indian Ocean are each other's closest relatives. ...

Lunaemycin, a new antibiotic extracted from moonmilk deposits

A study conducted by scientists from the University of Liège and the HEDERA-22 spin-off on moon milk—a mineral deposit found in caves and used for its curative properties—has led to the discovery of a cryptic compound ...

Sediba hominid skull hints at later brain evolution

An analysis of a skull from the most complete early hominid fossils ever found suggests that the large and complex human brain may have evolved more rapidly than previously realized, and at a later time than some other human ...

Only above-water microbes play a role in cave development

Only the microbes located above the water's surface contribute to the development of hydrogen-sulfide-rich caves, suggests an international team of researchers. Since 2004, researchers have been studying the Frasassi cave ...

Neglected species: The symbolic significance of saving snails

Later this year, virtually all the countries on Earth are due to meet in China under the Convention on Biological Diversity to agree global conservation targets for 2030. Virtually may be the operative word, if COVID-19 precludes ...

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