Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: snarks_when_bored
Where would this weird life live? Microscopists have subjected almost every nook and cranny of Earth's surface to close examination.

Unless this weird life is invisible to microscopes, I don't see how it could have been overlooked.

In 2007 alone, 700+- new species were discovered...so I think there's still room for some surprises.

"Scientists announced in the journal Nature this May that they had discovered 700 new species of organisms — including carnivorous sponges and giant sea spiders — some 2,300 ft. to 19,700 ft. (700 m to 6,000 m) down in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica. Scientists also reported the identification of 24 new species in an isolated area of Suriname, where the exploration for bauxite, which is used to make aluminum, led to the discovery of 12 dung beetles, an ant species, six species of fish and five new frogs, including one with fluorescent purple markings. Other fauna finds include a legless amphibian near Goa, India; 11 new species of plants and animals in central Vietnam's tropical "green" corridor; a new monkey in Uganda; a sucker-footed bat in Madagascar; a clouded leopard in Sumatra and Borneo, and a sea cucumber off the coast of Taiwan, nicknamed "Little Strawberry.""

Source


19 posted on 02/15/2009 12:54:11 PM PST by SonOfDarkSkies
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies ]


To: SonOfDarkSkies
I would say two things to your reasonable point about the discovery of new species: (1) all of the examples you cite are macroscopic, not microscopic—macroscopic examplars of species are much less numerous, and so are much more easily overlooked, than microscopic ones, which tend to exist in truly stupendous numbers; (2) a microscope will still show the existence of structure, no matter whether that structure has previously been classified or not, so I still wonder why it is that the structures that make up this "weird life" haven't been seen under microscopes. Again, where does it live? I guess you could say it might live in a tiny fissure on the floor of the Mariana Trench or someplace like that, and I'd certainly agree that that's possible. But likely? I don't think I'd go that far.
26 posted on 02/15/2009 1:10:38 PM PST by snarks_when_bored
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson