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Deepest-living land animal found

03-06-2011 9:02pm

#1

Capt'n Midnight

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13620701

Discovered in South African mines, the roundworms can survive in the stifling 48C (118F) water that seeps between cracks 1.3km beneath the Earth's crust.
...
he researchers found two species of worm. One is a new species to science, which the scientists have named Halicephalobus mephisto after Faust's Lord of the Underworld.

The other is a previously known roundworm known as Plectus aquatilis.
...
These worms seem capable of surviving in very low levels of oxygen - at 1% of the levels found in most oceans, explained Dr Onstott.

But how did the worms get there?

The water in which the worms were found is between 3,000 and 10,000 years old, and so it is unlikely that the researchers brought the worms with them into the mines.

1

Comments

#2 03-06-2011 9:56pm

steddyeddy

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That is impressive but there will probraly be deeper living land animals.

0