The denizen of the Movile Cave are like no others . The “ otherworldly ” conditions of this Rumanian cave , just a few mile west from the Black Sea , have been sealed up for around 5.5 million years . Although the air is venomous and unbearably humid , this cocktail of broker has make a goldmine for biologists .
Fewer than 100 citizenry have ever delved into the cave , according toBBC Earth . It was only key by human in 1986 , when workers of the Socialist Republic of Romania were looking for Modern ground to establish a nuclear office plant . Nowadays , it is blocked off by the government and only approachable with particular permit , although the central cavern are course “ hold ” by a serial of vertical shafts and narrow limestone tunnels .
Once in the depths of the cave , the air contains half of the amount of oxygen than usual and is high in carbon paper dioxide and hydrogen sulphide . It is also slant smutty and has n’t seen sun for at least 5.5 million long time .
The locating of the cave . Google Maps
But within this coarse surroundings , scientists have so far identified 48 species . Among the creatures are an regalia of spiders , piddle scorpions , pseudoscorpion , centipedes , leeches , and isopods – 33 of whichare totally uniqueto this one cave .
Most of the creatures in the cave have no vision and lack paint . After all , who need batch or to be pretty in the pitch darkness ? They ’re also , on the whole , a spindly lot , with extra - longsighted limbs and antennae that help them navigate in the duskiness .
As if this world was not exotic enough , it ’s one of the only know ecosystems that relies on chemosynthetic bacterium . Most ecosystems use photosynthesis to harness energy . However , since there ’s no natural sunlight in the cave , the bacteria demand to get their energy and carbon directly from chemic reactions , such as the oxidisation of sulphide or the oxidisation of ammonium ion .
shut - up of an Armadillidium sp . woodlouse launch only in the Movile Cave , Romania . Patrick Landmann / Science Photo Library .
But how the creature stop up in the cave and became keep apart remain unclear to scientists .
" It ’s very likely that the bacteria have been there a draw longer than five million years , but that the insects became pin there around that clip , " J. Colin Murrell , a microbiologist from the University of East Anglia , said toBBC Earth . " They could have simply fall in and become trapped when the limestone casting drop , sealing the cave until it was detect again in 1986 . ”
There are still many mysteries that rest deep within the Movile Cave . But even after just 30 years of know it be , researchers still have many more inhabitants to describe , some of whom could hold massive insight into evolutionary biota and even the nature of life itself .
