Tiny animals stop Australian mine - Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums

Allegra · 30th March 2007, 09:25 AM

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Tiny animals stop Australian mine
The discovery of tiny, cave-dwelling animals measuring just 4mm in length has halted plans to develop a $10bn (£5bn) mine in Western Australia.

Curt Chiarelli · 30th March 2007, 09:52 AM

These creatures have eight legs, yet they're not considered arachnids. How odd!

Allegra · 30th March 2007, 10:36 AM

There are a lot of odd things in the oz, it seems, apart from toadzillas.

gigantes · 30th March 2007, 01:51 PM

well actually, the article only said that they weren't spiders.

but since they look exactly like spiders as far as i can tell, they are indeed arachnids, which is a group that contains more than just spiders... for example the scorpions and the mites.

in fact the article gives very little information on them, other than calling them "troglobites", which basically just means a blind cave-dwelling animal. that's sort of like calling an animal an "herbivore" because it eats plants.

BookStop · 30th March 2007, 04:47 PM

Looks like a spider to me.

Talysia · 30th March 2007, 05:44 PM

They look like spiders to me, too. I've never heard of Troglobites before.

dustinzgirl · 30th March 2007, 07:27 PM

They did see The Cave, right?

Troglobites---now that is a funny word. Say it out loud, it makes me giggle!

j. d. worthington · 30th March 2007, 08:33 PM

Here's an article that gives more on troglobites:

FLORIDA'S AQUATIC TROGLOBITES

troglobites simply means "cave-limited species"... removed from that environment, they die. These, however, may or may not be arachnids; from what little I've found on 'em so far, they may be a type of crustacean. And they're eyeless, whereas the majority (at least) of arachnids do. (Most spiders having eight, though some species have between 2-6.)

Fascinating little critters, though....

gigantes · 31st March 2007, 04:03 AM

i guarantee you they're not crustaceans. at least not the things pictured above.

probably the reason they're not calling them "spiders" is because these species have been separated for a long time from their common spider ancestors and so someone has insisted that they be classified as a separate animal group.

taxonomists still argue about this kind of stuff all the time, too.

30th March 2007, 09:25 AM	#1 (permalink)
Allegra Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,296	Tiny animals stop Australian mine BBC NEWS \| Asia-Pacific \| Tiny animals stop Australian mine The discovery of tiny, cave-dwelling animals measuring just 4mm in length has halted plans to develop a $10bn (£5bn) mine in Western Australia.

30th March 2007, 09:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
Curt Chiarelli Yog-Sothothery on the Fly Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Vatican City Posts: 858	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine These creatures have eight legs, yet they're not considered arachnids. How odd!

30th March 2007, 10:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
Allegra Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,296	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine There are a lot of odd things in the oz, it seems, apart from toadzillas.

30th March 2007, 01:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
gigantes Interested. Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 191	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine well actually, the article only said that they weren't spiders. but since they look exactly like spiders as far as i can tell, they are indeed arachnids, which is a group that contains more than just spiders... for example the scorpions and the mites. in fact the article gives very little information on them, other than calling them "troglobites", which basically just means a blind cave-dwelling animal. that's sort of like calling an animal an "herbivore" because it eats plants.

30th March 2007, 04:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
BookStop Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 1,501	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine Looks like a spider to me.

30th March 2007, 05:44 PM	#6 (permalink)
Talysia Lady of Autumn Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 3,442	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine They look like spiders to me, too. I've never heard of Troglobites before.

30th March 2007, 07:27 PM	#7 (permalink)
dustinzgirl A posse ad esse Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 2,092	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine They did see The Cave, right? Troglobites---now that is a funny word. Say it out loud, it makes me giggle!

30th March 2007, 08:33 PM	#8 (permalink)
j. d. worthington Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 8,731	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine Here's an article that gives more on troglobites: FLORIDA'S AQUATIC TROGLOBITES troglobites simply means "cave-limited species"... removed from that environment, they die. These, however, may or may not be arachnids; from what little I've found on 'em so far, they may be a type of crustacean. And they're eyeless, whereas the majority (at least) of arachnids do. (Most spiders having eight, though some species have between 2-6.) Fascinating little critters, though....

31st March 2007, 04:03 AM	#9 (permalink)
gigantes Interested. Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 191	Re: Tiny animals stop Australian mine i guarantee you they're not crustaceans. at least not the things pictured above. probably the reason they're not calling them "spiders" is because these species have been separated for a long time from their common spider ancestors and so someone has insisted that they be classified as a separate animal group. taxonomists still argue about this kind of stuff all the time, too.

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