Wildlife

[ysabetwordsmith]

Atacama surprise: The world’s driest desert is teeming with hidden life

Even in the world’s driest desert, tiny worms are proving that life finds remarkable ways to endure.

Even in the ultra-dry Atacama Desert, tiny soil-dwelling nematodes are thriving in surprising diversity. Scientists found that biodiversity increases with moisture and altitude shapes which species survive. In the most extreme zones, many nematodes reproduce asexually — a possible survival advantage. The discovery suggests that life in arid regions may be far richer, and more fragile, than once believed.

Comments

[siliconshaman]

That's a hopeful sign for finding life on Mars... and the continuation of Life on Earth if everything goes wrong. (I say Life, although it probably won't be as we know it. And humans are cooked in that case.)