Too much unknown in abyss.
There are tens of millions of earth species, and many have remained to be explored, especially the creatures in the deep sea. Recently, more than 100 species of rare deep-sea creature were captured off the coast of eastern Australia by scientists, many of whom were strangely weird and even discovered "cousins" of Blobfish known as the world's most ugly creature.
Psychrolutes marcidus
A team of scientists led by the Australian Museum of Victoria spent a month last year studying species at 4,800 meters below sea level, capturing more than 42,000 deep-sea creatures, which may include new species and scientists will gather and conduct further testing at Hobart, the capital of Tasmania.
Fish without face
Interestingly, a few Psychrolutes marcidus of the same species as Blobfish were also found in the captured creatures. Blobfish, a member of the genus Psychrolutidae, was found in New Zealand's offshore capital in 2003 and is named after the scientist who discovered it. Since then, in 2013, Blobfish has been voted "Ugliest Animal in the World" by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, which has drawn the attention of the global media.
In addition, other species captured during the mission include the shiny bioluminescent cookie-cutter shark, whose teeth are jagged and extremely sharp, as well as the "graceful" deep-sea Tripod fish, which uses long fins to hold their bodies on the seabed, waiting for food to approach.
Alastair Graham, head of Australia's national fish collection center, said the deep ocean is the broadest and deepest animal habitat on Earth, covering half of the world's oceans, but remains the least explored regions on the earth.
Tripod Fish
Tripod Fish
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long before the ancient Maya built temples, their predecessors were already altering the landscape of Central America’s Yucatan peninsula.
Using drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what’s now Belize. The findings were published Friday in Science Advances.
“The aerial imagery was crucial to identify this really distinctive pattern of zigzag linear canals” running for several miles through wetlands, said study co-author Eleanor Harrison-Buck of the University of New Hampshire.
The team then conducted digs in Belize's Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. The ancient fish canals, paired with holding ponds, were used to channel and catch freshwater species such as catfish.
“Barbed spearpoints” found nearby may have been tied to sticks and used to spear fish, said study co-author Marieka Brouwer Burg of the University of Vermont.
The canal networks were built as early as 4,000 years ago by semi-nomadic people in the Yucatan coastal plain. According to the study, the canals were used for around 1,000 years or longer, including during the “formative” period when the Maya began to settle in permanent farming villages and a distinctive culture started to emerge.
“It’s really interesting to see such large-scale modifications of the landscape so early — it shows people were already building things,” said University of Pittsburgh archaeologist Claire Ebert, who was not involved in the study.
At the height of Maya civilization, people in this region built temples, roads, pyramids and other monuments. They also developed complex systems of writing, mathematics and astronomy. Scientists know far more about this era because there are many more significant archaeological sites, said Ebert.
But this new study reveals a link between the earlier people on the landscape and the later emergence of Maya culture. These ancient channels for catching fish may have played a role in helping later Maya pyramids rise above the Yucatan rainforest.
“This shows continuity," said University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Jeremy Sabloff, who wasn't part of the research.
On a practical level, the fish-trapping canals helped the early people in the region to diversify their diets and feed a growing population, building a foundation for later cultural heights.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This 2019 photo provided by the Belize River East Archaeology project shows investigations of wetland canal features in the CTWS by the research team in Belize. (Belize River East Archaeology project via AP)
FILE - Stela M and the Hieroglyphic Stairway are seen inside the archeological site of Copan, in Copan Ruinas, Honduras, Saturday, July 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
This 2019 photo provided by the Belize River East Archaeology project, researchers excavate sediment that will be sequenced to help them date the evidence of a large-scale pre-Columbian fish-trapping facility in Belize. (Belize River East Archaeology project via AP)
FILE - Altar Q that depicts 16 kings in the dynastic succession of the city is seen inside the archeological site of Copan, in Copan Ruinas, Honduras, Saturday, July 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
