New review: Lechuguilla Cave features otherworldly photos and high production values, providing an unforgettable trip into one of the world's most extraordinary caves.
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The Inquisitive Biologist looks back at 2025 and picks his five favourite books. Palaeontology, aerobiology, speleology, degrowth, and geomicrobiology top this year's list.
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I did not have this find on my bingo card for the year...
...Deep in a cave in Tennessee, thousands of feet underground, as I rounded a bend of the river passage leading a group of biology students and recent graduates in a bioinventory of the cave....I stopped suddenly and definitely swore a little "WTF is that?! GAR!?"
Yes my friends, a friggin' Gar, about four feet long, just swimming in one of the pools.
Not a single person I know of has ever seen this in a cave before. Critters from the surface do get washed in at times, and this cave has connection to surface water. However, the creeks above it are not really Gar habitat, so even us biologists are at a bit of a loss.
Well, not the property manager, who promptly said "wow, he was only this big *mimes a few inches with his fingers* when I put him in there!" (sarcasm, in case you cannot tell!)
So...enjoy a big gar, with a human for scale.
Fun fact: it was starved for light, it would follow the light from our headlamps around, like a little kitten following a feather toy
Boost if this made you smile today!
#fish #gar #monster #cave #caves #caving #biology #nature #shock #river #ecosystem #Mesozoic #ancient #history
Edited 2d ago