The biggest surprise to be found here was a massive forest growing - TopicsExpress



          

The biggest surprise to be found here was a massive forest growing undisturbed deep in the heart of the cavern among the stalagmites and stalactites, a feature not normally associated with the subterranean recesses of caves. Sections of the cavern’s ceiling had eroded away over millennia and collapsed, becoming gigantic windows that allowed columns of sunlight to penetrate into the darkness, illuminating a huge section of the cave and allowing ancient trees up to 30 m high (100 feet) to thrive here. This lush vegetation that blanketed the cave floor thrummed with life, hosting a plethora of wildlife from the outside world, including insects, rare birds such as the chestnut-necklaced partridge and the short-tailed scimitar babbler, snakes, lizards, monkeys, bats, flying foxes, and numerous species of butterfly, as well as an unknown number of as yet undiscovered new species.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:27:12 +0000

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