Found rare rare dragon in 5 Croatian caves

Researchers found more rare and precious goosebumps known as young dragons in five caves, thanks to the DNA that the animals remain in the water.

Shrews, also called "young dragons," are rare protected animals in Croatia.(Photo: Daniel Heuclin / FLPA.)

Goosegrass (Proteus anguinus) or "young dragon" in the way of the locals, living the whole life in underground aquifers in the mountain range of Dinaric Alp running from Slovenia to Croatia and several other countries on the Balcan peninsula . DNA from falling pieces of skin or their droppings decomposes in the environment and can be washed out of the cave. This is good news for biologists to study cave life, as humans cannot reach most of the approximately 7,000 caves in Croatia.

The discovery of more habitat for threatened species is extinct, giving hope for monitoring and conservation."In the past, you could only see animals that were fleeing if they were swept away from the habitat after heavy rain, or if you dive into the cave. But now we can identify them. There were or didn't rely on water in the cave, "New Scientist quoted Judit Vörös yesterday at the Hungarian Museum of Natural History.

Judit's group uses the technique called environmental DNA, or eADN, to survey the species of gibbon."This technique is sometimes applied by conservation biologists, but so far, it has never been used for vertebrates in caves," Judit said.

The team collected water samples from 15 caves across Croatia during the summer of 2014. They filter two liters of water from each location through a special paper, then extract the eADN from the paper. They confirmed the existence of goosebumps in 10 previously known caves and for the first time discovered another 5 habitats of this species.

Croatian conservationists are applying this technique to map the habitat of the goose more accurately and learn more about the genetics in their populations. Although both caves and gibbons are protected in Croatia, Judit hopes to detect by eADN will promote the protection of the ground above the cave, due to the very sensitive nature of pollution and toxic substances. down to their habitat from above.