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Río Secreto
Río Secreto (English translation: ''Secret River'') is a semi-flooded limestone cave system near Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. There are 38 kilometers of caves in the system, of which approximately 10% are used for ecotourism. Currently, Río Secreto is protected as a nature reserve. History Prehistory As with other caves in the area, local Maya have known about the cave system and used it for ritualistic purposes hundreds of years ago. Various artifacts created by Maya peoples have been recovered from the cave system, including religious altars, cave paintings, and a vessel dating to the postclassic period. Modern discovery In 2004, a farmer discovered the cave after chasing an iguana into an entrance. A group of speleologists and divers from the area visited to map the caverns, defining routes and establishing their relationship with each other. During this period, the owners of the surface land were identified and a relationship with them was formed to cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playa Del Carmen
Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as Playa, is a resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 300,000 people during 2020, a small yet thriving portion of which are foreign immigrants. Playa del Carmen is a popular tourist destination in Mexico's Riviera Maya region. Its current growth rate is set at 7.5% per year. According to Guinness World Records, it is one of Latin America's fastest-growing communities. In 2016, the city was the tenth most popular international travel destination for U.S. travelers, and more than one million tourists passed through the city a year later. The main airport for Playa is the Cancún International Airport, which is around away. The area is known for its white sand beaches, blue turquoise waters, coral reefs, surrounding rainforests, and balnearios. The downtown area of the city revolves around ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science), crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Limestone forms when these minerals Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life. About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. The remaining carbonate rock is mostly Dolomite (rock), dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral Dolomite (mine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amblypygi
Amblypygi is an order of arachnids also known as whip-spiders or tailless whip-scorpions, not to be confused with whip-scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the related order Thelyphonida. The name "amblypygid" means "blunt tail", a reference to a lack of the flagellum that is otherwise seen in whip-scorpions. Amblypygids possess no silk glands or venom. They rarely bite if threatened but can grab fingers with their pedipalps, resulting in thorn-like puncture-injuries. As of 2023, five families, 17 genera, and around 260 species had been discovered and described. They are found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, mainly in warm and humid environments. They like to stay protected and hidden within leaf litter, caves, or underneath bark. Some species are subterranean; all are nocturnal. Fossilized amblypygids have been found dating back to the Carboniferous period, such as '' Weygoldtina''. Description Body-plan Being arachnids, Amblypygi possess two body-segm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarantulas
Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the Family (biology), family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although many other members of the same infraorder (Mygalomorphae) are commonly referred to as "tarantulas" or "false tarantulas". Some of the more common species have become popular in the exotic pet trade. Many New World species kept as pets have setae known as urticating hairs that can cause irritation to the skin, and in extreme cases, cause damage to the eyes. Overview Like all arthropods, the tarantula is an invertebrate that relies on an exoskeleton for muscular support.Pomeroy, R. (2014, February 4). Pub. Real Clear Science, "Spiders, and Their Amazing Hydraulic Legs and Genitalia". Retrieved October 13, 2019, from https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/02/spiders-their-amazing-hydraulic-legs-and-genitals.html. Like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mexican Tetra
The Mexican tetra (''Astyanax mexicanus''), also known as the blind cave fish, blind cave characin or the blind cave tetra, is a freshwater fish in the Characidae family (tetras and relatives) of the order Characiformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to the Nearctic realm, originating in the lower Rio Grande, and the Neueces and Pecos Rivers in Texas, into the Central Plateau and eastern states of Mexico. Maturing at a total length of about , the Mexican tetra is of typical characin form, albeit with silvery, unremarkable scalation, likely an evolutionary adaptation to its natural environment. By comparison, the species' blind "cave" form has scales which evolved a pale, pinkish-white color, somewhat resembling an albino, as it inhabits pitch-black caverns and subterranean streams and has no need for a colorful appearance (i.e. for attracting mates). Likewise, the blind cave tetra has fully "devolved" (lost) the use of its eyes by living in an environment com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not all catfish have prominent barbels or "whiskers", with some seemingly not having them. Siluriformes as a whole are Fish scale, scale-less, with neither the Armoured catfish, armour-plated nor the naked species having scales. This order of fish are Autapomorphy, defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish range in size and behavior from the three List of largest fish, largest species alive, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia, the wels catfish of Eurasia, and the piraíba of South America, to detritivorous and scavenging bottom feeders, down to tiny ectoparasitic species known as the Candiru (fish), candirus. In the Southern United States, catfish species may be known by a variety of slang names, such as "mud cat", " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silkworm
''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of particular economic value, being a primary producer of silk. The silkworm's preferred food are the leaves of white mulberry, though they may eat other species of mulberry, and even leaves of other plants like the Osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths, which are other species of ''Bombyx'', are not as commercially viable in the production of silk. Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has existed for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Nepal, Japan, and then the West. The conventional process of sericulture kills the silkworm in the pupal stage. The domestic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helictites
A helictite is a speleothem (cave-formed mineral) found in a limestone cave that changes its axis from the vertical at one or more stages during its growth. Helictites have a curving or angular form that looks as if they were grown in zero gravity. They are most likely the result of capillary forces acting on tiny water droplets, a force often strong enough at this scale to defy gravity. Helictites are, perhaps, the most delicate of cave formations. They are usually made of needle-form calcite and aragonite. Helictite forms have been described in several types: ribbon helictites, saws, rods, butterflies, "hands", curly-fries, and "clumps of worms". They typically have radial symmetry. They can be easily crushed or broken by the slightest touch. Because of this, helictites are rarely seen within arm's reach in tourist caves. Timpanogos Cave National Monument in Utah has one of the largest collections of these formations in the world. Large numbers are also in the Jenolan Caves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pisolite
A pisolite () is a sedimentary rock made of pisoids, which are concretionary grains – typically of calcium carbonate which resemble ooids, but are more than 2 mm in diameter. These grains are approximately spherical and have concentric layers reaching 10 mm in diameter. Bauxites, limonites, and siderites often have a pisolitic structure. See also * Ooid * Oolite Oolite or oölite () is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 millimetres; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pis ... References Further reading * Sedimentary rocks {{sedimentary-rock-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalagnate
A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is capable of being melted, may form a stalactite. Stalactites may be composed of lava, minerals, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter, and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). A stalactite is not necessarily a speleothem, though speleothems are the most common form of stalactite because of the abundance of limestone caves. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite. Formation and type Limestone stalactites The most common stalactites are speleothems, which occur in limestone caves. They form through deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals, which is precipitated from mineralized water solutions. Limestone is the chief form of calcium carbonate rock which is dissolved by water that cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalagmites
A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist of lava, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter, and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). The corresponding formation hanging down from the ceiling of a cave is a stalactite. Formation and type Limestone stalagmites The most common stalagmites are speleothems, which usually form in limestone caves. Stalagmite formation occurs only under certain pH conditions within the cavern. They form through deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals, which is precipitated from mineralized water solutions. Limestone is the chief form of calcium carbonate rock, which is dissolved by water that contains carbon dioxide, forming a calcium bicarbonate solution in caverns. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the water must be greater than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalactites
A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is capable of being melted, may form a stalactite. Stalactites may be composed of lava, minerals, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter, and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). A stalactite is not necessarily a speleothem, though speleothems are the most common form of stalactite because of the abundance of limestone caves. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite. Formation and type Limestone stalactites The most common stalactites are speleothems, which occur in limestone caves. They form through deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals, which is precipitated from mineralized water solutions. Limestone is the chief form of calcium carbonate rock which is dissolved by water that con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
