Item: an underwater graveyard Lemur Review

A landslide in Madagascar recently unveiled its aqueous secrets. The underwater cave, located in one of the national parks of the island, contains fossil finds. The fossil creatures contain many different species including lemurs, hippos, crocodiles and cat's largest islands. Some of the fossils of animals that were made extinct a few thousand years, while other animals are on the island, living in the present. Cemetery fossil could shed light on extinction rates unprecedented affecting creatures Madagascar.

Phillip Lehman was experienced divers underwater cave in the Dominican Republic, where he lives when scanning a track on a Tsimanampetsotsa cave in the national park, which is filled with fossils. The park is located in a dry region of Madagascar. Lehman contact one of the researchers who worked with Alfred Rosenberg, a physically anthropologist at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and the team decided to explore the sinkhole. Here's a look at the cave from above.

Swiss mountain cheese

The landscape in the Tsimanampetsotsa National Park consists of limestone, which is eaten by water made so that a Swiss-cheese-like landscape full of holes, caves and tunnels. Here a view of the water in Aven cave. Aven means sinkhole in French.

Transition zone

Divers descend about 82 feet (25 m) in water. Although the entrance of the cave is vertical, the bottom of the cave down at one point. In the transition zone, where the light disappears from the surface, the team found a treasure trove of stunning fossils.

Primate Cemetery

Although the team found fossils of many kinds, many among primates as this exquisitely preserved skull of lemur species pachylemur insignis. It is unclear exactly when these fossils were deposited, but based on when some of that is in the species became extinct cave, the oldest fossil may be a few thousand years old.

Extinct Krokodil

The team also found the fossil skeleton of an extinct crocodile named Voss robustus. Scientists do not yet understand how animals wound in the cave, but most likely not go willingly. Instead, it is likely that a series of storms, typhoons and floods swept the animals in the cave over the years. May be lurking The only animal who were in the cave was intentionally crocodile, Rosenberger said.

Giant FOSA

Here Rosenberger has the jaws of a giant trench, taken fresh water. These extinct carnivores, also known as spelea Cryptoprocta, looks a bit like a mongoose and is an animal that lives on the island. Madagascar animals in danger of extinction than lose a dizzying pace.

Extinct Pig

The lower molars and part of an African jungle jaw as Potamochoerus are known, the pit is near the Aven, but now extinct in Madagascar. Because there is an overlap in the time that some of the species became extinct, and if the people soon colonized the island around 3,000 years ago, researchers were able to begin to understand what caused the catastrophic extinction and Islands if people have nothing to do with it.

Immaculate Condition

Many of the fossils were in perfect condition, thanks to the cold, stagnant water where little live life. Here are the teeth and jaw of an extinct insignis pachylemur still in very good condition. During this fossil it is here on their own, many of the still connected bones, which means that the skull and the body of an animal are in the same region. Is much more common to establish a rule for fossils and are disjointed, Rosenberger said.