Did you hear about the thought-to-be-extinct giant insect they found on Ball’s Pyramid in the middle of the sea?

 

(Atlas Obscura)

 

 

From Atlas Obscura –

 

“The remnants of a massive volcano, Ball’s Pyramid juts 1,843 feet out of the Pacific Ocean. Discovered in 1788, the barren, rocky spire was thought to be devoid of life until 2001 when a group of scientists discovered what may be the world’s rarest insect.

 

The Lord Howe Island stick insect (Dryococelus australis) had not been seen alive in over 70 years. Known as “land lobsters” or “walking sausages,” the six-inch long insects were once common on the neighboring Lord Howe Island, but were assumed to have been eaten into extinction by the black rats introduced to the island when a supply ship ran aground on its shores in 1918.

 

Yet in 2001, the scientists found a colony of the huge Lord Howe Island stick insects living under a single bush…”

 

For the complete piece click here to go to Atlas Obscura.

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