Fairy shrimp can live in the hottest place on Earth

摘要

TINY freshwater shrimp have been found in the world's hottest desert, where their eggs can lay dormant for years between rare downpours. In 2006, satellite measurements recorded ground temperatures in Iran's Lut desert reaching 70.7°C, a world record. Since then, the desert's surface has surpassed 80°C. The intense heat and relative dearth of knowledge about the region's flora and fauna spurred scientists to make a series of expeditions to the Lut to survey biodiversity there. Hossein Rajaei at the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany was on one of these excursions in early 2017. As he was cooling off in a temporary pool left behind by a recent, rare deluge, he spotted something moving in the water. He grabbed a net and scooped up a swarm of freshwater crustaceans, each smaller than the nail of a pinky finger and with a battery of feathery legs.