"When visiting scientist Ray Gabriel first visited the Island of Bocas del Toro in western Panama, he was told that there were no tarantulas to be found. But soon he uncovered not only a species that is already known, but also a small, pink tarantula that he didn’t recognize. He sent it to tarantula expert Fernando Perez-Miles at the University of Uruguay. It turned out to be a new species! They named it Ami bladesi. The generic name, Ami, is a Tupi Indian word that means “a spider that does not spin a web,” and the species name, bladesi, is for Ruben Blades, Panamanian musician and former Minister of Tourism.
Panama holds living secrets that make it a natural magnet for people asking questions about life. Panama’s tectonic ups and downs confront living beings with new situations. When the Isthmian land bridge formed between North and South America, suddenly animals, plants and insects that had never seen each other before came into contact—killing each other, coexisting or even helping each other out.
Fish, shrimp, tubeworms, sponges and other marine relatives in the once great seaway between the continents were forever forced to dwell either in the colder Pacific in the Bay of Panama or the warm Caribbean—where they went their separate evolutionary ways, becoming sister species that can no longer mate even if you bring them back together again. As a result, Panama is one of the most biodiverse small countries in the world."
Comments