Huge cave found in Venezuela

[inspic=19,right,fullscreen,thumb]Researchers have discovered a huge cave in southern Venezuela.

The cave named “Cueva del Fantasma” – Spanish for “Cave of the Ghost” is so large, you’re able to fly not one but two helicopters inside, and land them easily at the base of a towering waterfall.

Technically, the cave isn’t really a cave at all, but is a huge, collapsed gorge, and was found on the slopes of the Aprada tepui in southeastern Venezuela, near the Brazilian and Guyanese borders. This area is considered to be one of the most inaccessible and unexplored regions of the world.

The researchers also discovered a new species of dendrobatid frog, Colostethus breweri is named after the frog’s identifier, Charles Brewer-Carías. Dendrobatid frogs make up the group of amphibians commonly known as “poison dart” frogs.

[inspic=18,right,fullscreen,thumb]This is the eighteenth species of Colostethus discovered in Venezuelan Guiana, and is described as a fast-moving frog that lives in creeks and quiet pools near the cave.

The Tepuis, are huge mesas, similar to those found in the American Southwest, that rise sharply out of the rainforest floor. On their cool, misty tops live uncounted unique species, totally cut off from the warm jungle below.

The tepuis, and the area’s general isolation, make the Venezuelan Guiana, and corresponding sections in neighboring countries, one of the most biologically rich, geologically ancient and unspoiled parts of the world.