"Living Fossil" Found Near Kolín: the Rare Summer Tadpole Shrimp

Conservationists have discovered summer tadpole shrimp and fairy shrimp — rare aquatic crustaceans often called "living fossils" — in temporary puddles that are drying up in the Kolín region. The find was reported by naturalist Pavel Brodecký, who monitors the region's ephemeral wetlands.

According to him, the area around Kolín, like many other places, experienced a dry summer. But after a few downpours, the dried-out puddles filled with water again — and not only fairy shrimp but also the no less rare summer tadpole shrimp sprang back to life in them almost immediately.

Fairy shrimp and tadpole shrimp belong to the branchiopods, an extremely ancient group of aquatic invertebrates that has existed on Earth in almost unchanged form for hundreds of millions of years. They are fully adapted to life in drying-out water bodies: their eggs can lie in dry soil for years, patiently waiting for water to reappear in the puddle.

"Small water bodies where water is present for only part of the year — usually in spring or late summer — represent a special phenomenon. Some species have adapted to this regular drying-out cycle. Their advantage is that neither fish nor other predators can survive in these periodic puddles," explains Jan Moravec of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation.

According to Moravec, such periodic water bodies used to be common in river floodplains: during floods, water would fill depressions in the terrain, and then, once the river returned to its channel, these puddles would gradually dry up. With the regulation of watercourses and intensive use of fertile floodplain land, such water bodies have almost disappeared from the landscape. They have been replaced by puddles on field and forest tracks — which today are often paved over. In the second half of the last century, military training grounds, churned up by the wheels and tracks of vehicles, became a refuge for these species. This is precisely how new puddles appeared on the edge of a former training ground in the Kolín region.

"The wonderful news from the Kolín region proves that even small but well-thought-out interventions in the landscape make a difference. We have been cooperating with the Czech Union for Nature Conservation for many years and are glad to support such projects," said Vendula Valentová, director of the Veolia charitable foundation.

Read also: 8 Best Swimming Spots Near Prague: Lakes, Quarries and Beaches an Hour from the Capital

Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz