Due to Mother Nature losing her battle to the expansion of luxury condos, this series will be archived on July 31, 2020.
~~~~~ The cache is not at the posted coordinates ~~~~~
What’s the puzzle? Each cache page requires you to solve for the true north coordinates. Some of the caches contain a hint to find the Pink Finale. You need to complete both ribbons before attempting the Pink Finale.
Ribbon 2: GC65XWQ Pink #7: Pink Floyd, GC65XXA Pink #8: Pink Slug, GC65XXT Pink #9: Pink Lake of Senegal, GC65XY1 Pink #10: Pink river dolphin, GC65XYC Pink #11: Pink Manganocalcite, GC65XYK Pink #12: Pink – Translation
Pink #8: Pink Slug
He’s big. He’s slimy. And he’s … neon pink?! Meet Triboniophorus aff. graeffei, a new species of 8-inch-long (20-centimeter-long) slug that’s found only on one Australian mountain, Mount Kaputar.
Scientists already knew that a bright-pink slug lived on Mount Kaputar, thinking it was a variety of the red triangle slug, a species common along the east coast of Australia. But new research shows that the colorful critter is actually its own species,
Recent work by a researcher has indicated the Kaputar slugs are a unique species native to Mount Kaputar and the only representative of this family in inland Australia.
The pink slug had gone unstudied for so long because Australian slug and snail researchers—known as malacologists—are far outnumbered by fellow koala-investigating researchers. The Australian government has moved to protect this rosy rarity and other unique species by designating their mountain home in New South Wales as an “endangered ecological area.”
A volcanic eruption 17 million years ago on Mount Kaputar kept a small, four-square-mile area lush and wet even as the rest of Australia turned to desert. This changing environment marooned the plants and animals living on Mount Kaputar from their nearest neighbors for millions of years, making the area a unique haven for species such as the pink slug. Because the pink slugs live in beds of red eucalyptus leaves, it was thought their color could potentially serve as camouflage, helping the animals blend in to their leafy habitat. “However, the slugs also spend a lot of time high on tree trunks nowhere near fallen leaves, so it is possible that the color is just a quirk of evolution.
Slug and snail researchers are called?
a) Gastropologists (.022)
b) Malacologists (.028)
c) Molluscalogists (.008)
N 37° 5.XXX W 76° 23.781
Congratulations to GeoBlox and Scottish Cavalryman on a well deserved FTF on a cold rainy night!
This geocache series won a Bronze - Outstanding Cache Series/Geo-Art Hidey Award at the 10th Annual Milestones Meet-n-Greet & Hidey Awards.