TOMSK, Aug 6 – RIA Tomsk. A group of Spanish, Romanian and Polish scientists published in the international zoological scientific journal the results of research carried out at the "Aktru" station of Tomsk State University; as follows from the article, they discovered a new species of crustaceans in the mountain river, the press service of TSU reported on Thursday.
It is specified that the high-altitude station "Aktru" is included in the largest international project Interact II. In 2018, scientists from Romania, Poland and Spain conducted research and sampling here. At the end of July 2020, they published an article with the research results in the journal Zoologica Scripta.
"Researchers have discovered and described a new genus and species of crustaceans living in the mountain Aktru River. Siberian representatives of the Bathynellidae family were genetically different from their relatives from Australia, America and Europe. The new genus was named Altaeginella gen.n in honor of the territory in which it was discovered", - is said in the message.
It is added that representatives of this family are often called amphipods. It is very numerous, therefore specialists in the field of taxonomy strongly disagree about the species belonging of its representatives. Scientists who worked at the TSU station conducted a DNA examination of the objects: it showed that Siberian samples are genetically different from all known relatives.According to the press service, the territory where the TSU base is located is unique. A wide range of research is regularly carried out here - from elucidating the characteristics of melting permafrost and fires in boreal forests to studying the effect of heat waves on the DNA and endurance of Arctic bumblebees.
According to open sources, Interact II - is a project that includes 88 ground field bases in Northern Europe, Russia, USA, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands and Scotland, as well as stations in the northern Alpine regions. The goal of the project - is to create conditions for scientists to research and monitor throughout the Arctic.