Author: Matthew Taub / Source: Atlas Obscura
High up in the Peruvian Andes, the remains of poop-feeding mites have a story to tell. Their populations rose and fell along with those of the Incas and their llamas, according to a study published yesterday in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
In 1993, Alex Chepstow-Lusty, a paleoecologist at the University of Sussex and lead author on the study, began studying the wetland near Cusco known as Marcacocha, taking a sediment core in hopes of learning more about the vegetation that used to sprout in the area.
To his surprise, “these mites started falling out” of the core—in pretty good condition, too, though many had lost their limbs over the centuries. They’re “beautiful,” says Chepstow-Lusty of the long-dead arthropods. “I get a personal thrill every time I find one.”These mites in particular had been hungry—for fecal matter, specifically. Whenever llama feces were sufficiently abundant, they were capable of asexually reproducing in large numbers. Marcacocha used to be a pond, and…
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