Evolution River

Underwater waterfalls falling 40 feet per second, 40 foot wide whirlpools, and currents running at 30 miles per hour along a channel that is 640 feet deep are just business as usually for the Lower Congo River, which has the deepest point of any river in the world and a controlled system of evolution that would make Darwin blush harder than he did on his visit to the Galapagos Islands.

Traditionally new species evolve with a large geographic barrier such as a mountain range, ocean, or glacier, but within the environment of the Lower Congo River, the systems of evolution are in the process of expanding right before our very eyes. Even though the river is only a mile wide, the nature of the current system isolates habitats as if it were separated by a mountain range, independently evolving species on either side. The number of species known living in these habitats currently excedes 300, and harnesses the highest concentration of species not found anywhere else in the world.

This river shows the infinite complexity of life within the Gaia framework and that she still has plenty of surprises in store for us.