This is the discarded Corona beer bottle that proved to be a death trap for dozens of rare and threatened species endemic to the desert where it was thrown away.
The images were taken by hiker Juan Mauricio Contreras in the Atacama Desert, covering a 1000-kilometre (621-mile) strip of land on the Pacific coast.
Snapped outside the city of Antofagasta in northern Chile, Contreras shared the photos on Twitter.
He told Central European News (CEN): “I hike different routes in the Atacama Desert most weekends to identify and report new endemic species.
“Along the routes, I always see rubbish such as plastic, tyres and glass bottles spoiling the natural environment.
“It is damaging the area’s biodiversity.”
Referring to the Corona bottle, Contreras said: “For example, this container was a death trap for beetles, scorpions and a lizard, most of them endemic species.”
He said that 20 beetles from the threatened species Entomochilus horatii endemic to Antofagasta were found in the bottle alongside a many-spotted tree iguana (Liolaemus nigromaculatus).
Contreras said that a brachistostermus scorpion endemic to Chile was also found in the bottle and that both the lizard and the scorpion are natural predators of the beetles.
He believes they became trapped inside the glass container after entering in search of water.
Contreras told CEN: “The desert’s ecosystem is very fragile. It may seem as if there is nothing in the desert, but it has an important ecosystem that we should respect and protect.”
It is unclear who left the bottle in the desert.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Central European News
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