An amazing discovery by Australian scientists on the continent of Antarctica has astonished the scientific community. They discovered caves that were warmed by an active volcano called Mount Erebus on Ross Island, which is so warm that it could support plants and animals that have yet to be discovered.

The caves were warmed up to 25 degrees Celsius, which comes out to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. A scientists said in a statement accompanying the study that you could wear a t-shirt in the cave and be comfortable, a remarkable fact considering how icy cold the continent is.

They also discovered DNA in the caves that is similar to plants and animals found elsewhere on the continent, but could not confirm the species. It’s possible that there are many other species out there yet to be discovered, making this a truly exciting discovery.

“It can be really warm inside the caves – up to 25 degrees Celsius in some caves. You could wear a t-shirt in there and be pretty comfortable,” Lead researcher Dr Ceridwen Fraser from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society said in a statement. “There’s light near the cave mouths, and light filters deeper into some caves where the overlying ice is thin.”

“The results from this study give us a tantalising glimpse of what might live beneath the ice in Antarctica – there might even be new species of animals and plants,” she said.