Olivier Testa Explained

Olivier Testa
Birth Date:1977 4, df=y
Birth Place:Marseille, France]
Known For:Cave exploration
Alma Mater:École Centrale Paris
Occupation:Speleologist, Explorer

Olivier Testa (born April 1, 1977) is a French cave explorer, known for his discovery of the orange cave-dwelling crocodiles of Gabon,[1] the Iroungou burial cave[2] in Gabon, the discovery of unexpected caves in the volcanic Bamboutos mountains in Cameroon and several discoveries in Haiti.[3] [4] He has led or participated in over 40 caving expeditions in Africa, Asia and in the Caribbean.[5]

Early life

Testa was born in Marseille, France, and grew up in the Alps, in Annecy, where he learnt mountain sports.

After obtaining an engineer's degree at École Centrale Paris in 2000, Testa tried different jobs and worked 2 years at French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA) (Real-Time Scheduling),[6] near Grenoble, France, from 2001 to 2003. Meanwhile, he was an active caver at the La Tronche caving club (FLT). He explored and practiced in many deep caves in Chartreuse Mountains and Vercors Massif, and started cave diving.

Testa discovered Africa volunteering for a 2-year mission in Dschang, Cameroon] with AFVP (the French equivalent of Voluntary Service Overseas) in 2006–2007.[7] He was in charge of coordinating the Route des Chefferies cultural program and the preliminary works on the Musée des Civilisations in Dschang.He then worked in Ituri, DR Congo for a Humanitarian NGO.

Since 2009, he is a full-time cave explorer.

Caving expeditions

Gabon

In 2007, Testa and EEGC team, on an expedition to Gabon, discover in the area of Tchibanga, Nyanga the first cave drawings of the country.[8] Other cave drawings or carvings have been later discovered in other parts of Gabon by Testa and Richard Oslisly, in Lastoursville in 2015 and 2016,[9] and near Mouila in 2018.

In 2010, Testa, with a team led by Oslisly (Shirley, Testa, Sebag, Decaens, Mabicka) went on an expedition in the upstream part of the Fernan Vaz Lagoon, Gabon.[10] In the caves of Abanda, cave-dwelling crocodiles, with a unique orange color, were found and captured by the team. These dwarf crocodiles are trapped in the caves along with 10,000s bats. They live in complete darkness, in liquid guano,[11] feeding mainly on bats and cave crickets.[12] Follow-up expeditions took place in 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017.

In 2013, 2015, 2016, Testa and Oslisly conducted speleological research[13] in the area of Lastoursville, known for a couple of caves since early 20th century.[14] In three expeditions, they explored and surveyed 40 caves in the rainforest surrounding the small town. Among discoveries, new caves (Boukama cave, Missie cave, Moungueke cave), several archeological findings (cave drawings in Koubou cave, carvings in Lipopa cave, some ancient iron currencies in Nzoundou cave, beads and bells in Siyou cave, jasper flints in Youmbidi cave).

In 2018, Testa and Oslisly discovered the sepulchral Iroungou cave during a speleological expedition in Mouila area.[15] Testa rappeled down a newly discovered cave and set foot in a chamber where he counted 29 human skulls and hundreds of human bones. Hundreds of artifacts made of iron, copper and brass were scattered on the ground : hoe-blade currencies, knife currencies, currency bracelets, bells, and other power objects. The cave has been excavated by archaeologists in 2019.

Chile

In 2010, Testa is a member of the "Ultima Patagonia 2010" expedition on Madre de Dios Island in Chilean Patagonia.[16]

Films

Notes and References

  1. Web site: National Geographic: Orange Cave Crocodiles May Be Evolving Into a New Species. https://web.archive.org/web/20190903102027/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/abanda-gabon-orange-cave-african-dwarf-crocodiles-spd/. dead. September 3, 2019. .
  2. Web site: Press release on the discovery of the Iroungou cave.
  3. News: Centre d’Etudes, de Conservation, de Restauration et de Muséologie Universidad de Las Artes. 14. Torres Etayo. Daniel. Rapport préliminaire de la mission archéologique au Cap Rouge, Jacmel, Haïti. La Habana, Cuba. Mar 2014.
  4. News: 136. 23–27. Jagou. Stéphanie. Cinq ans d'exploration en Haïti. Spéléo magazine. 2014.
  5. Web site: Olivier Testa: Expéditions.
  6. Simon. Daniel. Sename. Olivier. Robert. David. Testa. Olivier. Real-time and delay-dependent control co-design through feedback scheduling. CERTS’03 : Co-design in Embedded Real-time Systems. Porto, Portugal. 2003.
  7. News: 634. 14–15. Testa Olivier (00) Explorateur-spéléologue. Centraliens. 2014.
  8. EEGC. Arribart. Yann. Luschevici. Olivier. Massad. Rocco. Mesnier. Geoffroy. Poisson. Jérôme. Testa. Olivier. Rapport de l'expédition spéléologique au Gabon Gabond 007. Montrouge, France. Sep 2007.
  9. Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux, Gabon. 85. Oslisly. Richard. Testa. Olivier. Recherches scientifiques dans les cavités de Lastoursville et mise en valeur de la grotte de Boukama - Rapport annuel 2016 (85p). Libreville, Gabon. 2017-01-01.
  10. Web site: Abanda expedition official website.
  11. Web site: CNN : Why are these grey crocodiles turning orange. 7 February 2018 .
  12. 10.1111/aje.12365. Shirley. Matthew. Burtner. Brittany. Oslisly. Richard. Sebag. David. Testa. Olivier. Diet and body condition of cave-dwelling dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis, Cope 1861) in Gabon. African Journal of Ecology. 2016-09-26. 55. 4. 411–422.
  13. Web site: Les Grottes de Lastoursville website.
  14. 4. Recherches spéléologiques dans l'est du Gabon. Spelunca. 151–160. 1979.
  15. Web site: Press release on the discovery of Iroungou cave. 2018-12-19. NOT Engineers.
  16. Web site: http://www.centre-terre.fr/ultima2010/centre-terre.php. }
  17. Web site: Elodie Fertil - Expedition Abanda.
  18. Web site: Smithsonian channel "Cave Crocs of Gabon" .
  19. Web site: Anba, in the Depths of Haiti (on vimeo).
  20. Web site: Spirits of the cave 3 (on vimeo). 26 November 2019 .