What selective forces contribute to eye loss in cave animals? A new study shows the eye and optic tectum of a cave fish consumes ∼5-17% of the total energy consumption, emphasising that selection to reduce energy consumption may drive eye loss.

Facultative methylotrophs belonging to the genera Gemmobacter and Mesorhizobium were isolated from microbial mat and cave water samples obtained from the Movile Cave ecosystem. Both bacteria can utilize methylated amines as their sole carbon and nitrogen source. Here, we report the draft genome sequences of Gemmobacter sp. strain LW1 and Mesorhizobium sp. strain IM1.

Food input by the cave cricket, Hadenoecus cumberlandicus Hubble & Norton (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae), is vital to the cave community, making this cricket a true keystone species. Bioassays conducted on cave walls and in the laboratory show that clustering in H. cumberlandicus is guided by a pheromone, presumably excreta. This aggregation pheromone was demonstrated by using filter paper disc...

THE present paper records the results of some analyses of carotenoid material in cave detritus, carried out as part of a research on the causes of pigment lack in the cave fauna. There is reason to suppose that the ancestral pigment of the numerous unpigmented cavernicolous Crustacea was the carotenoid pigment astacin, since closely related above-ground species frequently contain this pigment. ...

Abstract Cave biodiversity and ecosystems are underexplored. To guide conservation needs for visitor management, we surveyed the 2,158 m long Danial in northern Iran vertebrate fauna. We identified four mammalian two amphibian species cave: greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum , Blasius's blasii lesser mouse-eared myotis Myotis blythii Hyrcanian field mouse Apodemus hyrcanicus wood f...

A new genus and new species of the pselaphine tribe Batrisini, Zopherobatrus tianmingyii Yin & Li gen. et sp. n., is described based on material collected from a cave in Guizhou, southwestern China. The new taxon exhibits a typical suite of morphological adaptations to life in caves, and represents a third genus of the cave-inhabiting Pselaphinae in China.

An independently derived, blind, cave-dwelling amphipod, Minamitalitrus zoltani gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from the Hoshino-do cave on the island on Minami-Daitō jima, Okinawa, Japan. This genus belongs to the Talitrus group of 15 genera and is the first record of the group from Japan. Several characters support the new genus, particularly the reduced biramous pleopods.

Two new species of the millipede genus Paracortina Wang & Zhang, 1993 are described. Both are presumed troglophiles: Paracortinazhangi sp. n. from a cave in Ceheng County, southwestern Guizhou Province and Paracortinayinae sp. n. from a cave in Longlin County, western Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A distribution map and a key to all 12 Paracortina species are also provided.

A number of experimental methods of reconstructing prehistoric hand images like those in the cave of Gargas, France, are described and assessed. The results of experiments using these methods are evaluated from the point of view of the bearing they have on our knowledge about the creation of the original pictures in the cave.

The cave bear, Ursus spelaeus, represents one of the most frequently found paleontological remains from the Pleistocene in Europe. The species has always been confined to Europe and was contemporary with the brown bear, Ursus arctos. Relationships between the cave bear and the two lineages of brown bears defined in Europe, as well as the origins of the two species, remain controversial, mainly ...