Pesce, G. L.: The Zinzulusa cave: an endangered biodiversity »hot spot« of South Italy. Nat. Croat., Vol. 10, No. 3., 207–212, 2001, Zagreb. The historical, geological, faunistic and ecological characteristics of the Zinzulusa cave (Castro Marina, South Italy), one of the most remarkable anchialine aquifers of Italy, are presented in this paper. The results of recent explorations and discoverie...

The morphologies and passive electrical parameters of fibres in two eye muscles of a surface- and a cave-dwelling crayfish were compared. In the cave-dwelling form the muscles contained fewer fibres, of less diameter, and hence had a smaller cross-sectional area. Current-voltage relationships were similar in both species. Input resistance was higher in the cave-dweller, but the difference was n...

*[email protected] 2007). In the last 50 years the cave suffered several microbiological crises (outbreak of microorganisms threatening the paintings) due to the invasion of the alga Bracteacoccus minor in 1963 (Lefèvre, 1974) and the fungus Fusarium solani in 2001 (Dupont et al., 2007). At present, the paintings are threatened by black stains produced by the fungus Ochroconis lascauxensis (M...

To reconstruct the phylogenetic position of the extinct cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea), we sequenced 1 kb of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from two Pleistocene cave lion DNA samples (47 and 32 ky B.P.). Phylogenetic analysis shows that the ancient sequences form a clade that is most closely related to the extant lions from Africa and Asia; at the same time, cave lions appear to be highl...

For future space research experiments in Cave A and in the BIOMAT-Cave of FAIR it is necessary to develop a raster scan system, that performs uniform large-area irradiations for all particles from protons up to uranium and a wide range of energies and intensities. Cave A is still equipped with the prototype of the raster scan system [1] which was upgraded [2] in 2001 by implementing the Factory...

Torgac Cave, located in south-central New Mexico is remarkable for at least three reasons: its extraordinary gypsum speleothems, its large bat population, and the unusually cold temperatures within the cave. It has been proposed that the presence of the bats and the speleothems may be related to the anomalous temperatures observed in the cave. This paper reports the results of a five week study...

The use of speleothems to reconstruct past climatic and environmental change through chemical proxies is becoming increasingly common. Speleothem chemistry is controlled by hydrological and atmospheric processes which vary over seasonal time scales. However, as many reconstructions using speleothem carbonate are now endeavouring to acquire information about precipitation and temperature dynamic...

Lascaux Cave (Montignac, France) contains paintings from the Upper Paleolithic period. Shortly after its discovery in 1940, the cave was seriously disturbed by major destructive interventions. In 1963, the cave was closed due to algal growth on the walls. In 2001, the ceiling, walls and sediments were colonized by the fungus Fusarium solani. Later, black stains, probably of fungal origin, appea...

Previous bone collagen carbon and nitrogen isotopic studies of Late Pleistocene European cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) have shown that these bears frequently had low nitrogen isotope values, similar to those of herbivores and indicating either unusual physiology related to hibernation or a herbivorous diet. Isotopic analysis of animal bone from the Peştera cu Oase (Cave with Bones), Romania, show...

Chal Nakhjir (Nakhcheer) is a rare geological phenomenon located on the side of the road connecting Delijan to Naragh in Markazi Province, Iran. This amazing cave was discovered in 1989, and it was registered as a national monument in 2001. The cave was opened to the public in March 2010 (1). It is a limestone cave that is approximately 7 million years old. Parts of the cave, including its inte...