An unusual case of bilateral intratentorial lipomas with extension into Meckel's caves and the cerebellopontine angle is described. Surgical and histopathologic correlation demonstrate that the lipoma encased the trigeminal nerve in Meckel's caves. The origin of the lipoma from the anteromedial margins of the tentorium is discussed and correlated with a recently proposed theory for the developm...

Caves and rockshelters are found all over the world, and they have been frequently occupied throughout prehistory and early history. In many areas of Europe, some of these natural places are still used as sites of worship and as shelter against the elements. There is great variability in their use. Some appear to only have traces of short occupations, while others have thick cultural deposits, ...

The degradation of subterranean habitats is believed to represent a serious threat for the conservation of obligate subterranean dwellers (troglobites), many of which are short-range endemics. However, while the factors influencing cave biodiversity remain largely unknown, the influence of the surrounding landscape and patterns of subterranean connectivity of terrestrial troglobitic communities...

The theory of island biogeography predicts the effects of habitat isolation and size on species richness, community assembly, and the persistence of species. Various studies showed that habitat conditions and the ecology of species are also of relevance in explaining community assembly. Geographically isolated habitats like caves with rather constant environmental conditions provide models to t...

Marine caves are widely acknowledged for their unique biodiversity and constitute a typical feature of the Mediterranean coastline. Herein an attempt was made to evaluate the ecological significance of this particular ecosystem in the Mediterranean Sea, which is considered a biodiversity hotspot. This was accomplished by using Porifera, which dominate the rocky sublittoral substrata, as a refer...

Caves are not colonised by all taxa present in the surface species pool, due to absence of light and the tendency to food limitation when compared to surface communities. Under strong species sorting during colonisation and later by the restrictive environmental filter, traits that are not adaptive in subterranean habitats may be filtered out. We tested whether cave communities were assembled b...

Dictyostelid cellular slime molds (dictyostelids) are singlecelled, eukaryotic, phagotrophic bacterivores usually present and often abundant in terrestrial ecosystems (Raper, 1984). These organisms represent a normal component of the microflora in soils and apparently play a role in maintaining the natural balance that exists between bacteria and other microorganisms in the soil environment. Fo...

group numbers 14. Extensive collecting from Texas caves has resulted in the discovery of numerous new A new robust species of the subterranea group of the ground beetle pOpu~ationS oftroglobitic ~ h ~ d i ~ ~ . several of these new genus Rhadine LeConte is described. Rhadine rqyesi, new species, is known from eight caves on Fort Hood, Bell and Coryell Counties.Texas. populations appear to be un...

Phlebotomine sand flies were collected using CO2 baited CDC light trap in 2000 and 2001 in limestone areas and caves of western Malaysia. A total of 1,548 specimens were collected comprising 18 species from two genera: Phlebotomus (6 spp) and Sergentomyia (12 spp). Phlebotomus major major (38.9%) was the predominant species followed by Sergentomyia perturbans (20.1%), P. stantoni (15.3%) and ot...

Worldwide, lava caves host colorful microbial mats. However, little is known about the diversity of these microorganisms, or what role they may play in the subsurface ecosystem. White and yellow microbial mats were collected from four lava caves each on the Azorean island of Terceira and the Big Island of Hawai'i, to compare the bacterial diversity found in lava caves from two widely separated ...