Caves are home to various animals, including troglobites, troglophiles, trogloxenes, and stygobi. Many cave-dwelling animals have unique adaptations, such as better hearing and loss of pigment. The cave environment lacks distinct day and night cycles and has limited food sources. Many cave animals are endemic and yet to be discovered.
Numerous animals live in caves, exclusively or part of the time. Troglobites – not to be confused with troglodytes – are animals that live their entire lives in the dark part of caves, troglophiles are animals that are sometimes found outside a cave, but mostly in depth, and trogloxenes are animals able to survive inside caves but are mostly found outside it, such as the extinct cave bears. Stygobi are animals found in groundwater within or between caves. True troglobites lack functional eyes. Their eyes may be vestigial, covered by a layer of skin. Exclusive cave animals are called cavemen.
Some animals that live in caves include salamanders, cave snake, many fish, bats, and many arthropods, including insects, centipedes, harvestmen, crayfish, springtails, spiders, etc. The smaller fauna is numerous, as their energy requirement is lower than the large animals and include annelids, leeches, molluscs, mites, etc. unique to caves. Many troglobites have slow metabolisms to explain the scarcity of food in caves.
Animals that spend a lot of time in caves eventually evolve unique adaptations to survive the extreme environment, such as better hearing at the expense of vision or the ability to sense gentle vibrations. Many cave-dwelling animals lose their pigment, turning ghostly white, as the signaling role of pigmentation is useless in a pitch-black environment. The lack of functioning eyes is also accompanied by the extension of limbs and antennae in insects, which are used to survey the environment through tactile means. True cave bugs also have reduced or no wings.
The cave environment is distinguished by negative characteristics: lack of distinction between night and day, summer and winter. There is little change in temperature or humidity, although cool air currents flow through most of the caves. Food can only enter from the outside, alive, in the form of animals seeking refuge, or dead, thanks to organic material transported through waterways. Mushrooms feed on this organic matter and numerous animals in turn feed on mushrooms. Butterflies that hibernate in caves are often eaten by grasshoppers, which in turn are eaten by bats.
Many cave animals are endemic to the cave they are found in, which in some cases may only span a few square miles. There are probably many more cave animals waiting to be discovered.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
