World_of_Animals_Issue_46_2017

The wildlife of a cave
The creatures of
Mammoth Cave
With over 650
kilometres (403.9 miles)
of passageways and
caverns, the world’s
longest cave system,
located in Kentucky,
United States is home
to more than 130
species of flora and
fauna, 14 of which don’t
exist anywhere else on
the planet.
Cave cricket
The long-legged, jumping cave cricket is a
keystone species of the Mammoth Cave. By feeding
on the surface and transferring the nutrients to the
subsurface in the form of guano, eggs and bodies,
it subsidises three separate communities of rare or
endemic cave-dwelling invertebrates.
Animals of
the shadows
Troglobites
Troglobites are animals
that have adapted to
spend their entire life cycle
within a cave and could
not survive outside of one.
They typically have poorly
developed or absent eyes,
little pigmentation and
are able to go a long time
without food. Examples
include cavefish, crayfish
and shrimps.
Fox
Troglophiles
A troglophile is an animal
that can survive outside
of a cave, but prefers to
live inside one. They will
typically only leave the cave
in search of food, but could
live their entire life either
inside or outside of one.
Examples include beetles,
worms, frogs, salamanders
and crickets.
Trogloxenes
Trogloxenes are animals
that regularly visit caves for
specific parts of their life
cycle, such as hibernation,
nesting or giving birth. They
will never spend an entire life
cycle within a cave and have
no special adaptations for
the environment. Examples
include bats, bears, skunks
and raccoons.
Bullfrog
Cave crayfish
Northern cavefish
Specially adapted to the lightless,
low-energy environment of
freshwater cave streams, this
species of fish has ceased to
develop unnecessary eyes and
pigmentation. It navigates by
feeling its surroundings using
sensory organs on its body, and
can live for up to two years without
food due to its low metabolic rate.
Opossum
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