Underground Life

Bats and bears are by no means the only animals that venture into caves. Biospeleology has recorded a wide variety of cave-dwellers, the most numerous of which are insects such as flies, beetles, centipedes, millipedes, crickets, and spiders. There are also various worms, crustaceans, and snails. Even some vertebrates have adapted to permanent darkness, with reduced eyes and specialised sensory systems. Examples are cave fish and salamanders, such as the famous olm. The aforementioned bats also have reduced eyesight and use sophisticated echolocation to navigate the darkness. However, they ‘hang out’ in caves during the day or hibernate during the winter months only.