THE present paper records the results of some analyses of carotenoid material in cave detritus, carried out as part of a research on the causes of pigment lack in the cave fauna. There is reason to suppose that the ancestral pigment of the numerous unpigmented cavernicolous Crustacea was the carotenoid pigment astacin, since closely related above-ground species frequently contain this pigment. ...

Abstract Cave biodiversity and ecosystems are underexplored. To guide conservation needs for visitor management, we surveyed the 2,158 m long Danial in northern Iran vertebrate fauna. We identified four mammalian two amphibian species cave: greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum , Blasius's blasii lesser mouse-eared myotis Myotis blythii Hyrcanian field mouse Apodemus hyrcanicus wood f...

A new genus and new species of the pselaphine tribe Batrisini, Zopherobatrus tianmingyii Yin & Li gen. et sp. n., is described based on material collected from a cave in Guizhou, southwestern China. The new taxon exhibits a typical suite of morphological adaptations to life in caves, and represents a third genus of the cave-inhabiting Pselaphinae in China.

An independently derived, blind, cave-dwelling amphipod, Minamitalitrus zoltani gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from the Hoshino-do cave on the island on Minami-Daitō jima, Okinawa, Japan. This genus belongs to the Talitrus group of 15 genera and is the first record of the group from Japan. Several characters support the new genus, particularly the reduced biramous pleopods.

Two new species of the millipede genus Paracortina Wang & Zhang, 1993 are described. Both are presumed troglophiles: Paracortinazhangi sp. n. from a cave in Ceheng County, southwestern Guizhou Province and Paracortinayinae sp. n. from a cave in Longlin County, western Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A distribution map and a key to all 12 Paracortina species are also provided.

A number of experimental methods of reconstructing prehistoric hand images like those in the cave of Gargas, France, are described and assessed. The results of experiments using these methods are evaluated from the point of view of the bearing they have on our knowledge about the creation of the original pictures in the cave.

The cave bear, Ursus spelaeus, represents one of the most frequently found paleontological remains from the Pleistocene in Europe. The species has always been confined to Europe and was contemporary with the brown bear, Ursus arctos. Relationships between the cave bear and the two lineages of brown bears defined in Europe, as well as the origins of the two species, remain controversial, mainly ...

Subterranean ecosystems harbor globally rare fauna and important water resources, but ecological processes are poorly understood and are threatened by anthropogenic stresses. Ecosystem analyses were conducted from 1997 to 2000 in Cave Springs Cave, Arkansas, situated in a region of intensive land use, to determine the degree of habitat degradation and viability of endangered fauna. Organic matt...

The UK has a wide variety of hypogenic caves, including transverse maze caves, relict hydrothermal caves, gypsum mazes and hypogenic karst associated with water rising up deep thrust faults. While few of these are particularly extensive, they offer insights into the mechanisms of speleogenesis and mineralisation. The best developed hypogenic caves in the UK are in the Carboniferous limestones o...

Cave collapses emerge during the process of oil reservoir development, seriously affecting oil production. To reveal the collapse and failure mechanism of the carbonate cavern with a buried depth of 5600 m in Tahe Oil Field, using a self-developed ultra-high pressure model test system with the intelligent numerical control function, the model simulation material of carbonate rocks developed to ...