A new species of the genus Pristimantis is described from Churi tepui, in the Chimanta massif, Estado Bolivar, Venezuela. The new species was discovered during the Muchimuk Expedition 2009, an ongoing speleological exploration of the Charles Brewer cave system, the largest sandstone cave on Earth. The species is known from only one female, collected near the mouth of the Muchimuk cave, in "non-...

Chordomas are locally aggressive malignant tumors due to their recurrence potential, originating from the embryonic notochord remnants. Chordomas can originate anywhere on the axial skeleton. They are extradural and are spread by bone destruction. Chordomas are locally aggressive tumors which invade the dura mater, and may also present with secondary intradural growth. The Meckel's cave locatio...

We describe a new cave-dwelling species, Cyrtodactylus sanook sp. nov., from Tham Sanook, Chumphon Province, southern Thailand, characterized by a maximum SVL of 79.5 mm; 18-20 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles at midbody; a continuous series of enlarged femoral and precloacal scales, no femoral pores, three or four precloacal pores in males (no pores in females), no precloacal groove nor d...

Troglobites, or species restricted to caves, commonly have small ranges and high levels of endemism, making them extremely sensitive to relatively small-scale habitat alteration that results from urbanization. Protection of federally listed endangered troglobites in central Texas focuses on caves that are occupied by the species. The determination of occupancy is based on presence/absence surve...

Blombos Cave is an important site on the Southern Cape of South Africa for supporting " modern behavior " of the Middle Stone Age people. Many contend that the MSA people were not fully modern in behavior because the artifact remains do not support the working of organic material, fishing, and other advanced behavior. They also project that these behaviors may not have originated in Africa. How...

The connectivity of the Barat Cave underground river system needs to be known support implementation proper environmental management so that water resources can maintained sustainably. However, mapping paths is often hindered by conditions narrow cave passages, a barrier blocking flow (siphon), deep lakes, waterfalls, as well filled with water. This research was conducted in Cave, Karangbolong ...

Due to their limited geographic distributions and specialized ecologies, cave species are often highly endemic can be especially vulnerable habitat degradation within surrounding the systems they inhabit. We investigated evolutionary history of West Virginia Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus subterraneus), estimated population trend from historic current survey data, assessed potential for water ...

The Kirkdale Cave palaeofauna represents the original and classic 'warm', interglacial mammalian cave deposit in Britain. Although long considered to be ' Ipswichian' in age, no previous attempts to obtain radiometric dates have been recorded. Here we report a uranium-series disequilibrium date of 121,000 ± 4000 yr BP on a flowstone capping that overlay the original bone bed. The precision of t...

Border Cave exhibits a detailed sequence of MSA strata, with probable Homo sapiens sapiens remains within these layers, arguing for an early appearance of modern humans in South Africa. Supporters of an early appearance place hominids BC1, 2, and 3 at ~115 kyr by correlation to C 14 dated soils (Butzer et al, 1978), while skeptics, using ERS methods, believe these individuals are younger than 9...