BACKGROUND Many cave-dwelling animal species display similar morphologies (troglomorphism) that have evolved convergent within and among lineages under the similar selective pressures imposed by cave habitats. Here we study such ecomorphological evolution in cave-dwelling Sclerobuninae harvestmen (Opiliones) from the western United States, providing general insights into morphological homoplasy...

OBJECTIVE To study anatomical structures related to Meckel cave with endonasal endoscopic approach and to provide an anatomical basis for endoscopic surgery in Meckel cave. METHODS Meckel cave of 5 adult skulls (10 sides) were fixed with 10% formalin. The anatomical structures of Meckel cave and the related zones adjacent to Meckel cave were observed and measured with endoscopic endonasal app...

The Mezmaiskaya cave mtDNA is similar in many ways to the Feldhofer cave Neandertal sequence and the more recently obtained Vindija cave sequence. If we accept the contention that the Mezmaiskaya cave specimen is a Neandertal infant, its mtDNA provides no new information about the fate of the European Neandertals. However, there is reason to believe that the Mezmaiskaya cave infant is not a Nea...

We compare two methods of assessing explanatory style--the content analysis of verbatim explanations (CAVE) and the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ). The CAVE technique is a method that allows the researcher to analyze any naturally occurring verbatim materials for explanatory style. This technique permits the measurement of various populations that are unwilling or unable to take the AS...

In 2003, during an examination of Gough’s Cave for Palaeolithic art, a figure was noted on the wall of an alcove, in an area of the cave not affected by blasting. The figure resembles a mammoth. Close inspection suggests that engraved lines may complement natural features of the rock surface suggestive of the trunk and possibly also the tusks. The geomorphic history of the cave gives a context ...

Cave micrometeorology is important to cave atmosphere composition, speleogenesis, growth of cave decorations, speleothem-based paleoclimate, and cave biology studies. This research project was undertaken to better define micrometeorological patterns and their interactions in subterranean cavities using the latest air temperature sensing instruments and by applying mathematical computer modeling...

Despite the greater information content of genomic DNA, ancient DNA studies have largely been limited to the amplification of mitochondrial sequences. Here we describe metagenomic libraries constructed with unamplified DNA extracted from skeletal remains of two 40,000-year-old extinct cave bears. Analysis of approximately 1 megabase of sequence from each library showed that despite significant ...

The growth rate and composition of cave calcite deposits (speleothems) are often used as proxies for past environmental change. There is, however, the potential for bias in the speleothem record due to seasonal fluctuations in calcite growth and dripwater chemistry. It has been proposed that the growth rate of speleothem calcite in Texas caves varies seasonally in response to density-driven flu...

Synopsis Cave-adapted animals are characterized by extreme reduction or complete absence of eyes, reflecting their lack of exposure to daylight. Given the overall constancy of abiotic variables in the cave environment, one would also expect the relaxation and eventual loss of circadian rhythms, and with it, the regressive evolution of the underlying genetic biological clock. Remarkably, however...

Cave-dwelling animals exhibit remarkable convergence in multiple cave-related traits, yet the genetic mechanisms responsible for the evolution and integration of many such traits remain unclear. Astyanax mexicanus is a model cave-dwelling fish with sighted surface-dwelling (surface fish) and blind cave-dwelling (cavefish) forms. Using a genetic cross between these morphs, we discovered signific...