Eye Regression in Cave Animals

Based on experimental evidence from the Astyanax mexicanus survey, it can be thought that eye regeneration in a dark cave environment is due to adaptive evolution. Experiments on Astyanax cave fish do not seem to support the theory of neutral variation. The results of these experiments show that several ocular genes are multifaceted and regulated as they have many developmental functions in addition to their ocular forming effects. This means that the gene does not go through the process of neutral collapse.

Some scientists are interested in cave ecology and the interaction between cave animals and the cave microclimate. Animals found in the cave are sometimes up to troglobites that adapt specifically to cave life from animals living on the surface like raccoons using caverns. Troglobites can not survive outside the cave. These include a variety of animals such as invisible fish and crayfish, cave beetles, insects, and other unusual insects. Many of these animals lose pigmentation in the body and the color is white or transparent. The environment of the cave appears to be stable, but changes may occur. The temperature of the cave changes with the flow of air near the entrance and the temperature of the water entering the cave. Indeed, some caves have their own weather systems, winds are generated by differences in temperature and pressure between the entrance and the internal passage.

Animals living in the cave are usually troglobites (limited species of caves), troglophiles (species that can live in caves but can live in other environments), trogloxenes (use cave species, but completely live their lives It can not be completed). Period in the cave) and accidental events (not belonging to previous category animals). Some authors use different forms of aquatic form terms (eg stigobyte, stigofil, and stigoxin). Of these animals, Troglobit is probably the most unusual creature. Trogrobiotic species often exhibit many properties, called troglobomorphs, associated with adaptation to underground living. These features include vibrations of loss of pigment (usually leading to pale or white), eye loss (or at least optical function), extension of the appendage, and other perceptual improvements (such as perception) in the water there is.

Many animals such as bats, cave owls, and moles visit the caves to grow turnips and hibernate. These animals are called trogloxenes. The cave may support many different types of bats. Bats may be the most beneficial animals for humans and ecosystems, such as insects eaters and plants pollinators. A small brown bat can eat 600 mosquitoes per hour and can run "natural insecticide" to help destroy crop pests and other insects. Kentucky Mammoth Cave - Flint Ridge System is the world's most extensive cave system, including 43 mammals, 15 reptiles, 19 amphibians, and 3 fishes. In 1981, the United Nations designated Mammoth Cave National Park as a World Heritage Site. An excellent summary of caves in Mammoth caves and other national parks can be found on the World Wide Web. http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/tour/caves.htm