Animals living in the Caves habitat

Caves are home to an astonishing variety of life forms. Bats, birds, insects, fish, reptiles and amphibians can all be part of a cave's ecosystem. The cave habitat is separated in to four zones: Entrance, twilight, transition, and deep cave. These zones are defined by the amount of light present in each.

The entrance and twilight zones have the most light in the cave ecosystem. Bats and birds are most commonly found in these areas. Various species of beetles and other insects live off of the guano produced by bats. Other animals may take shelter in this part of the cave such as bears and raccoons.

The transition zone and deep cave areas are home to creatures known as troglobites. These are animals that cannot live outside of the cave environment. Fish and crayfish are often present in subterranean lakes and streams. These animals are usually completely blind and rely on a heightened sense of smell to locate prey. Salamanders, spiders and snails can also be found in the darkest parts of the cave ecosystem.

The cave environment is unique in that it rarely changes. The conditions inside a cave may be the same today as they were thousands of years ago. The life forms found in caves often cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.


Bats

Negros naked-backed fruit bat
Cape horseshoe bat
Pacific sheath-tailed bat
Geoffroy's horseshoe bat
Lesser dawn bat
Darling's horseshoe bat
Long-tailed house bat
Decken's horseshoe bat
Dent's horseshoe bat
Eloquent horseshoe bat
Rüppell's horseshoe bat
Aba roundleaf bat
Guinean horseshoe bat
Sundevall's roundleaf bat
Hildebrandt's horseshoe bat
Short-tailed roundleaf bat
Lander's horseshoe bat
Maclaud's horseshoe bat
Persian trident bat
Forest horseshoe bat
Jones's roundleaf bat
Bulmer's fruit bat
Bushveld horseshoe bat
Indian roundleaf bat
Patrizi's trident leaf-nosed bat
Swinny's horseshoe bat
Aellen's roundleaf bat
Trident bat
Lesser mouse-tailed bat
Ethiopian large-eared roundleaf bat
Asian barbastelle
Comoro rousette
Noack's roundleaf bat
Hildegarde's tomb bat
Schneider's leaf-nosed bat
Naked-rumped tomb bat
Salim ali's fruit bat
Heart-nosed bat
Australian false vampire bat
Ansorge's free-tailed bat
Lesser long-fingered bat
Gland-tailed free-tailed bat
Greater long-fingered bat
Percival's trident bat
Natal free-tailed bat
Seychelles sheath-tailed bat
Pallid large-footed myotis
African sheath-tailed bat
Morris's bat
Hog-nosed bat
Cape hairy bat
Long-tailed fruit bat
Egyptian slit-faced bat
Canary big-eared bat
Blasius's horseshoe bat
Lesser horseshoe bat
Adam's horseshoe bat
Beaufort's naked-backed fruit bat

Rodents

Cape mole rat
Silvery mole rat
Naked mole rat
Namaqua dune mole rat
Cape dune mole rat
Ghana mole rat
Bocage's mole rat
Damara mole rat
Nigerian mole rat
African mole rat
Ochre mole rat


Read more at the list of biomes of the world...
Contact Us | ©2011 TheWebsiteOfEverything.com | Animals living in the Caves