How Do Cave Animals Adapt?

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Life in a cave (where it is dark all the time) is very different than on the surface of the Earth.

Some differences are:

• There is no harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation
• There is no light to tell you when to get up and when to sleep
• Eyes are useless because it is always dark, which makes it impossible to see
• There are no harsh winter conditions to escape
• There are no green plants to form the base of the food chain
• Food is often hard to find

The lack of light and the scarcity of food in caves are what are called selective pressures.

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The troglobitic Harvestman (daddy long-legs) above is a great example of how a cave animal adapts.

Organisms adapt to their environment and to the selective pressures present.

In order to adapt an animal that lives its life in a cave may do some of the following:

• Dump parts of its body that aren't useful
• Simplify the way it lives to not waste so much energy
• It will want to find food and avoid predators faster