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What is the Species Diversity of a Cave?
Picture of a Tegenaria
Click on Picture for Larger Image

You may think that there is not much in caves but a lot of crickets and spiders. Or, that maybe there are a lot of bats and not much insect or other life? Caves are inhabited by lots of different kinds of creatures. From 973 species of cave organisms in the U.S. , Dr Cave Facts tells us that from reading more of the paper by Christman and Culver that there are:

210 genera
96 families
38 orders

of the following species:

Turbellaria (free-living flatworms)

 

Oligochaeta (worms to you, in particular, segmented worms such as earthworms)

Picture of an Earthworm
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Mollusca (slugs, snails, etc.)

Picture of a Snail
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Arachnida (spiders, mites, and ticks)

Picture of a Mite
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Crustacea (These guys live in the water and have gills to breathe with. Shrimp are an example.)

 

Chilopoda (Centipedes)

 

Diplopoda (Millipedes)

Picture of a Millipede
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Insecta (all those glorious creepy crawlies such as cockroaches, crickets, and beetles)

Picture of a Rhadine Beetle
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Ostreichthyes (fish with bones)

Picture of Cave Fish (Mexico)
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Amphibia (frogs, toads, and salamanders)

Picture of a Toad
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Are you impressed? Or, are you wondering why scientists use all those many-syllable words to name things.

Click on the Link(s) Below to Learn (About)...

Species Richness
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Species Diversity and Endemism

OR

Click Here to Learn More About the Differences Between Cave and Surface Food Webs
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Click Here for an Example of Competition
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Click Here to Find Out About Species Diversity
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Click Here to Learn About Nutrient Cycling