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Review: The Dark Side of Relict Species Biology: Cave Animals as Ancient Lineages

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Relict Species

Abstract

Due to their fascinating biology and phenomena belonging to the realm of scientific curiosity, cave animals have been objects of study for zoologists for numerous decades. This chapter not only focuses on the extremes (e.g., absence of eyes, specialization to extreme environments), but also serves as an introduction to understand the geographic distribution patterns and history of these highly diverse ecological groups with their relict characteristics. After an introduction to the subterranean environment in Sect. 1, we briefly review the biology and ecology of cave animals with their regressive and progressive evolutionary tendencies in order to understand the innate reasons for restricted distribution patterns (Sect. 2). In Sect. 3, we summarize the main aspects of our knowledge regarding the distribution of these species, especially in the Holarctic; and finally in Sect. 4, we highlight the relict characteristics of cave animal distribution and the ancient phylogenetic splits between cave and surface lineages.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Environmental Chemistry, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Scharnhorststraße 1, D-21335, Lüneburg, Germany

    Thorsten Assmann, Claudia Drees, Andrea Matern & Andreas Schuldt

  2. Dipartimento di Zoologia e Genetica Evoluzionistica, Università di Sassari, Via Muroni 25, I-07100, Sassari, Italy

    Achille Casale

  3. Musée national d´histoire naturelle, Section Zoologie des Invertébrés, 2160, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    Jan C. Habel

  4. University Trier, Biogeographie, D-54296, Trier, Germany

    Jan C. Habel

Authors
  1. Thorsten Assmann
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  2. Achille Casale
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  3. Claudia Drees
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  4. Jan C. Habel
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  5. Andrea Matern
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  6. Andreas Schuldt
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Correspondence to Thorsten Assmann .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Musée National d´Histoire Naturelle Luxembourg, 25, rue Münster, 2160, Luxembourg

    Jan Christian Habel

  2. Institute of Ecology and Environmental Chemistry, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335, Lüneburg, Germany

    Thorsten Assmann

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Assmann, T., Casale, A., Drees, C., Habel, J.C., Matern, A., Schuldt, A. (2010). Review: The Dark Side of Relict Species Biology: Cave Animals as Ancient Lineages. In: Habel, J.C., Assmann, T. (eds) Relict Species. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92160-8_4

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