Cave animals

Brooke Flammang is used to seeing fish that walk. But this blind, waterfall-climbing cavefish is something else altogether.

Trapped deep underneath the surface and left to evolve in isolation for thousands of years, cave animals are some of nature's most bizarre and fascinating creatures.

The Mexican tetra has evolved to live in a number of dark caves – and now we know that the fish in each cave use clicks to communicate in distinct ways

Weird blind Cave creature design

In the caves of Slovenia and Croatia lives an animal that’s a cross between Peter Pan and Gollum. It’s the olm, a blind, cave-dwelling salamander, also called the proteus and the “human fish”, for its pale, pinkish skin. It has spent so long adapting to life in caves that it’s mostly blind, hunting instead with […]

The Olm is an aquatic European cave salamander who is blind, can go 10 years without food, and can lay eggs or give birth to live young depending on the temperature.

Trapped deep underneath the surface and left to evolve in isolation for thousands of years, cave animals are some of nature's most bizarre and fascinating creatures.

The Cave Horse (Equus Sanctus) is a rare species of horse that took to living in a cave environment. These mysterious creatures are extremely shy and seldom reveal themselves. Over millennia they’ve developed a large spinal frill and a paddle like tail to help them swim through underwater channels within the caves. They’ve developed their large lungs which helps them sustain their breath for prolonged periods of time under water. Their skin is extremely sensitive to daylight and have lost…

This American leaf-nosed bat, which was found at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica, shows off the folded, spearhead muzzle for which it is named.