The deepest cave in the world , the Kruber cave in the western Caucasus, has been the scene of a discovery: a team of researchers from two Spanish universities has located a new species of abyss beetle .
The cave beetles are, according to the records, the first living beings to be described by science as a species adapted to the conditions of underground life . The new species in question has been found in the region of the Arabica massif in Abkhazia, where this cave is found, whose area ranges between latitudes of 1,900 and 2,500 meters, and is composed of limestone from the lower and upper Cretaceous Jurassic.
“The new species of cave beetle is called Duvalius abyssimus . We only have two specimens, a male and a female. Although they were captured in the deepest chasm in the world, they were not located in the final meters. The characteristics of the new species indicate that it is in a medium degree of adaptation to underground life . Proof of this is that it still has eyes, which are absent in highly specialized cave species ”, says Vicente M. Ortuño, co-author of the work.
Regarding the peculiar place of the discovery, where several genera of endemic cave beetles live, the entrance is 2,240 meters above sea level and 15 kilometers from the Black Sea and in some vertical sections the chasm reaches a depth of 1,400 meters.
The results of the study have been published in the journal Zootaxa .
Image credit: José Antonio Peñas
