King of the Cave of Caves: The Blind and Deadly Giant that evolved in the dark

The poisonous centipede entered the Cave Movile, Romania, millions of years ago and adapted to live in the total darkness surrounded by deadly gases.

O Cryptops speleorex – which means “cave king”-It is on the top of the food chain of this single ecosystem. Is the greatest species of invertebrate cavewith a length that varies between 46 and 52 mm.

The centipede adapted to life in the total darkness. Unlike their cousins ​​who live on the surface, the Cryptops speleorexnão It has eyes. Thus, it is based on other senses to locate the prey, such as its Long antennas that are highly sensitive to the touch.

These antennas help you detect vibrations and the prey movements in your environment. With its long and spider legs, the king of the cave can browse tight spaces easily.

Centopeia has poisonous tweezers called forcipulesdesigned to catch and immobilize the prey as it approaches.

To survive in an environment without sunlight – and without plants that produce energy through photosynthesis – cave creatures depend on nutrients produced by bacteria through oxidation of gaseslike methane and sulfur. This process is called Chemose.

O Cryptops speleorex It feeds on other cave beings to obtain nutrients.

The king of the cave also has to face the variety of deadly phases in his home. THE Movile cave is abundant in hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia and carbon dioxidewhile it has about half of the normal oxygen level in the air outside the system.

According to,, It is not known exactly how it adapted to survive these gases. However, the Cryptops speleorex Breathe through splashes bound to a tracheal system that may have evolved to effectively extract oxygen in low oxygen environments.

Although some species found in the cave also exist outside it – such as the microscopic looms called Nematodes — o Cryptops speleorex Does not leave your inhospitable homeaccording to the investigators that the.

“Our results confirmed our doubts and revealed that Centopeia Movile is morphological and genetically differentsuggesting that it has been evolving over millions of years to an entirely new group that is better adapted to life in the endless darkness“The investigators said in.