Over generations, some animals living in caves adapt to have no eyes, because they don’t use them in the dark environment. Scientists working in the Dominican Republic have discovered two new species of spiders that don’t have any eyes.
Over generations, some animals living in caves adapt to have virtually no vision, because they don’t use them in the dark environment.
Scientists working in the Dominican Republic have discovered two new species of spiders that don’t have any eyes.
They are the first blind cave dwelling spiders that have been found in Cueva Seibo, Dominican Republic.
According to the American Arachnological Society, this is the first time that two species of eyeless spiders have been documented living in the same cave.
Experts think that the relatively low bat population in Cueva Seibo might be the reason that the spiders can both survive together living in a single cave.
One of the spiders is over six inches long, and was found living underneath rocks on the cave floor.
Although researchers discovered the spiders two years ago, their study, led by author Trevor Bloom from Lewis and Clark College, has just been published in the Journal of Arachnology.
Around the world, nearly a thousand different species of blind spiders have been described, but less than 30 of those have been found living in caves located in the tropical region.