Abstract
Sistema Huautla is the deepest cave system in the Americas at 1560 m and the fifth longest in Mexico at 89,000 m, and it is a mostly vertical network of interconnected passages. The surface landscape is rugged, ranging from 3500 to 2500 masl, intersected by streams and deep gorges. There are numerous dolinas, from hundreds to tens of meters in width and depth. The weather is basically temperate subhumid with summer rains. The average yearly rainfall is approximately 2500 mm, with a monthly average of 35 mm for the driest times of the year and up to 500 mm for the wettest month. All these conditions play an important role for achieving the highest terrestrial troglobite diversity in Mexico, containing a total of 35 species, of which 27 are possible troglobites (16 described), including numerous arachnids, millipedes, springtails, silverfish, and a single described species of beetles. With those numbers, Sistema Huautla is one of the richest cave systems in the world.
Highlights
Sistema Huautla is the deepest cave system in the Americas at 1560 m and the fifth longest in Mexico at 89,000 m, and it is a mostly vertical network of interconnected passages
Many taxa have colonized these subterranean environments, including arthropods and vertebrates [2,3]. Some of these animals have become fully established in cave systems; they have evolved specific morphological adaptations such as cuticular depigmentation, elongation of appendages, and reduction or loss of eyes [4]
Cokendolpher and Sissom (2001) [29] reported an undescribed species of Paraphrynus which was considerably smaller and morphologically distinct from P. grubbsi which has well-developed eyes, suggesting that it could be an epigean species not adapted to caves which lives in the surroundings of Sistema Huautla and can be found occasionally in the caves [29]
Summary
Caves are some of the most adverse environments on earth, as the restricted access to food and the extreme conditions of darkness and humidity make these habitats very challenging for living organisms [1]. Cave explorations in the Systema Huautla have taken place since the mid-1960s, and multiple discoveries in terms of speleology and in biological diversity have been reported [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. As part of the Special Issue “Hotspots of Subterranean Biodiversity” in the Diversity journal, we have decided to put together a list of the numerous taxa inhabiting one of the most important cave systems in Mexico revisiting all of the available literature. This list exemplifies the large biological diversity of the system, and this resource can. Be used as reference for future works on diversity but evolution, conservation, and inspiration for cave exploration in the several unexplored cave systems in Mexico
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