Why are cave animals white and blind?
Beyond the entrance area, caves have no light, so animals living there have adapted. True cave dwelling species lack skin pigment since they need neither sun protection nor camouflage. They are albino, permanently white. In addition, some animals (such as surface fish) with skin pigment will sometimes enter caves. These animals get very light colored because their skin pigment requires sunlight to make it work. Like pigment, eyes have no value in the total darkness of a cave, so there is no evolutionary pressure to maintain them. In fact, an animal with eyes might injure them; eyes in a cave become a liability. But cave animals have their other senses more keenly developed. The Ozark cavefish, for example, has receptors along the lateral line of its head and body. These receptors pick up movement in the water. At least eight kinds of bats inhabit Missouri caves. Two kinds (or species) are the eastern pipistrelle and the gray bat. Pipistrelles are tiny bats with wings spanning only 5-6
