Cave‐Dwelling Planariidae in Dinaric Karst Exhibit Differing Levels of Cave Trait Evolution
- 1Ruđer Bošković Insititute Zagreb Croatia
- 2Department of Tissue Dynamics and Regeneration Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences Göttingen Germany
- 3Faculty of Biology and Psychology Georg‐August‐University Göttingen Göttingen Germany
Abstract
The Dinaric karst encompasses a network of over 10,000 caves and represents one of the world's most important subterranean biodiversity hotspots. It is inhabited by remarkably diverse and often endemic species, including planarian flatworms. Although cave planarians have long been known from the region, they have not yet been investigated using an integrative approach, and their evolutionary relationships with surface‐dwelling relatives remain unresolved. To address these gaps, we combined field sampling, phylogenetic analyses based on the COI and 18S genes, and phenotypic characterisation. Our results show that cave planariids in the Dinaric karst belong to at least three genera and are more widespread and diverse than previously assumed. We increased the number of cave records in the Dinaric karst from 26 to 37 and documented cf. Atrioplanaria and Phagocata in Croatian caves for the first time. Phylogenetic reconstructions are consistent with independent cave colonisation events, including multiple instances within the genera Crenobia and cf. Atrioplanaria . Variation in pigmentation and eye reduction, both within and between populations, further reveals heterogeneous evolutionary trajectories of cave‐associated phenotypes. Our molecular phylogeny and documentation of trait variability constitute a first step towards establishing Planariidae as a model for investigating the mechanisms underlying the convergent evolution of pigment loss and eye reduction in cave environments.
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BibTeX
@article{kauf2026cavedwelling,
title = {{Cave‐Dwelling Planariidae in Dinaric Karst Exhibit Differing Levels of Cave Trait Evolution}},
author = {Lucija Kauf and Miquel Vila‐Farré and Fruszina Ficze‐Schmidt and Emilija Bakula and Jochen C. Rink and Helena Bilandžija},
journal = {Ecology and Evolution},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/ece3.74488},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74488},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Cave‐Dwelling Planariidae in Dinaric Karst Exhibit Differing Levels of Cave Trait Evolution
AU - Lucija Kauf
AU - Miquel Vila‐Farré
AU - Fruszina Ficze‐Schmidt
AU - Emilija Bakula
AU - Jochen C. Rink
AU - Helena Bilandžija
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Ecology and Evolution
DO - 10.1002/ece3.74488
UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74488
AB - The Dinaric karst encompasses a network of over 10,000 caves and represents one of the world's most important subterranean biodiversity hotspots. It is inhabited by remarkably diverse and often endemic species, including planarian flatworms. Although cave planarians have long been known from the region, they have not yet been investigated using an integrative approach, and their evolutionary relationships with surface‐dwelling relatives remain unresolved. To address these gaps, we combined field sampling, phylogenetic analyses based on the COI and 18S genes, and phenotypic characterisation. Our results show that cave planariids in the Dinaric karst belong to at least three genera and are more widespread and diverse than previously assumed. We increased the number of cave records in the Dinaric karst from 26 to 37 and documented cf. Atrioplanaria and Phagocata in Croatian caves for the first time. Phylogenetic reconstructions are consistent with independent cave colonisation events, including multiple instances within the genera Crenobia and cf. Atrioplanaria . Variation in pigmentation and eye reduction, both within and between populations, further reveals heterogeneous evolutionary trajectories of cave‐associated phenotypes. Our molecular phylogeny and documentation of trait variability constitute a first step towards establishing Planariidae as a model for investigating the mechanisms underlying the convergent evolution of pigment loss and eye reduction in cave environments.
SN - 2045-7758
SN - 2045-7758
ER -