Trogloxenes or subtroglophiles, also called cave guests, are animal

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

which periodically live in underground habitats such as caves or at the very entrance, but cannot live exclusively in such habitats."Cave Plants and Animals". 9 December <> Among many scientists, trogloxenes and subtroglophile have slightly different but closely related meanings, with the former covering species that are occasional visitors to underground habitat and the latter species that live more permanently there, but have to go outside (for example, to find food). Both these are in contrast to

troglobite A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...

s, which strictly live in underground habitats. Examples of trogloxene/subtroglophile species are bats, rats,

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

s and some

opiliones The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of ext ...

(this last group also has fully troglobitic species). Several extinct trogloxenes are known like

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ...

s, cave lions, cave leopards, and

cave hyena The cave hyena (''Crocuta crocuta spelaea''), also known as the Ice Age spotted hyena, was a paleosubspecies of spotted hyena which ranged from the Iberian Peninsula to eastern Siberia. It is one of the best known mammals of the Ice Age and is w ...

s. Indications trusted by geologists and archaeologists combine to show that these animals lived there in the latter part, at least, of the third

interglacial An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene i ...

epoch, and on through the fourth and last glacial advance, when, although central Europe was free from an ice cap, an almost Arctic climate prevailed, with much rain. This is what is known as the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

when humanity in Europe was represented by the

Neanderthals Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While ...

. During the Upper Paleolithic, many carnivores gradually adapted by increased fur and resorting far more than previously to the shelter of caves. The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') was the most habitual in its use of caves, and occupied caves before humans began to do so.

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Cave animals {{animal-stub

See also

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