The Cuevas de los Murciélagos are a complex of two volcanic caves on
La Palma
La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and historically San Miguel de La Palma, is the most northwesterly island of the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. La Pa ...
,
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
. They are located at the Nacientes de Marcos y Cordero (springs of Marcos and Cordero) near the municipality of
San Andrés y Sauces
San Andrés y Sauces is a municipality on the island of La Palma, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. It is situated in the northeastern part of the island. The population of the municipality is 4,473 (2013)[< ...]
in the north of the island. Cueva de los Murciélagos I is located in an altitude of 1220 m, Cueva de los Murciélagos II in an altitude of 1000 m. Both caves have a length of 100 m. The access is not difficult. Though it is a descending tube it is good to walk. On the endpoint of the Cueva de los Murciélagos I is a small firepit in the soil which is slightly more complicated to access. In some areas it has a steep slope. It's a rather old cave where erosion caused by the years is evident, hence the debris is very abundant and they are large blocks of terrestrial material.
The caves host an important breeding colony of the
Canary big-eared bat. In the 1980s the Cueva de los Murciélagos I become known as paleontological site where fossil remains of the
La Palma giant lizard (''Gallotia auaritae'') and the
Trias greenfinch (''Carduelis triasi'') were unearthed.
References
*Medina, A.L., J.L. Martín, I. Izquierdo, J.J. Hernández and P. Oromí: ''Cavidades volcánicas en la isla de La Palma (Islas Canarias) I. Descripción y consideraciones sobre su fauna.'' 7th Intemational Symposium On Vulcanospeleology, 1994:p 141–170
*Fernández, O., R. García, F. Dumpiérrez, D. Gómez, F. Rodriguez: ''Las cavidades volcánicas del término municipal de San Andrés y Sauces'' In Volcania, Volume 9, December 2011:p 6–39
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murcielagos, Cuevas de los
Paleontological sites of Europe
Caves of the Canary Islands
Lava tubes