When it comes to critters, Binkley Cave is among the best of the best. And this isn’t just an idle claim. In a 2000 publication about places where over 20 species of subterranean animals occurred on the entire earth, only 20 sites qualified, of which 3 were in the United States (one cave each in Kentucky and Alabama, plus a deep artesian well in Texas).

As a result of a survey of the animals inhabiting Binkley Cave started by biologists in 1997, Binkley has now been added to the original 20 “hotspots” previously reported from the planet. These animals known only from caves, for example the eyeless cavefish, are called “troglobites” by biologists.

Twenty one species of troglobites have been discovered in Binkley so far, and the biological survey continues. Multiple factors have led to this great diversity of species. One is the vast extent of the cave…the 35 miles of passages discovered to date include many different kinds of living spaces for animals (biologists call these places “habitats”).

For example, water habitats in Binkley vary from deep cave rivers where countless cavefish live, while tiny crustaceans live in shallow pools of water in places where water drips from formations. Another factor is the geographic location of the cave, in an area that was adjacent to the great glaciers of the Pleistocene Ice Age, leading to the evolution of a diverse fauna over the course of a time-line measured in millions of years. These 21 species include some that have been found only in Binkley Cave. Others are known only from caves within the drainage of our local Blue River, while some (like the eyeless cave crayfish) are found from caves in parts of in Indiana and Kentucky. Come and visit Indiana Caverns to see some of the 21 troglobites.