[imagesource:projectmecistops]

There’s something creepy crawling around the caves in Gabon.

Crocodiles may not have evolved much over the last few million years, remaining the intriguingly nightmarish reptiles they always were, but genetic researchers have now found something extraordinary in the Abanda cave systems in Gabon that is likely to add fuel to the nightmare fire: Orange-skinned dwarf crocodiles.

It’s unclear how long they’ve been down there, but research indicates the crocs are morphing into a new species. One that lives in complete darkness, feasts on bats, and swims in liquid guano (bat poop).

The cave-dwelling crocodiles were initially investigated in 2010, and a 2016 research comparing them to their forest-dwelling counterparts revealed several distinctions between the two. Their diets are vastly different, with cave crocs relying almost entirely on the abundance of insects and bats that cling to cave walls.

The cave crocodiles were in better overall condition than forest crocodiles, which researchers attribute to an availability of food and a lack of predators. It is believed the cave crocodiles lay their eggs at the mouth of the caves, then the juveniles venture into the darkness. Once they reach adulthood, it’s thought they barely leave the caves again.

According to study co-author Richard Oslisly, a researcher at France’s Institute of Research for Development, “The crocodiles in the caves of Abanda stand out as an isolated genetic group.”

“They’re in the process of becoming a new species.”

The unusual orange skin seen on adult crocodiles may be the result of their time swimming in bat guano, which is rich in urea, lead author Matthew Shirley, a conservation biologist from Florida International University, told National Geographic in 2018. Over time, this exposure appears to cause chemical bleaching of the crocodiles’ skin.

Genetic analysis of the crocodiles has suggested the orange cave crocodiles may be mutating, with DNA variants found in the cave crocs not present in the forest crocodiles.

Crocodiles are already a protected species in Gabon, known for their geological and biological diversity, but scientists want the Abanda site to become a “wholly protected sanctuary” and hope to develop the site for “scientific tourism.”

Tight spaces and mutated bat/crocodile hybrids that swim in poo sound like something we’d rather avoid, but still, glad to see crocs taking an evolutionary crawl after so many millennia.

[source:livescience]