A spider that lives on sulfur, in caves where sunlight never reaches

In caves laced with sulfur on the Greek-Albanian border, where life runs on chemistry instead of sunlight, scientists have described a spider new to science: Cataleptoneta sulfur, a tiny cave-dweller exquisitely tied to its dark, stable microhabitat. The ZooKeys description brings its genus to nine species worldwide. Finds like this argue that the Balkan cave systems — isolated worlds where each cavern can hold a unique lineage — deserve careful survey and protection before their residents are lost unnamed.

SDG 15 · Life on land