The richness of the entrails of Puerto Rico

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Cited from endi.com When people think about caves, bats immediately come to mind, but they are not the only ones that inhabit those humid and dark spaces so common in Puerto Rico. "There are other animals that have adapted to live undreground and never leave. These are known as troglobites and they are usually blind, albino, thin, long and slow. But, don’t think that these are disabilities in these species. All the opposite; they are adaptations that these species have developed to be able to survive in a dark atmosphere and with few food sources." "The caves and caverns of Puerto Rico are rich in biodiversity: 86% have live organisms; 70% have bats; 43% have guavás; 41% have plants; 38% have crickets; 27% have cockroaches and crabs; 16% have fungi; 9% have toads; 8,3% have coquíes; and 5,6% have fresh water shrimps." "Besides serving as habitat to troglobites to him, bats - that constantly enter and leave the caves -,the Puerto Rican boa, that can measure up to six feet of length and million cockroaches, the caves aquifers are the second most water source of the Country." "In the North region, from Bayamón to Aguadilla, there is underground water in the caves, but it is necessary to be careful. There are aquifers that are contaminated, as it is the case of the aquifers in Vega Alta. These aquifers were contaminated with chemical wastes." "In Puerto Rico, in the Aguas Buenas cave system, there are drawings by the Taino Indians and from different periods of the 20th century. These caves have been the most visited in the Island in the last thousand years." "But interest in the mystical world of the caves and caverns seems not to wake up the curiosity of the new generations. People do not visit them like before. Now young people have other things to do, like video games and visiting the shopping center", said Ronald Richards, vice-president of the Speleological Society of Puerto Rico.