Cave species as postglacial relicts

through geological periods, buffered from profound climatic modifications and thus, have retained a broad diversity of living relicts, the great majority of which being represented by terrestrial, troglobitic species, with a reduced mobility. The most widely accepted model for the evolution of terrestrial troglobites in temperate latitudes is the climatic-relict model, also called the relictual or Pleistocene-effect model. According to this model, genetic isolation and accelerated speciation was driven by geographic isolation of pre-adapted animal groups during glaciar-interglaciar periods in Pleistocene. The interruption of gene exchange between epigean and hypogean populations and the extinction of surface populations favored the speciation process of underground faunal groups. The authors mention the example of cave beetles (Leiodidae Cholevinae Leptodirini) as a model group for studies of past climatic changes as postglacial relicts. The species complex Speonomus delarouzeei colonizes the eastern part of the Pyrenees. Juberthie (1988) e.g., describes the scenario of speciation in this species complex during three glacial-interglacial episodes. Important contributions for clarifying the process of colonization and speciation in the underground environment by cave beetles come from ecological, ethological (Moldovan, 1997), geological data and, lately, from th