Biography:

Professor, Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, Ljubljana University, Slovenia. His and his research group's research field has been mainly the subterranean habitats, including their ecology, biogeography and biodiversity. Not limited to the underground are his interests in taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of some invertebrates (mainly crustaceans and leeches).

Boris Sket trained at the Ljubljana University where he has also served as a teacher (zoology, evolution, speleobiology) and researcher. He was the Dean of the Biotehniska fakulteta and than the Rector of Univerza v Ljubljani. He was also the President of the Caving Association of Slovenia and recently, the President of the International Society for Subterranean Biology and. He obtained some state awards for his scientific and organisational activity

Abstract:

Subterranean habitats as an arena of evolution speciation and adaptation The hidden biodiversity underground

As subterranean habitats are regarded voids (caves, fissures) in karstified rocks or in lava, as well as interstitial water in sand and gravel deposits. Their main characteristics are darkness, lack of food, stable climatic conditions. Lack of food causes strong selection for energy economisation, darkness makes possible some reductions (and demands some compensatory improvements), climatic stability alows for exagerrated slowness of all life processes. This makes most subterranean animals colorless and eyeless (with elongated appendages and multiplied chemo- and mechanoreceptors), strong K-strategists with low metabolism, exceedingly long-lived animals with a delayed maturation. Beside that, pedomorphies are common. Speciation is also remarkable underground, mainly doe to physically impeded movement in narrow voids. The endemicity of subterranean species is exceedingly high. However, speciation does not proportionally contribute to the morphological diversity of subterranean biota, groups of sibling (cryptic) species are common; there are evidently even cases of a secondary convergence of related species after their speciation outside caves and independent immigration underground. These facts will be illustrated by some cases from the globally richest subterranean fauna in the Dinaric karst, particularly from Slovenia. Darwin already knew the Dinaric cave salamander Proteus and his statements about structural reductions are still current.