Windsor Great Cave

Windsor Great Cave
Map showing the location of Windsor Great Cave
Location Trelawny Parish, Jamaica
Coordinates 18°21′03″N 77°38′51″W / 18.3509614°N 77.6475263°WCoordinates: 18°21′03″N 77°38′51″W / 18.3509614°N 77.6475263°W[1]
Depth 80 metres (260 ft)[1]
Length 2,980 metres (9,780 ft)[1]
Entrances 4[1]
List of
entrances		 Main
Upper
Bamboo Bottom
Flood Rising[1]

Windsor Great Cave is a 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) long cave in Trelawny Parish on the north coast of Jamaica. The land external to the main entrance is owned by the WWF (UK).[2]

Natural history

The caves contain a major bat roost that hosts 12 or so species including Mormoops blainvillii, Pteronotus parnellii, Glossophaga soricina, Artibeus jamaicensis and Ariteus flavescens.[1] Bat guano has been harvested from the caves for many years and this continues.[1]

Invertebrates include springtails of the species Troglopedetes jamaicanus, fungal gnats, troglobitic spiders (Nesticidae), larval Neodytomyia farri and the invasive roach Periplaneta americana.[1]

Stygobites include cave-adapted crabs of the species Sesarma verleyi, but note that the misnamed Sesarma windsor is not found here.[1]

Palaeoclimatic records

In the main bat roost there is a mound of guano over two metres high, directly under a particularly good roosting-spot.[1] The deeper strata of this deposit may record the climate of the island for periods that could extend back for thousands of years.[1]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 Stewart, R S (2002–2005). "Windsor Cave Jamaica - Field Notes". Jamaican Caves Organisation. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  2. ↑ "Windsor Cave". Windsor Research Centre. Retrieved 2009-09-18.