Sunless 5.5-Million-Year Lab: Movile Cave Hosts 48 Chemosynthetic Species
In Movile Cave near Mangalia, Romania, an 18‑metre‑deep, sunless chamber sealed for about 5.5 million years hosts 48 species—33 endemic—fed by chemosynthetic bacteria oxidising hydrogen sulfide; the largely eyeless, pigmentless community shows life can thrive on chemical energy without sunlight and informs astrobiology about potential life on other sunless worlds.
