Species diversity of terrestrial vertebrates in Mighty Cave, Tagoloan, Lanao Del Norte, Philippines

Cave is a known habitat for a variety of vertebrates and out of 1500 caves in the Philippines, about 37% are found in Mindanao. The Mighty Cave in Tagoloan was found to have no available records on vertebrate diversity because no previous studies were conducted in the area. To determine the species composition of cave- dwelling vertebrates in Mighty Cave, Tagoloan, Lanao del Norte, field sampling was done in four sampling subsites using the modified cruising method. Five species of mammals, one species of birds, and two species of herpetofauna were documented. Two Philippine endemic species, Rhinolophus inops and Cyrtodactylus annulatus were present in the Deep Zone. Moderate diversity was observed. Major threat observed for the birds was nest gathering. The cave was observed to be disturbed as seen from vandalism and installation of lights and concrete pathways inside the cave. The presence of endemic species indicates the need to conserve the Mighty Cave in Tagoloan.