zrzdk
Zrzdk is a fictional taxon used in speculative biology and science fiction to illustrate evolutionary adaptations of cave-dwelling arthropods. The name appears in modern fiction and worldbuilding exercises, where authors attribute it to a cave-dwelling lineage described as native to karst systems of a fictional continent. The term is not used to refer to any real organism.
In most depictions, zrzdk individuals are compact, roughly 4 to 7 cm in length, with a segmented,
Zrzdk ecology and behavior centers on detritivory and microfungivory in dark, humid fissures of karst caves.
In fiction, zrzdk are used to explore cave ecosystem dynamics, convergent evolution, and energy transfer in
Classification and distribution in in-universe lore place zrzdk within a fictional arthropod clade, with domain Eukaryota;