The DarkCideS database was initially conceptualised and developed by KCT, JAG, and ACH as part of the “Global Bat Cave Vulnerability and Conservation Mapping Initiative” in 2014, and later with the “Mapping Karst Biodiversity in Yunnan” and the “Southeast Asian Atlas of Biodiversity” projects. The initiative includes developing tools and methods (e.g., the Bat Cave Vulnerability Index20) and synthesis (e.g., the global bat cave vulnerability assessment17) to identify conservation priorities and important bat caves in the tropics. Since 2019, the initiative has expanded and potential collaborators and contributors were invited through scientific conferences (Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation 2018, International Bat Research Conference 2019), social media platforms, and personal correspondences. At present, the database has 36 collaborators from twenty countries on six continents with expertise and research interests in bat conservation. Four main datasets for all known cave-dwelling bats were built for the DarkCideS database version 1.0.