What Exactly is: Olm | The Iconic Baby Dragon

When it was first discovered, olm was thought to be baby dragons by the locals. That name sticks to this day for some people. Olms are also known as the human fish in some area. Olms are troglobites, to be precise, cave dwelling salamanders. They are adapted to cave lives, having reduced eyes and less pigmentation compared to most other salamanders.


Timestamps
0:00 Opening Thought
0:28 Taxonomy and General Information
2:02 Morphology
4:07 Lifestyle and Behaviour
7:30 Conservation and Cultural Relevance


References
Holtze, S., Lukač, M., Cizelj, I., Mutschmann, F., Szentiks, C. A., Jelić, D., Hermes, R., Göritz, F., Braude, S., & Hildebrandt, T. B. (2017). Monitoring health and reproductive status of olms (Proteus anguinus) by ultrasound. PloS one, 12(8), e0182209. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....

Bulog, B. (1994). Dve desetletji funkcionalno-morfoloških raziskav pri močerilu : (Proteus anguinus, Amphibia, Caudata). Acta Carsologica. 23: 248–263. https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:S...

Voituron, Y., de Fraipont, M., Issartel, J., Guillaume, O., & Clobert, J. (2011). Extreme lifespan of the human fish (Proteus anguinus): a challenge for ageing mechanisms. Biology letters, 7(1), 105–107. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0539

Manenti, R., Di Nicola, M. R., Zampieri, V., Grassi, G., Creanza, T., Mauri, E., Ficetola, G. F., & Barzaghi, B. (2024). Wandering outside of the Styx: Surface activity of an iconic subterranean vertebrate, the olm (Proteus anguinus). Ecology, 105(3), e4252. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4252

Miaud, C., Corti, C., Andreone, F., Aljančič, G., Arntzen, J., Crnobrnja-Isailović, J., Poboljšaj, K., Denoel, M., Guillaume, O., Edgar, P., Trontelj, P., Jelić, D. & Zakšek, V. (2024). Proteus anguinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T18377A227229041. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.20....


Outro
The Soundlings - Silent Night (Youtube Library)


Thumbnail Image
Arne Hodalič


Join the channel's membership:
   / @outofplacezoologist