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Good morning every here we are at another creature day and this weeks creature is the Olm, I know you are thinking what the hell is an Olm.
Well it is native to central and south-eastern Europe and is listed as vulnerable. Your best chance of seeing it is in Slovenia'a Postohna Cave, where underground cameras and TV monitors allow you to see it.
Centuries ago, when floods washed them from their caves people believed they were baby dragons.
There is nothing normal about this slippery salamander, it's blind and only found in underground rivers and caves. It swims like an eel and can go years without eating and lives for a 100 years.
It spends its whole life underwater and finds food using super-sensitive sensors in its snout.
The females lays eggs only once or twice in a lifetime, on the ceiling of a cave and can smell if the young inside it is growing or not, if not she eats it.
Sure looks like a relative of the axolotyl. I had a couple of axolotyls for years. They're cuter, I think, than the Olms but just as interesting. Axolotyls can even grow back legs. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting creature
DeleteDon't know why but made me think of the Oods on Dr Who...
ReplyDeleteMe either
DeleteOh my goodness - weird. It looks like they do not have any eyes to see out of.
ReplyDeleteIt is weird
DeleteWow, imagine going years without eating.
ReplyDeleteThat's hard to imagine
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