Globe > Europe > Slovenia > Postojna > Olm
Olm
The "dragon babies" of southeastern Europe
Category Fascinating Fauna
The olm (Proteus anguinus) is a species of blind amphibians endemic to the the deep underground caves of the Dinaric karst of southeastern Europe. The unusual appearance of the olm is the result of extensive adaptations to its habitat. Olms inhabit deep underground lakes and pools, where they spend their entire lives in almost complete darkness. As a result, the skin of these animals is devoid of pigment, making it resemble human flesh. The local name of the creature is "?ove?ja Ribica," which means "Human Fish".
The snake-like olm was mentioned by Charles Darwin in his seminal work On the Origin of Species as an example of the reduction of structure through disuse. The eyes of the olm are severely underdeveloped, an adaptation to its dark surrounding. Larval olms retain normal eyes for the first four months of life before the organs start to regress. By the time the species reaches its adult stage, the visual system has almost completely atrophied.
Olms retain many other neotic (juvenile) traits, common in other amphibian species--most notably a pair of well-developed gills-- into adulthood.
The strange appearance of these creatures has made them an object of human fascination for centuries. Although their deep-water habitat is generally inaccessible, flood waters occasionally carry olms to the surface. Medieval legend considered them baby dragons, as their serpentine bodies and gills corresponded well to the descriptions of these mythological reptiles, and their soft pale purple skin resembled that of a human newborn.
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- Hours Every day at 10.00, 12.00, 14.00, 16.00
- Website Postojnska Jama - official web site
- Address Postojnska Jama, Slovenia
- Cost About 20 euros
These creatures could be best observed in Postojnska Jama cave complex in Slovenia, a well developed tourist spot.
Comments
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Anonymous
May 16, 2010
Actually the local name is a bit hard to make out with all the question marks, probably because we use the letter č (a c with a little v on top, if it doesn't render) to represent the sound /tʃ/ - more or less the sound of ch in church, and another letter: š to represent the /ʃ/ sound - like sh in ship. So, transliterating to ch and sh, you would get chloveshka ribica ... pronounced in simple english something like chlo-vesh-ka ree-bee-tsa. Literally "little human fish" -
The caves themselves look pretty amazing in their own right.
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I'm not sure about current situation. I know that olms were the main attraction of Postojna some time ago. I have seen online reports and pictures from as recent as 2008, so maybe they have some sort of vivarium again.
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Anonymous
June 29, 2009
I thought you could no longer see these creatures at the Postojnska Jama because they removed the tanks after deciding it was cruel to the animals to subject them to flash photographs? Are the other places we can see the olm?
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