Olm
Olm
Amphibian
A blind, pale salamander that lives for decades in dark flooded caves and can go years without eating.
💡 Fun Facts
- This pale, cave-dwelling salamander can live for about 70 years, and perhaps even past 100.
- It can go around ten years without a single meal, slowly living off energy stored in its body.
- Born blind in the pitch-dark, it finds its prey using smell, taste, and the faint movements and signals in the water around it.
Name Story
Proteus anguinus
means “Proteus, the shape-shifting sea-god, that is 'snake-like'.”
What does its name mean?
- Proteus — the Greek sea-god who changed shape — for its elusive, eel-like formGreek mythology
- anguinus — snake-likeLatin anguis 'snake'
Proteus anguinus is named after Proteus, the shape-shifting sea-god of Greek myth, while anguinus means 'snake-like' — a nod to its pale, eel-like body slipping through flooded caves.