Hola friends! This here is an Olm, a fully-aquatic salamander endemic to underwater karsts in southern Slovenia. Karsts are caves full of soluble rocks. They are known for having many stalagmites and stalactites and sinkholes in them. They only live in those karsts, but sometimes they get washed up out of the caves. They used to get mistaken for baby cave-dragons!
Olms have tiny eyes like pinpoints. They are completely blind because there is no light in the cave where they live! They can sense light a little bit and swim away from it so that they do not end up washing out of the karsts. The little frills on their necks are actually gills! Most salamanders grow out of the fins-and-gills stage and look more like lizards when they grow up. Some salamanders to not do this, but stay in their baby stage forever, like Olms and Axolotls. Olms mainly eat little worms and water bugs. Olms are vulnerable and are very sensitive to pollution in the water. Pesticides and other waste get directly or indirectly into the caves where they live, causing them to get sick and die. Rainwater washes the pesticides into the earth and seeps into the clean water. Trash dropped near where they live can be washed or blown in, breaking down or getting eaten by the creatures. Well, that's all I have for today guys! I'll be back with more creatures my pen captured soon. Bye!
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I'm Iris. I'm one of those people who loves animals and believes that all animals should be treated humanely. Archives
February 2019
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