Antique engraved illustration of the olm or proteus. Vintage illustration of the olm. Old engraved picture of the proteus. The olm or proteus & x28;Proteus anguinus& x29; is an aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae, the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic, eating, sleeping, and breeding underwater. Living in caves found in the Dinaric Alps, it is endemic to the waters that flow underground through the extensive limestone bedrock of the karst of Central and Southeastern Europe in the basin of the So a River & x28;Italian: Isonzo& x29; near Trieste, Italy, southwestern Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Introduced populations are found near Vicenza, Italy, and Kranj, Slovenia.
|
