olm

noun

1. Proteus anguinus, a cave-dwelling neotenous salamander with external gills, found along the coast from northeastern Italy to Montenegro.

   “O is for Olm. The Olm has teeny-weeny legs. Its eyes are covered with skin and it can barely see. Olms live in caves where there is hardly any light.”

   “A fully grown olm is around 30 cm with a sinuous body and long tail. There are two pairs of stumpy legs and three pairs of feathery gills behind the head. In its natural environment, the olm is pink with semitranslucent skin.”

   “Also known as the proteus, the olm is a blind amphibian found only in the underwater caves of southern Europe, specifically parts of Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia.”

   “Olms have special sensors inside their ears that detect sound waves in the water as well as vibrations from the ground.”