I recently came across a zoology blog on tetrapod zoology by Daren Naish describing several articles on biogeography and salamanders. A large portion of the post was given to the olm, Proteus anguinus. There are so many fascinating facts about this salamander but easily the most fascinating is that this salamander was originally thought to be the larvae of dragons. When viewing them I can see why. They are long bodied, gilled and have a dragon-like appearance.

The article also mentions a reference to a study done on the olm showing that the species may be not one single species but many distinct species that immigrated into the cave system and independently developed similar physical traits or morphology. (Sket, B. 1997. Distribution of Proteus (Amphibia: Urodela: Proteidae) and its possible explanation. Journal of Biogeography 24, 263-280.)

They are even looked at as a national treasure. Slovenia, one of the county's where this species occurs, has even issued currency featuring this salamander.