Eshan Maitra
Slovenian scientists are excitedly celebrating as a new ‘dragon’ just hatched inside Postojna Cave in southwestern Slovenia, last week! Well, not fire-breathing drakes like in Game of Thrones. This beautiful aquatic creature is nicknamed Dragon because of their long and slender bodies. Kind of like Mythical Chinese Dragons but tiny, only13.5 inches long (like in Jackie Chan Adventure cartoon series), have four tiny limbs and a cutepink face. This aquatic amphibian salamander is called Olms.
Sadly, these are blind species and very rare to find. They rely of their heightened sense of smell, electrical and magnetic field as well. Moreover, the ultra-rarity of their eggs. Olms only lay eggs once or twice a decade, despite their 100-year lifespans.Cool fact, Olms can even last up to a decade without any food!
Scientists first discovered this great news of nature earlier this year. Olm researchers and specialist working on preserving their existence found 50 to 60 eggs in the cave. Finally,four months later only 22 viable eggs survived and the first batch has just hatched last week. This is actually a great surviving ratio. Since, only two out of 500 eggs usually hatch. Simultaneous decay can easily spread throughout the eggs.Also, these cute vulnerable pink creatures have little no self-defense strategy against vicious predators. No wonder, they are only found in caves. The hatching of the eggs is the biggest and most exciting news for the biologists across the world of this decade.
Thanks to immense care of the scientists been looking after the eggs. “We are now keeping a close eye on the eggs to see which one will be our next baby dragon. Will it – like the first one – shoot out of the egg and swim around the aquarium, before finally coming to rest at the bottom?”, says the team at Postojna Cave.
Everything being said, it is obvious that births of these baby dragons is extremely rare to capture. But the team reports, “Our first baby dragon managed to shoot into life in a single attempt. This is one of the reasons why the infrared camera footage is invaluable both for biologists and the general public; in fact, olm hatching has never been filmed before.” The team will also look out for them for 15 years, till they reach maturity. Quiet short time period comparing their century long life-time. This is an exclusive opportunity for science.