Olm

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  olm \olm\ n.
     A European cave-dwelling aquatic salamander ({Proteus
     anguinus}) with permanent external gills.
  
     Syn: {Proteus anguinus}.
          [WordNet 1.5]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Proteus \Pro"te*us\, prop. n. [L., Gr. ?.]
     1. (Class. Myth.) A sea god in the service of Neptune who
        assumed different shapes at will. Hence, one who easily
        changes his appearance or principles.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.) A genus of aquatic eel-shaped amphibians of the
        family {Proteidae} of the order {Urodela}, found in caves
        in the karst regions near the Adriatic from Trieste to
        Montenegro (including Slovenia, Croatia, and Herzegovina);
        also called the {Olm}, {White Salamander}, and {Human
        fish}; it is a true troglobiont (cave animal). They have
        permanent external gills as well as lungs. The vestigial
        eyes are small and can only perceive light and dark; the
        legs are weak. Some were reported in Germany and France,
        apparently due to human intervention. It was known to
        Charles Darwin who wrote about cave animals in The Origin
        of Species, chapter 5.
        [1913 Webster + PJC]
  
              The unusual Olm ({Proteus anguinus}, aka Cave
              Salamander, although no relation to the
              {Hydromantes} spp) is the only European member of
              the {Proteidae} family, the rest occurring in
              America. This species was only discovered in 1875
              and even today is only known in about fifty caves in
              the limestone mountains of the region, plus one
              isolated location in Italy. Olms are characterised
              by an elongated body, white unpigmented skin, three
              pairs of external gills and vestigial, skin-covered
              eyes which can only perceive light and shadow. The
              Olm hunts aquatic crustaceans such as water fleas
              mainly by sensory organs in the skin. If washed out
              of their caves by heavy rainfall, olms will collect
              in deep pools, but they will not voluntarily leave
              the water. At the same time they have lungs and
              drown if they cannot surface at some point for air.
              The optimum water temperature for this species is
              5-10 C. Females normally give birth to two larvae,
              but curiously enough if the water is warm enough
              (about 15 deg C) they can lay up to 80 eggs instead.
              A lot is still undiscovered about the lives of these
              mysterious creatures.
        --http://www.nafcon.dircon.co.uk/euro_urodela.html
        [PJC]
  
     3. A changeable protozoan; an amoeba.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A genus of gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria, including
        some species pathogenic in man.
        [PJC] Prothalamion

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  olm
       n : European cave-dwelling aquatic salamander with permanent
           external gills [syn: {Proteus anguinus}]

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  OLM
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