The Progeny of the Dragon

In the Postojna cave system (Karst, Slovenia) there exists a creature found nowhere else on the planet. It was once considered to be the offspring of the dragon and that the high tide brought them to the surface. In fact, that title was seriously argued for 300 years ago.

Its eyes and lungs are severely atrophied-it is blind and breathes through external gills. Its eyes are only visible in the foetal stages before skin grows over them. Its front legs have 3 toes and its rear legs have 2. Its skin contains no pigmentation, thus giving it the look of having human-skin. It resides in the calm, well-oxygenated and low-temperature waters of the caves (so it lives in the dark), and is submerged for its entire life.

By Arne Hodalič

It is the biggest cave-dwelling animal in the world, measuring at around 25-30cm long (10-12 inches); as well as being the only cave-dwelling vertebrate in Europe. It births both eggs and live young, and they shed very few of their juvenile characteristics as they grow older.

By Arne Hodalic

What makes them rather fascinating creatures, on top of all this, is their life span. It matures sexually at around 15.6 years old. It lays about 35 eggs every 12.5 years, and the average adult lifespan is 68.5 years old. It has been generally predicted that these creatures can live to be over 100 years old.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20659920

Some stories of dragons say they must live in the subterranean world for 1000 years, in the mountain for 1000 years, and in the forest for 1000 years before fully maturing into a dragon… it is a nice thought.

Biologists, however, have come to a different conclusion. This creature is called Človeška ribica (literally, human fish), Proteus anguinus or the white salamander. It was once thought to be a dragon, a lizard, a fish, but the general census has settled on salamander.

Okay, maybe it’s not a mythological creature, but you can’t argue with its awesomeness! It has been adopted as the symbol of the subterranean world by some spiritual locals, after all. I, for one, think it is adorable.