This animal breeds only once every 10 years and few people saw it.

There are very rare animals in the world, whichfew people manage to see live. The so-called European Proteus (Proteus anguinus) are very similar to long lizards, but are actually amphibian creatures. All their life they are in the larval stage and mainly live in the dark caves of Slovenia. They are amazing because they can live up to 100 years, but out of 500 eggs, only a couple of adults usually develop. Here is another reason for their extreme rarity - they reproduce only every 5-10 years. In January 2016, scientists managed to capture the birth of these creatures on camera and now they have grown. You can look at them now, but only by going into the cave in which they live. Only 30 people are allowed there daily.

Once upon a time, it was believed that this creature was a cub of a large dragon living in a deep dungeon.

A life that passes completely in the larval stage is called neoteny. Puberty in the larval stage is characteristic of some amphibians - for example, axolotl, which were mentioned in this article.

Rare animals

About unusual animals and their strict conditionsThe visit was told in the science publication ScienceAlert. Unusual animals were discovered in the system of caves of Postojnska-Yam, more than 20 thousand meters long. Four years ago, a pregnant female Proteus was discovered in its vicinity, which was about to lay eggs. Since these creatures are on the verge of extinction and very rarely reproduce, people provided her with the most comfortable conditions for childbirth. The main thing that they did was removed from it other proteas that could destroy the offspring.

Caves of Postojnska Yam are very popular with tourists

For more than two weeks, the female laid off 52eggs. Unfortunately, 29 of them turned out to be fertilized, but in all the others there were clear signs of development. 124 days after the laying of eggs, the first larvae began to appear. Subsequently, from all these eggs only three larvae hatched, but they successfully developed to a more or less adult state. Since recently, the Slovenian cave has been opened to visitors, but not everyone can look at tiny creatures. Every day, only 30 people are allowed into the cave, which may result in long lines.

Translated from German, Dragon olm can be translated as "dragon larva"

Also, these creatures are sometimes called“Human fish,” because their bodies are painted the color of human skin. But the skin-colored shell has some transparency and through it you can see the internal organs. Usually, individuals develop in dark caves, but if for some reason they were exposed to the light, their bodies take on a darker color. It is important to clarify that the larvae can develop exclusively in places with streams and lakes - they can not do without water. Proteus are not independently selected from caves, because for them it is a clear death. But sometimes they are washed out by the rivers and especially often this occurs during heavy rains.

This is interesting: What do lizards that have been seen only once in history look like?

Proteins feed on small crustacean creaturesand worms. They also rarely get out of water to land, only when it is very important for them to breathe air. They use the lungs for breathing, but air alone is not enough for them - water is also important. Therefore, if they somehow find themselves on land, they are quickly overtaken by death. These are such fragile creatures, whose safety must be constantly monitored.

Proteas are kept in special aquariums in caves.

In conclusion, we can say that Proteus are the most lazy animals on our planet. While everyone knows sloths (Folivora) move at least to eat and go totoilet, these creatures lead a predominantly motionless lifestyle. Scientists learned about this during the experiment - they caught 19 adult proteas, tagged their tails and released them into the wild. After eight years, they checked the location of the animals and found out that for all this time they moved only 10 meters. One individual, in general, sat in the same place for about seven years in a row.

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Since we are talking about the most lazy animal,I recommend you read the material about the fastest animals. In it, my colleague Lyubov Sokovikova walked over land animals, fish, birds and insects that are capable of developing very high speeds. It turned out a very detailed and informative article, which will be interesting to read to everyone!