Scientists eagerly await the rare hatching of "baby dragons" at the Postojna Cave in Slovenia. So far, experts say a female "dragon mom" has laid between 50 and 60 eggs. Despite their intimidating nickname, these "dragons" are actually ancient, blind salamanders, scientifically known as olms. Surprisingly, the creatures only lay eggs once every ten years, which makes this event a rare phenomenon to watch.
The Postojna Cave is a popular tourist site in Slovenia. Visitors are welcome to catch a glimpse of the female fiercely guarding her eggs inside the cave, but it will be about four months before the babies are born.
Since the eggs are only in their first stage of development, scientists are unsure how many will develop into young olms. However, those that successfully hatch can live for up to 100 years.
Over the next couple months, the embryos' development will largely be affected by water temperature. For instance, at a water temperature of 11 degrees Celsius, the process lasts for at least 120 days. In the cave's aquarium, however, the water is kept at 9 degrees Celsius, which lengthens the animals' development and postpones their birth.
Currently, olms are listed as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List Of Threatened Species. Unfortunately, the survival of the baby dragons inside Postojna Cave are threatened by neighboring creatures, including small crustaceans and cave amphipods, which see the olm eggs as a tasty snack.
Olms have existed on Earth for nearly 15 million years, but the birth of these creatures has only been witnessed in labs. Previously, olm eggs were found in the cave in 2013, but they were eaten before any could be born. This batch of olm eggs was first spotted by a tour guide in January.
While the olm mother has been successful at scaring away predators so far, biologists have set up a safe haven to better protect and monitor the eggs' development.
"This time, we've removed all the other olms to make sure [the eggs] don't get eaten again," biologist Sašo Weldt, who studies the amphibians at Postojna Cave, said in a statement. "We're hopeful for a successful birth."
A team of scientists has set up a live coverage from the Postojna Cave aquarium, so visitors can see track the progess of the olm eggs.
