Proteus
n . 海神,容易变形态之物,容易变身姿的人
海神,容易变形态之物,容易变身姿的人
Proteus n 1 : (
Greek mythology )
a prophetic god who served Poseidon ;
was capable of changing his shape at will 2 :
type genus of the Proteidae [
synonym : {
Proteus }, {
genus Proteus }]
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
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