God designed olms to live in a very unique environment—underwater in caves. The more you find out about olms, the weirder they become! Want to become an olm expert? Here are some facts to get you started:

• Olms are troglobites, or creatures that have adjusted to life in a cave. They have adjusted so well, in fact, that they can’t survive outside a cave-like environment. Troglobites usually have very strong senses of hearing, touch, and smell. Often, skin has grown over their eyes. In a dark cave, their eyes don’t do much good anyway! Some kinds of spiders, fish, and beetles are troglobites too.

• Olms come in different colors. The ones living in cave water are white. The ones living on land are black or brown because their skin has been exposed to the sun. Unlike cave olms, black and brown olms have visible eyes.

• In some ways, olms never grow up. Imagine looking like a baby even when you’re 100 years old. That’s what life is like for white olms. In their baby (or larval) stage, these olms have three pink gills on each side of their heads. The gills look kind of like feathers. Instead of growing out of those gills, they keep them for their whole lives.

• Olms use electricity. Olms wiggle through water, hunting insects, crabs, and snails. But how can they see where they’re going with skin-covered eyes? God gave olms ears that hear well underwater. He also gave them the ability to sense electricity and magnetics. Olms use these extra senses to “see.”

• Olms can see when they’re born. Olms aren’t born blind. At first, they have working eyes. But as olms grow up, their eyes don’t develop because they aren’t needed.

• You can see through their skin. An olm’s skin is so clear you can see its organs through it!