History of research on Proteus anguinus Laurenti 1768 in Slovenia / Zgodovina raziskovanja človeške ribice (Proteus anguinus Laurenti 1768) v Sloveniji

Abstract

History of research on Proteus anguinus Laurenti 1768 in SloveniaOlm or proteus (Proteus anguinus Laurenti 1768) was the first taxonomically described cave animal in the world, by J. N. Laurenti, 1768, upon a specimen that was apparently found on the famous lake Cerkniško jezero, Slovenia, yet the existence of this unusual animal in Slovenija had been known long before.The research on Proteus is one of the oldest Slovenian natural history projects, a 330 year spiritual bond: from the first description by one of pioneers of karst research J. V. Valvasor in 1689, to the renowned naturalists J. A. Scopoli, who was the first researcher to actually examine proteus from the Stična area in 1762. One of the central figures of the early proteus research was Ž. Zois, the first who studied proteus behaviour, and conducted earliest physiological and ecological observations, together with Viennese zoologist Karl von Schreibers. Zois's work was continued by two researchers of proteus distribution F. J. Hochenwart and H. Freyer, and other researchers of the 19 th and 20 th century.For the last 250 years, this mysterious animal has constantly raised scientific and public attention, and gradually became not only an important symbol of Slovenia's nature, but also a part of its cultural heritage. The zoologically extraordinary Proteus was also an important object in the history of international nature research, puzzling the minds of most prominent naturalists, from Linnaeus, Cuvier and Humboldt, to Lamarck and Darwin.This article also presents reproductions of the earliest illustrations of proteus: a collection of ten published and unpublished work between 1752 and 1849, a forgotten heritage of the first 100 years of proteus research. In Memoriam Žiga Zois (1747-1819).

Request for an Opinion: conservation of the illegitimate prokaryotic generic name Proteus Hauser 1885 (Approved Lists 1980)

“…According to Rule 51b(5) of the ICNP, names that were validly published and not treated as later homonyms prior to 1 January 2001 are not affected and therefore the homonymy between the amphibian Proteus Laurenti, 1768 and Proteus Hauser 1885 is acceptable in prokaryotic nomenclature [5,6]. In this way, although the amphibian Proteus is in current usage in zoological nomenclature [7][8][9][10], only the earlier homonymy of the protozoan Proteus Müller, 1786 should be factored into the potential illegitimacy of Proteus Hauser 1885 (Approved Lists 1980).…”

Longevity in Cave Animals

“…One of the most iconic cave species is the olm, Proteus anguinus, an aquatic salamander distributed in the Dinaric karst in the South-Eastern Europe (Sket, 1997;Gorički et al, 2017). Because it is extremely difficult to study Proteus in the wild (Buzzacott et al, 2009;Balázs et al, 2020), most of the available knowledge comes from captive observations (Juberthie et al, 1996;Ipsen and Knolle, 2017;Aljančič, 2019). This neotenic salamander has a slow development, becoming sexually mature after 14 years and reproducing every 12.5 for at least 50/60 years (Voituron et al, 2011;Ipsen and Knolle, 2017).…”

Razširjenost, evolucija in raznolikost populacij človeške ribice (Proteus anguinus)

“…Od njenega uradnega znanstvenega poimenovanja pred 251 leti (Laurenti, 1768) do danes so človeško ribico opazili na skoraj 300 nahajališčihponavadi v jamah in izvirih -vzdolž Dinarskega krasa med Sočo v Italiji in Trebišnjico v Hercegovini. Izčrpen pregled 250 let raziskav človeške ribice podaja Aljančič (2019).…”