wes_von_papineäu
Our Roving Correspondent
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2006
- Messages
- 494
- Reaction score
- 10
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Country
- Canada
- Display Name
- Wes von Papineäu
THE CHEIFTAIN (Pueblo, Colorado) 03 March 08 Salamander facts stranger than fiction (Tom Galusha)
Folk belief held that salamanders were not merely fireproof, but so coldblooded they could extinguish flames. Another tale claimed that the magical animals fell from the sky. The 16th-century Swiss physician Paracelsus' theory of elementals considered them spirits that lived in fire. The very name salamander means "fire animal."
Far more amazing than the myths are the facts about salamanders.
Actually, unable to tolerate heat, they hide in the daytime to avoid dehydration - sometimes in logs and fallen limbs. Crawling from firewood, salamanders seemingly emerge unscathed from the flames.
Hunting earthworms and insects during rainstorms, they sometimes appear in large numbers - as if they fell with the rain.
Amphibians, most salamanders spend part of their life in water - yet cannot drink. They take moisture through their smooth, porous skin. Some become so terrestrial they may drown while mating in trysting pools. Some are lungless.
Some are blind, never leaving underground streams and caves.
In the crested newt's mating display, the male sprouts a "nuptial crest" on its head and back that makes it resemble a small dragon.
When seized, Asiatic salamadrids' rib tips protrude through poison glands, "injecting" toxins into predators' mouths.
Many employ caudal autonomy: Their wriggling tails break off to distract predators while they escape to regenerate the appendages.
Female fire salamanders retain eggs inside their bodies; hatchlings may emerge as either larvae or fully formed juveniles. Some live in trees, depositing eggs in water-holding bromeliads.
Neotonic species achieve sexual maturity and reproduce while retaining many characteristics of their larval phase, never to leave the water. Some emerge for years as reproductively immature efts and return to the water as adult newts. (Newts are a suborder of salamanders, distinguished by enjoying this third life stage.) Axolotls may never metamorphose in nature, but in captivity metamorphosis can be artificially induced.
Responding to environmental conditions, tiger salamander larvae may fail to lose their feathery gills, remaining permanently in the water, or may metamorphose and emerge onto land. There they live near water, find refuge in plant debris, or in crayfish or mammal burrows. When it is too cold or dry, they remain deeply buried and inactive until conditions improve. At the Pueblo Zoo, conditions are always good for the pair sharing a vivarium with the White's tree frogs in the Education Building's Discovery Room.
Many ask how amphibians survived the extinction event that mighty dinosaurs failed to weather. Learning about these ancient animals' astounding strategies, abilities and adaptability, their survival seems less puzzling.
As amphibians face profound environmental changes, please support the Pueblo Zoo, the Amphibian Ark and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in their efforts to save these beautiful and important animals.
Just The Facts
Scientific name: Abystoma tigrinum
Common name: Tiger salamander
Habitat: Arid plains, damp meadows and mountain forest, from south-central Canada through the central U.S., including Colorado, to Mexico and Florida.
Description: One of the largest salamanders, tigers may grow more than 15 inches long. They are squat, flat-headed, with small, prominent eyes and a mouth fixed in a perpetual smile. Highly variable in color, they may be spotted or banded. Basic coloration is brown or olive-brown, with irregular blotches of light brown, gray, yellow or cream.
Differences between salamanders and lizards: True amphibians, salamanders lack lizards' protective scales; their smooth, permeable skins require a high humidity level. Most live at least part of their lives in fresh water; lizards do not. Lizards characteristically have five clawed toes on each limb; salamanders have no claws and never more than four toes on their front legs.
Reproduction and development: In early spring, once any ice has melted, they migrate to ponds, lakes, pools and reservoirs to breed. A female may lay up to 7,000 eggs in a single season. Larvae, which have feathery, external gills, large heads, long teeth and weak bodies, feed mainly on invertebrates - some become cannibalistic, growing larger mouths and extra teeth. Usually, they leave the water once they develop adult bodies; the gills are lost and they switch to breathing air via the lungs and skin. But, especially in the West, they may remain in larval form permanently, reproducing without taking up life on land. Even biologists have confused these neotonic individuals with axolotls, discovering the true species only after new young metamorphose into terrestrial animals.
Diet: Carnivorous, feeding on insects and small vertebrates. Prey are found through a combination of smell and vision. Rarely very active, energy requirements are low and they don't need to feed often. Abundant food enables the accumulation of fat deposits, which sustain them when it becomes too cold or too dry for them to feed.
Predators: Chiefly fish, which eat the larvae. Other threats include amphibians, turtles, snakes, birds, mammals and large invertebrates, as well as pollution and habitat loss.
Status: Locally common, but like all amphibians, care must be exercised to preserve the species. Some salamanders, including tigers, are sought as pets, for their beauty or rarity; others are used in biological research. Many are used as a human food source; some are taken as alleged aphrodisiacs; some fishermen use them as live bait. But the worst threats may be pollution, especially in the forms of acid rain and agricultural runoff.
How you can help: Go to the amphibianark.org Web site and sign a petition "to the politicians and parliaments of the world" asking them to take action to preserve our disappearing amphibians. At Amphibian Ark and AZA.org, you can find information on how to donate to the conservation efforts. If you would like to do more, contact Diane Barber at 817-759-7180 or by e-mail at dbarber@fortworthzoo.org. Join the Pueblo Zoo, and visit, and support its ongoing efforts in cooperation with the AZA and Amphibian Ark.
References: Pueblo Zoo notes; Pueblo Zoo docent newsletter (including information from www.emagazine.com, www.aza.org, www.amphibianark.org, www.caudata.org, and www.herpsofNC.org); Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians; Smithsonian Institution Animal; Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians; "Keeping and Breeding Amphibians”; MacMillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia; The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium; "Reptiles and Amphibians."
http://www.chieftain.com/life/1204525268/4
Folk belief held that salamanders were not merely fireproof, but so coldblooded they could extinguish flames. Another tale claimed that the magical animals fell from the sky. The 16th-century Swiss physician Paracelsus' theory of elementals considered them spirits that lived in fire. The very name salamander means "fire animal."
Far more amazing than the myths are the facts about salamanders.
Actually, unable to tolerate heat, they hide in the daytime to avoid dehydration - sometimes in logs and fallen limbs. Crawling from firewood, salamanders seemingly emerge unscathed from the flames.
Hunting earthworms and insects during rainstorms, they sometimes appear in large numbers - as if they fell with the rain.
Amphibians, most salamanders spend part of their life in water - yet cannot drink. They take moisture through their smooth, porous skin. Some become so terrestrial they may drown while mating in trysting pools. Some are lungless.
Some are blind, never leaving underground streams and caves.
In the crested newt's mating display, the male sprouts a "nuptial crest" on its head and back that makes it resemble a small dragon.
When seized, Asiatic salamadrids' rib tips protrude through poison glands, "injecting" toxins into predators' mouths.
Many employ caudal autonomy: Their wriggling tails break off to distract predators while they escape to regenerate the appendages.
Female fire salamanders retain eggs inside their bodies; hatchlings may emerge as either larvae or fully formed juveniles. Some live in trees, depositing eggs in water-holding bromeliads.
Neotonic species achieve sexual maturity and reproduce while retaining many characteristics of their larval phase, never to leave the water. Some emerge for years as reproductively immature efts and return to the water as adult newts. (Newts are a suborder of salamanders, distinguished by enjoying this third life stage.) Axolotls may never metamorphose in nature, but in captivity metamorphosis can be artificially induced.
Responding to environmental conditions, tiger salamander larvae may fail to lose their feathery gills, remaining permanently in the water, or may metamorphose and emerge onto land. There they live near water, find refuge in plant debris, or in crayfish or mammal burrows. When it is too cold or dry, they remain deeply buried and inactive until conditions improve. At the Pueblo Zoo, conditions are always good for the pair sharing a vivarium with the White's tree frogs in the Education Building's Discovery Room.
Many ask how amphibians survived the extinction event that mighty dinosaurs failed to weather. Learning about these ancient animals' astounding strategies, abilities and adaptability, their survival seems less puzzling.
As amphibians face profound environmental changes, please support the Pueblo Zoo, the Amphibian Ark and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in their efforts to save these beautiful and important animals.
Just The Facts
Scientific name: Abystoma tigrinum
Common name: Tiger salamander
Habitat: Arid plains, damp meadows and mountain forest, from south-central Canada through the central U.S., including Colorado, to Mexico and Florida.
Description: One of the largest salamanders, tigers may grow more than 15 inches long. They are squat, flat-headed, with small, prominent eyes and a mouth fixed in a perpetual smile. Highly variable in color, they may be spotted or banded. Basic coloration is brown or olive-brown, with irregular blotches of light brown, gray, yellow or cream.
Differences between salamanders and lizards: True amphibians, salamanders lack lizards' protective scales; their smooth, permeable skins require a high humidity level. Most live at least part of their lives in fresh water; lizards do not. Lizards characteristically have five clawed toes on each limb; salamanders have no claws and never more than four toes on their front legs.
Reproduction and development: In early spring, once any ice has melted, they migrate to ponds, lakes, pools and reservoirs to breed. A female may lay up to 7,000 eggs in a single season. Larvae, which have feathery, external gills, large heads, long teeth and weak bodies, feed mainly on invertebrates - some become cannibalistic, growing larger mouths and extra teeth. Usually, they leave the water once they develop adult bodies; the gills are lost and they switch to breathing air via the lungs and skin. But, especially in the West, they may remain in larval form permanently, reproducing without taking up life on land. Even biologists have confused these neotonic individuals with axolotls, discovering the true species only after new young metamorphose into terrestrial animals.
Diet: Carnivorous, feeding on insects and small vertebrates. Prey are found through a combination of smell and vision. Rarely very active, energy requirements are low and they don't need to feed often. Abundant food enables the accumulation of fat deposits, which sustain them when it becomes too cold or too dry for them to feed.
Predators: Chiefly fish, which eat the larvae. Other threats include amphibians, turtles, snakes, birds, mammals and large invertebrates, as well as pollution and habitat loss.
Status: Locally common, but like all amphibians, care must be exercised to preserve the species. Some salamanders, including tigers, are sought as pets, for their beauty or rarity; others are used in biological research. Many are used as a human food source; some are taken as alleged aphrodisiacs; some fishermen use them as live bait. But the worst threats may be pollution, especially in the forms of acid rain and agricultural runoff.
How you can help: Go to the amphibianark.org Web site and sign a petition "to the politicians and parliaments of the world" asking them to take action to preserve our disappearing amphibians. At Amphibian Ark and AZA.org, you can find information on how to donate to the conservation efforts. If you would like to do more, contact Diane Barber at 817-759-7180 or by e-mail at dbarber@fortworthzoo.org. Join the Pueblo Zoo, and visit, and support its ongoing efforts in cooperation with the AZA and Amphibian Ark.
References: Pueblo Zoo notes; Pueblo Zoo docent newsletter (including information from www.emagazine.com, www.aza.org, www.amphibianark.org, www.caudata.org, and www.herpsofNC.org); Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians; Smithsonian Institution Animal; Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians; "Keeping and Breeding Amphibians”; MacMillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia; The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium; "Reptiles and Amphibians."
http://www.chieftain.com/life/1204525268/4