Category: Amphibians
This enigmatic species is arguably the best known salamander species in Europe. It is black with varying proportions of bright yellow stripes and/or spots (and sometimes shades of red and orange). They can be very long lived – one specimen kept in a German natural history museum lived to be more than 50 years old! They prefer to live in deciduous forests, where they can hide in fallen leaves and lurk near mossy tree trunks.
Learn more about the Fire Salamander at Wikipedia and Reptiles Magazine.
Caecilians: The Limbless Enigma
Caecilians are amphibians with long, limbless bodies that resemble worms or snakes more than frogs or salamanders. Their name means “blind ones,” a reference to their tiny, skin-covered (or in some cases, non-existent) eyes - which probably don’t get much use, as they spend most their lives burrowing underground. Caecilians are unusual for amphibians in that 75% of them give birth to live young, oftentimes, fully formed. There are also a few species where the mother actually grows a layer of nutritious, fatty skin that is eaten off by her own young, which is analogous to breastfeeding in mammals.
Learn more >>
Discover Animals is a web-based educational resource offered by the NAIA
