Salamanders, who are you?

By Joel Tye

Salamanders are short-bodied, four-legged moist-skinned amphibians that have a lizard-like appearance. Their skin is brightly colored, exhibiting various patterns of stripes, bars, spots, blotches, or dots.

There are about 500 species of salamanders and they are found in many parts of the world – North America, South America, Northern Africa, Asia and Europe. The common habitats of the salamanders are rivers, swamps, forests and caves. Most salamanders have a lifespan of about 10 to 20 years, but some species can live up to 55 years!

Salamanders range in sizes from the minute salamanders, with a total length of 2.7cm including the tail, to the Chinese Giant Salamander which can measure up to 1.8m and weighs 65kg. Most, however, are between 10 and 20cm in length.

Some salamander species have lungs, some have gills; still others have neither the gills nor the lungs, because they are able to breathe through their skin.

Salamanders have hind legs that grow more slowly than its front legs. Frogs and toads are the opposite: their hind legs grow more quickly than their front legs. Salamanders’ legs are so short that they literally drag their bellies on the ground.

All salamanders are carnivores, but they are seldom in a hurry to catch their meals. Because salamanders move more slowly than the other meat eaters, they tend to eat slow-moving, soft-bodied creatures, such as earthworms, snails and slugs. Larger species such as the Chinese Giant salamanders may eat crayfish, fish and small mammals such as mice and shrimps.

I think that salamanders are interesting and mysterious. The coolest fact about them is their ability to regenerate their body parts.

For example, when pursued by a predator, the salamander can drop off its tail. After the tail drops off, it can still wiggle around for a little while. This distracts the predator; meanwhile, the salamander would either run away or stay still enough, so as not to be noticed.

Many salamanders lay eggs, but not all. Depending on the species, they can lay up to 450 eggs at any one time. Spiny salamanders wrap their bodies around their eggs to guard them. Their eggs are jelly-like, much like frog eggs. In fact, baby salamanders look just like baby frogs; their eggs are aided in water and the young are born without legs.

Don’t you agree that salamanders are an interesting creation of God in the animal kingdom?