Scientific classification: Salamanders make up the order Caudata in the class Amphibia. Newts and fire salamanders belong to the family Salamandridae.
Introduction
Salamander are shy and elusive animal that resembles a lizard but has smooth delicate skin instead of scales. Salamanders are amphibians, a group of moist-skinned animals that also includes frogs, toads, and wormlike creatures called caecilians, salamander facts. All amphibians are cold-blooded, or more correctly, ectotherms animals whose body temperature depends on their environment. Salamanders display a wide diversity of lifestyles. Some live all of their lives on land, whereas others live entirely in water, and still others live part of their lives on water and part on land.
Characteristics
Salamanders are the only amphibians that have long tails as adults. They use these tails, which are often as long as their bodies, for balance in walking and propulsion in swimming. Many salamanders can shed their tails if a predator threatens them. Once shed, salamander facts the tail reflexively flails about on the ground and distracts the would-be predator while the salamander slips away and later regenerates a new tail.
Like all amphibians, salamanders have delicate, permeable skin through which water and gases, such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, can enter and leave the body. Most adult salamanders have saclike lungs for breathing air and use their permeable skin only as a source of supplemental oxygen, salamander facts. Some species never develop lungs and instead obtain oxygen through gills or through their skin and the mucous membranes of their mouths and throats.
Description
Salamanders also have glands in the skin that secrete a thick layer of mucus. On land, this mucus prevents the skin from drying out, and in water, it helps maintain the correct balance of salt and water in salamanders’ body fluids. Other glands in salamander skin secrete toxic poisons. Salamanders equipped with poison-producing skin glands often display bright colors and conspicuous markings, possibly to warn predators that they are poisonous to the touch, salamander facts. Male salamanders commonly have skin glands that produce scent-emitting chemicals called pheromones that play a role in courtship and mating.
Most salamanders have well-developed eyes. They also have nasal sensory organs capable of detecting chemical changes in the environment. These nasal organs serve an important function in feeding, salamander facts courtship, and locating breeding sites. Their sense of hearing is poor, and salamanders rarely make noise, although some species are known to make faint squeaks or yelps when excited or disturbed.