What does a salamander eat? Fire salamander - an animal from legends

Family of true salamanders

Recently, tailed amphibians have been divided into several families. The first of them, true salamanders, includes most of the tailed reptiles, although not the most peculiar species. Salamanders are distinguished by the following characteristics: their body structure is similar to lizards, their body is slender, rarely clumsy, their head is large, wide, more or less flat, their muzzle is short and blunt. In adults, gills are never visible*; the eyes are relatively large, strongly convex, with well-developed, closing eyelids; the nostrils are small and located at the end of the muzzle; The ears are never noticeable from the outside.

* Among salamanders, species are now known that have neotenic larvae with gills (otherwise, their appearance almost corresponds to the adult organism).

The neck of salamanders is clearly separated from the head and a deep fold of skin is always noticeable near the throat; their body is elongated, spindle-shaped or cylindrical; two pairs of limbs are rather weak, the front ones always have 4, and the hind ones most often have 5 and only as an exception 4 fingers; the fingers are sometimes long, sometimes short, most often they are free, and less often they are connected by swimming membranes; Most species do not have claws; the tail, as a rule, is longer than the body, almost always compressed laterally and either rounded or lanceolate at the end; A round tail is less common. The mucous outer skin is covered with many glands and warts and is therefore soft and uneven; however, in many species the skin appears smooth to the naked eye. On the sides of the back of the head, a large accumulation of glands is often noticed, which are similar to the so-called ear glands of toads and bear the same name. There are teeth on both jaws, and in addition, small teeth are located on the posterior edge of the palatine bones, on the vomer, and on the parasphenoid bones, and their location is different: they either sit on the inner edge of two long, posteriorly diverging processes of the palatine bone and are therefore elongated in length, or occupy the rear edge of a straight or obliquely cut opener and in this case form transverse rows. The tongue is round or ovoid, in some species it is attached with the entire lower surface or a narrow middle strip to the bottom of the oral cavity and therefore is free only at the edges; in other species it is attached only in the middle by a stalk, therefore, it looks like a mushroom, its edges are free, and it is very mobile.
In the family of true salamanders, the palatine teeth are located in two posteriorly diverging longitudinal rows, which sit on the inner edge of the two long processes of the palatine bone; there are no teeth on the parasphenoid bone; the vertebrae have notches on the back side. Nowadays, 6 genera and 27 species of salamanders are known*, most of which live in the north of the Old World, as well as in North America, and in Asia they extend to tropical India and southern China.

* Now there are 57 species from 15 genera.

"The salamander is an animal that looks like a lizard and has spots that look like stars; it appears only during heavy rain, and in dry weather it is never visible. It is so cold that touching it, like ice, extinguishes a fire. Mucus, which looks like milk and flows out of her mouth, destroys hair on the human body; the place on the skin smeared with it loses its natural color and a stain remains there. Among all poisonous animals, the salamander is the most harmful. Other animals injure only individual people and do not kill many at a time, In addition, animals that wound a person always die and can no longer live on earth, while a salamander, on the contrary, can destroy an entire nation, unless people are careful. When it climbs a tree, it poisons all the fruits, and whoever eats them , - dies as if from severe cold; even if she touches the board on which the dough is kneaded with her paw, the bread baked from this dough is poisoned; if she falls into a well, the water becomes poisonous. However, some animals devour this poisonous creature , for example, pigs, and probably the meat of those animals that eat them, can serve as an antidote to the venom of salamanders. If what the magicians say were true, i.e. that this is the only animal that extinguishes fire, and that even some parts of its body serve as a good remedy against fires, then Rome would have long ago produced similar experience. Sextius says that if you gut a salamander, cut off its legs and head, and keep the rest in honey, then this food serves as an aphrodisiac, but he denies the assumption that the salamander extinguishes fire." This is what Pliny writes about the salamander, and to this day many believe in the justice of all of the above, and only a minority doubt the justice of these facts. The salamander was, and is still looked at, as a terrible and terrible animal. According to Roman laws, a person who gave part of a salamander’s body to another for food was considered a poisoner and was sentenced to death. At the end of the last century, one woman tried to poison her husband by mixing salamander meat with some food, and the husband did not feel any harm and ate the food offered with appetite. The French king Francis I chose a salamander among the fire with the inscription as his emblem : “Nutrio et extinguo” (I feed and extinguish).Medieval alchemists burned this unfortunate animal with various ridiculous ceremonies and hoped to get gold when, after a while, drops of mercury were poured onto the roasted and charred salamander; This experience was, however, considered very dangerous. During fires, the salamander was often thrown into the fire, hoping to extinguish it. Whoever dared to challenge such nonsense was answered with all kinds of rudeness and abuse. Schaeffer is angry at the reasonable doubts of some people and says: “Whoever considers these stories to be lies and fables proves that he has a short-sighted, stupid and liquid brain, and shows that he is little acquainted with the world and has not had relations with scientists and experienced people." It should not be surprising that fabulous stories about the salamander hold such a strong hold among the people: uneducated people have always had a desire to believe in supernatural forces and therefore they do not easily assimilate what has been proven by experience and reasonable research. In the following description we have collected information that is already known regarding the lifestyle, habits and poisonousness of the common salamander.
Fire or spotted salamander(Salamandra salamandra) may be considered a representative of the family and genus of the same name; it reaches 18-23 cm in length and the shiny black background is dotted with large irregular bright golden yellow spots, which form two more or less interrupted stripes, starting at the end of the muzzle and stretching along the sides of the body to the tip of the tail, and on the tail they merge in some places; In addition, separate spots are visible on the sides of the body. On the limbs there are spots on each individual part, namely on the shoulder, forearm and hand, as well as on the thigh, lower leg and foot; there are also always spots on the throat, but not always on the belly.

The characteristics of the salamander genus, according to Strauch and Boulanger, are as follows. The body is quite thick, the tail is almost round, conical, rounded at the end, without a leathery ridge and, like the body, more or less ringed, i.e. parallel folds running across the body are noticeable throughout the body. There are 4 free toes on the forelimbs and 5 on the hind limbs. The skin is covered with glands, the ear glands are large, clearly demarcated and with large openings; There are longitudinal rows of cutaneous glands along the back and sides of the body. The palatines form two rows of strongly curved "S"s that radiate at the back and together form a bell-like pattern. The anterior ends of the rows are separated from each other by a larger or smaller gap and more or less protrude in front of the anterior edge of the internal nasal openings. The large, almost ovoid tongue is attached to the bottom of the oral cavity in a rather wide strip, therefore, it is free only at the edges.
The distribution area of ​​the fire salamander extends, with the exception of Great Britain and Ireland, to the whole of western, central and southern Europe - from Portugal and Spain to Greece and Turkey; in addition, it is found in Algeria and Morocco, in northern Africa, as well as in Syria and Asia Minor. In the west and southwest there are two varieties of it, differing in size and color. Within this area of ​​distribution it is nowhere among the rare animals; in Germany, for example, the fire salamander is quite common, especially in areas convenient for it. She lives in damp, dark places, mountainous and hilly countries, in narrow valleys and dense forests and hides there under roots, stones and in the burrows of various animals *.

* Salamanders are extremely conservative in the use of their shelters and, having settled once under one tree, do not change their “home” for a number of years, leaving every night to hunt 10-30 m from it and always returning before dawn. Salamanders are able to hunt in the dark because their eyes are sensitive to low light.

During the day, she leaves her shelters only after rain, as she is a nocturnal animal. Dry heat or the action of the sun's rays robs her body of so much of the moisture it needs that she may die from it. If there is no rain for several days, then, despite the dew, the salamander’s body becomes thin and pitiful, while after the rains it becomes fat, smooth and shows all signs of health. Its movements are slow and clumsy, it crawls, twisting its body to the sides, and its swimming is also similar to walking, only the tail is the main organ of movement. Her abilities are insignificant, her external senses are poorly developed, and her understanding is insignificant. Although it is often found together with other animals of its species, it cannot be attributed to the desire for publicity, since the salamander does not care about others and, in case of hunger, the strong one will, without hesitation, eat the weaker one. Both sexes look for each other only during mating, but as soon as this matter is over, then all connection is lost, and they unite together only if they find a comfortable refuge in the same hole. Salamanders feed on slow-moving animals, mainly slugs, earthworms and beetles, and occasionally small vertebrates; sometimes a lot of food is eaten at once, but salamanders can also starve for several weeks or even months. They only eat animals that move.
We still do not have completely accurate information about the reproduction of this salamander. Mating was recently observed by Zeller and noted that it occurs like that of the crested newt. In this case, the male drags the female lying on his back from a dry place into the water. It was also noticed that the male deposits hard cone-shaped lumps containing seed into the water, and that the female then takes them into the anus. It is still strange that in other cases a female salamander, separated from a male for 6-7 months, gives birth to cubs, since it is difficult to imagine that the development of the embryos would continue for so long. Even stranger is that sometimes after the first litter, a second one appears without the participation of a male. To explain this phenomenon, it must be assumed that fertilization retains its force for a long time and that the seed also acts on those eggs that were not yet mature at all at the time of fertilization*.

* Only recently have the reproductive features of spotted salamanders been established in detail, which do not coincide with the assumptions of past researchers. Unlike most other tailed amphibians that lay eggs in water, salamanders swim poorly and can even drown; therefore, the male conducts mating displays on land. First, he tightly hugs the female with his forelimbs by the neck or front of the body and rubs his throat against her nostrils, after which he lets go. Such stimulation induces the female, raising her body, to let the male pass from below. He again embraces the female and wriggles under her, depositing a spermatophore on the ground, which she captures with the cloaca, pressing her belly to the soil after the male leaves her. Moreover, the female is able to store sperm in specific tubular recesses of the cloaca (spermatheca) for more than two years and use them as needed during the passage of the egg through the oviduct for fertilization.
It has been established experimentally that in the spotted salamander, the embryo in some cases receives food and water from the mother’s body, and also carries out gas exchange with her help. However, the embryo can use another, extremely specific, source of nutrition - unfertilized eggs or smaller embryos in the female's body. This phenomenon is called intramoral cannibalism (from French cannihale and Spanish canibal - cannibal) or siblicide (from English, sib relatives, relative and Greek lysis - decay, dissolution), i.e. "Twin Murders" Another curious feature of the spotted salamander is the ability of the female to retain eggs in the posterior part of the oviduct (the “uterus”) for some time, as a result of which already formed larvae or even completely metamorphosed individuals are born. When larvae with gills are born, the female immerses the back of her body in the water and, with wave-like muscle contractions, pushes them out into the external environment.

Land salamanders give birth to live young; Only in the cages did they notice that they were laying eggs, from which, however, tadpoles very soon hatched. This is a terrestrial animal that can be found in the water only at the time when the young need to be laid in the water, therefore in April or sometimes in May. The number of tadpoles from one litter is significant: up to 50 of them were found inside the female’s body. One female who lived with Noll sat down in the aquarium on a protruding stone so that the back part of her body was in the water and the front part was in the air, and in this position she began to lay eggs at night, continuing this activity until next day; 42 eggs were laid. Typically, salamanders lay only 8, 16, 24, and less often 30-42 at a time or soon after one another in an interval of two to five days, and the eggs are almost the same size and the same degree of development; as an exception, however, it happens, perhaps only in those animals that live in captivity, that females give birth to live young and lay eggs at the same time. A similar phenomenon was observed by Erber, and what was surprising was that the number of eggs laid was exactly equal to the number of cubs, there were 34 of them. Large eggs are laid one at a time and are so transparent that fairly developed young are clearly visible in them; Before birth, the eggs are each located separately in dilated oviducts, and they are pressed against one another, and the tadpoles in the egg are so curled that the tip of the tail is near the head. After the laid egg has become somewhat swollen due to the absorption of water, the tadpole breaks the shell with the movement of its tail and is born with four limbs; it is capable of moving in water with the same agility as the highly developed tadpoles of frogs. Females most willingly give birth to cubs in cold spring water, as if knowing in advance that the full development of their offspring requires 4-5 months and, therefore, they cannot be placed in water, which dries up in the summer. The birth of cubs always occurs in underwater depressions very close to flowing water, which is necessary for the cubs to be born, as confirmed by Fischer-Sigwart’s own observations. Newborns the young are 25-26 mm long and do not reach more than 55 mm as tadpoles. If there is no water at all in the location of the female salamander, then, according to many observers, she gives birth to her young in damp moss. The tadpole has a grayish-black color with a more or less greenish tint; the upper part of the body has a metallic sheen due to many small golden spots, which greatly adorn the animal; a golden sheen subsequently appears on both the sides and the belly. Little by little, large yellow spots appear between these golden spots, the skin loses its luster, becomes less smooth and warty; then the tadpole tries to crawl out to the ground, although its gills are still partially preserved. You can often find tadpoles in the water as early as October, but usually the gills disappear already in August or early September, and the animals can then settle in the places where their parents live; They acquired a color similar to that of adults while still in the water. Fully developed animals, like frogs, appear smaller in stature than tadpoles in the last stages of their development. It is difficult to determine how long the growth of young salamanders continues; They are not found very often and therefore it is assumed that for the first two years of their life they live in very hidden places. Growing them in an aquarium is very difficult. According to Fischer-Siegwart, fully grown animals are about 20 cm long and at least 4 years old. Salamanders born in captivity, probably due to the great warmth, transform faster than in the wild, and can crawl onto land within three weeks. For hibernation, according to the observations of Fischer-Siegwart, salamanders choose relatively dry rock cracks, overgrown with moss, protected from the cold; however, they are quite easy to wake up. Young animals, not yet capable of reproduction, according to Leydig, leave their winter shelters in good weather at the beginning of April, and a week later the old ones appear.
The caustic juice secreted by the cutaneous glands protects salamanders from many enemies, for whom it is unpleasant and even dangerous. If you grab a salamander by the neck and crush it, juice will splash out from the glands, but the animal can release juice of its own free will and, in case of danger, does this constantly in order to protect itself from enemies. The power of this poison was greatly exaggerated; even Oken dared to claim that children who drank water from the well where the salamanders lived died. Numerous experiments have only proven that this juice burns very strongly when it gets on the mucous membrane, therefore, it produces inflammation, from which small, weak birds, as well as reptiles and reptiles, can die. The fish that lived in Richter's aquarium died from poison released by a salamander that died in the water. Laurenti forced the lizards to bite the salamander; This caused them to have convulsions and they died; on the contrary, dogs, turkeys and chickens, which were fed salamanders cut into pieces, digested this food without harm to themselves, however, the dogs sometimes vomited from it. Abini studied the venom of salamanders in detail and reports the following about it.
“If you overcome,” he says, “the unpleasant feeling that appears in almost every person when looking at these reptiles, dumb and bug-eyed creatures, and carefully place them in the palm of your hand, then they usually sit quite quietly and the warmth of the hand, apparently, helps them even pleasant. If you grab them with fear, trembling hands, so that you involuntarily squeeze them in places, then they splash a few drops of their white juice, which dries quite quickly, and you feel a pleasant musky smell, similar to the smell emitted by a large musk beetle. If If you want to tie a salamander to a board, it defends itself with all its might and at the same time sprays its cutaneous juice at a distance of up to one foot, from which a few drops remain on the pores of the skin. Since I was convinced that the emptying of the cutaneous glands occurs from voluntary muscle movements, I I tried to obtain a large amount of this juice using electricity.To do this, I thoroughly washed several animals, put them in a clean glass vessel covered with a glass plate, passed electromagnet wires through the hole of this plate and was able to expose the animals to electric current. Thus, I got a certain amount of this juice on the walls of the vessel and on the lid."
The juice collected in this way was examined and turned out to be poisonous both when injected into the blood and when it enters the stomach*.

* For humans, the venom of the spotted salamander is not very dangerous, but in many predatory animals it does cause serious poisoning. The average lethal dose at which half of laboratory animals die is considered to be 1.2 mg per 1 kg of victim weight. A fast lizard that bites a salamander in the area of ​​concentration of poisonous glands (parotids) dies literally after 30 seconds, and a viper - after four minutes. Therefore, the fire salamander probably has very few enemies in nature. It can only be eaten by snakes, some large birds and mammals (for example, wild boars). The venom of the spotted salamander has such strong antifungal and antibacterial activity that, according to some data, it destroys even such pathogenic microorganisms as Vibrio cholerae, anthrax bacillus and Staphylococcus aureus. It is even suggested that the original purpose of the appearance and use of venom by the salamander is not related to protection from predators, but to the need to keep moist skin healthy.

Abini even noted that this poison acts faster and stronger if it is put into the mouths of birds and frogs than if it is injected into the blood vessels. But animals that ate the meat of creatures poisoned by this poison remained healthy. However, during these experiments, the part of the body into which the poison was injected was removed, as well as the stomach and esophagus. From his experiments, Abini concludes the following: this poison produces local irritation, which is proven by the redness of the mucous membrane of the mouth and tongue of frogs that have had the poison itself or its solution in water poured into their mouths, as well as by the fact that birds that have received this poison shake their heads violently and open their beak. When taking large doses, the birds soon die, and before that they have convulsions, accompanied by severe pain and fearful excitement; breathing and heart rate increase. A poisoned bird can fly, but cannot stand upright; the legs and fingers are convulsively clenched, the bird lies on its side and begins to quickly spin around. Immediately after taking the poison, the bird screams loudly in pain; death sometimes occurs within a minute, but the heart continues to beat after that, and when it stops, it can be made to beat again through strong irritation; in this case, the muscles of voluntary and involuntary movement contract. With an insignificant dose of poison and its slower action, as is usually the case in frogs, blood circulation and respiration first increase, then numbness of the limbs occurs, and then convulsions begin, which at first do not last long, and subsequently become continuous and are noticeable for several days, until blood circulation and breathing gradually weaken and death finally occurs. Poisoned frogs noticeably change the color of their skin, which becomes lighter and appears thinner, and evaporation from it increases significantly. The mucus sediment, exposed first to pure water and then to alcohol, did not show any more toxic properties. The alcohol solution condensed by evaporation was much more poisonous than the aqueous one; In the alcohol solution, floating needles formed every other day, which, upon evaporation, were combined into brushes. These needles turned out to be very poisonous; they are easily soluble in alcohol, ether and water, and alkalis do not affect them; the aqueous solution gave an acidic reaction. The action of the condensed poison is very fast, and the person immediately vomits.
With good care, a salamander can live in captivity for several years. Peterman had a salamander for 18 years on a tuff rock in the middle of an aquarium; she came up to me every evening famous place to get an earthworm or mealworm if you first tap your finger on a stone. The salamander should be kept indoors, where there is a small pond and many holes for it to hide. It can be fed with mealworms, earthworms, insects and slugs; it also eats small salamanders. It is remarkable that this apparently insensitive animal quickly dies from the action of certain substances, for example, table salt has an extremely harmful effect on it.
In the Alps, the common salamander is replaced by a related species alpine salamander(Salamandra atra), which is very similar to the above, but somewhat slimmer and glossy black without spots; it is somewhat smaller than usual and rarely exceeds 11-13 cm.
Its area of ​​distribution extends to the Alps of Savoy, Switzerland, Tyrol, Salzburg and upper Austria, Styria and Carinthia, as well as to the mountainous countries of Württemberg and Bavaria, which touch the Alps. It lives at an altitude of 700-2850 m in large numbers, for example, according to Grädler, in Tyrol in damp forests and gorges through which streams flow. It is almost always found in societies of several dozen individuals under stones, moss, rhododendron bushes and dead wood, much like the common salamander.


It is also a lazy, slow and sleepy creature, emerging from its burrows only in wet weather and dying when severe drought sets in. Due to her immobility, the Tyroleans gave her the nickname "Tatter-mann" or "tatter-mandl", which means "dead man", or, in the local sense of the word, "scarecrow". The Alpine salamander, according to Schreiber, differs in its method of reproduction from the common salamander. She will also give birth to live cubs, but not more than two at a time. Although in the ovary of the uterus the eggs are quite large and voluminous and from 30 to 40 eggs pass into the oviducts, like in an ordinary salamander, only one embryo develops in each oviduct at the expense of all the others: all eggs merge into one common yolk, which surrounds the embryo until until it breaks the egg shell and begins to move freely. In each oviduct, about 15 unfertilized eggs remain, which merge into a common viscous mass, which serves as the first food for the embryo. The baby is born when all this mass is destroyed. The embryo here fully develops, reaches a size of 45-50 mm and fills the posterior end of the straight oviduct, which is 35 mm long and 1 cm wide; it lies there with its tail pressed to its body and often double-curved, moves vigorously, often turns in a circle and is born either head-first or tail-first. The gills, which are similar to the gills of the common salamander, but much larger, reach almost half the length of the body, so that the posterior branch of their tip reaches the hind limbs; however, these gills disappear even before birth and in newly born babies they look like small processes or nodules; Thus, if this salamander is to be seen in the tadpole state, then it must be removed from the mother's body. To do this, the female is killed by putting her in alcohol, which has such little effect on the cubs that, taken out of the mother’s body, they live for several weeks. This amazing vitality proves that the cubs can live without water, and indeed the female lays her cubs, even if in captivity she is given a room with water, always in a dry place. Thus, it turns out that the method of reproduction of the alpine salamander is very unique and is not found in other animals of this order.
The development of eggs takes the same amount of time as in an ordinary salamander, but the time from fertilization to the birth of the baby is much longer, since the tadpoles remain for a very long time in the mother’s body. Females with highly developed young are rarely found before August, but fertilization occurs very late due to the cold climate of this salamander’s habitat; So, not only the lack of water, but also the climate affects the peculiar way of development of the cubs.
Most often, both cubs of one female are of the same size and will be born almost simultaneously, but as an exception, it happens that one of them is born a few days after the other. This apparently happens because the initially fertilized egg dies and another one develops in its place. It often happens that in one oviduct one finds 2 or 3 equally developed eggs, while the rest are more or less crumpled, disfigured and fused together. It follows from this that all eggs of one litter are simultaneously fertilized in the ovaries or in the oviducts, although only two of them fully develop. The method of fertilization has not yet been fully explained, because both the Alpine salamander and the fire salamander have not yet discovered the external male genitalia; fertilization, however, must take place inside the female's body, and therefore the seed must somehow penetrate there. However, it has been observed that before mating, the male crawls under the female and firmly grasps the female’s forelimbs with his front legs. Having thus embraced on the ground, both animals drag themselves into the water and remain there for several hours, resting and swimming, until the mating finally ends. Molting, according to Spengel's observations, occurs in such a way that the old skin is removed by the movement of the subcutaneous muscles up to the upper third of the tail; therefore, this salamander does not need to rub against foreign objects to do this; the skin of the back of the tail is grabbed by the mouth, pulled off and eaten by the animal itself. In all other respects, this salamander is quite similar to an ordinary one.
Tritons(Triturm) are distinguished by an elongated body, four-toed front and five-toed hind legs, a highly compressed laterally, a high tail, as well as a dorsal crest, which in males is strongly developed in the spring, during mating. The arch running from the orbital process of the frontal bone to the squamosal part of the temporal bone in all newts, except the crested one, has a bone and tendon structure. The palatal teeth form two straight lines, very close in front and diverging far behind; the anterior part of these rows reaches a transverse line running along the posterior edge of the internal nasal openings. The tongue is not very large, round or ovoid, and is attached to the lower skin of the oral cavity with a longitudinal strip running in the middle of the lower surface of the tongue; its lateral and posterior edges are more or less free. If we give this genus a broader meaning, which is now accepted by almost all naturalists, then it should be noted that the tail of newts in exceptional cases can be thick, even almost completely round, but it is always noticeable at the top and bottom of the ridge; in addition, the body of some species is sometimes covered with transverse folds, which give the animal an almost ring-shaped structure. The outer cover of newts is not always smooth, and can sometimes be granular and warty. The sexes are easily distinguished by the shape of the cloaca, the outer parts of which in the male are spherically swollen, and in the females they have the shape of a cone, i.e. present a structure exactly the opposite of what one might expect. Fertilization in newts does not occur through copulation, but, according to Zeller’s very thorough research, in a different way, it is the male who deposits gelatinous seed lumps in the water in the form of bells, pyramids or circles; females look for these lumps, separate a seed shaped like a point from the gelatinous mass, and stick this point into the opening of the cloaca. The seed bodies then pass into the interior of the cloaca and reach the tubes of the seed sac, in which they are stored until the need for their activity arises. The movements preceding this method of fertilization are sometimes very similar to copulation and vary from person to person. different types tritons. The 21 known species of newt live in Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, northeastern China, eastern Asia and North America*; In Germany there are four species of them. As an exception, all four of these species can be found in one pool, as observed by Kerner near Königstein in Taunus**.

* Currently there are 12 species of the genus Triturus.

* * The genus Triturus is divided into two phylogenetic groups. which are taxonomically given the level of subgenera: Triturus (this includes, for example, the crested and Asia Minor newts) and Palaeotriton (including the common, Carpathian, and filamentous newts). The Alpine newt is either classified as Palaeotriton. or separated into a separate subgenus.

Crested newt(Triturus cristataus) reaches a length of 13-15 cm and is distinguished by the complete absence of a bone or tendon temporal arch on the skull, a serrated dorsal crest and the color of the abdomen. The main color of the back, sides, tail and upper limbs is dark brown with large scattered black spots, and on the sides they are mixed with white spots, often merging with each other. The lower part of the body, starting from the throat, is bright yellow with black spots of varying sizes. The iris of the eye is golden yellow.
In nuptial attire, the crested newt changes greatly. On the upper part of the body and on the tail of the male, there is a tall, highly serrated leathery crest, which begins on the head between the eyes and continues to the end of the tail, but has a deep notch at the base of the tail*.

* Due to the ridges and folds of the skin, the volume of skin respiration in newts is greater than pulmonary respiration.

In addition, the yellow color of the lower part of the body turns into bright orange, and a whitish-blue, as if pearlescent, stripe appears on the sides of the tail; on the head we then notice a very beautiful black and white marble pattern. The female, even in her breeding attire, does not have a crest, but instead a yellow dorsal stripe is often seen, and the yellow color of the abdomen turns into sulfur-yellow and extends without any spots from the base of the tail to its tip. Black rings appear on yellow fingers.
The crested newt's distribution area extends through England, northern and central France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Greece, Turkey and Asia Minor, as well as through Russia. There are four known varieties of this newt, which are found exclusively in the south and east of Europe** and in western Asia.

* * Now they are given the rank of independent species.

Alpine newt(Triturus alpestris) is noticeably smaller than the previous one: its length is 8-9, and females are 9-11 cm. Its temporal arches consist of tendons, the dorsal crest is low, not jagged, the abdomen is without dark spots. The main color of the back is brown or slate gray with dark brown jagged spots, which on the sides of the head, body and tail and on the upper sides of the limbs turn into round black spots on a white field. Black rings are also visible on the fingers. The underside of the body is orange-red and, except for the throat, without any spots. The iris is golden yellow with black spots.
In breeding attire, the male has a low, non-toothed crest on his back, starting behind the head and gradually turning into the fin of the tail; This crest has a whitish-yellow color with transverse, short black stripes, between which short dark triangular spots often appear, with the base facing downwards. The slate-gray color turns bluish on the back, and light blue near the belly; black lateral spots are surrounded by white edges and sometimes merge into stripes. The orange color of the abdomen becomes fiery red; the upper and lower caudal fins become pale yellow with dark spots, and a series of bluish-white spots appear on the sides of the tail. Even at this time, the female usually does not have a crest or it is only marked. The color of her back turns into light or dark gray, even brown or blackish, and is dotted with dark dots everywhere. Large blackish jagged and in places merging spots are more numerous than those of the male and more prominent; black rows of spots on the sides of the body directly border the orange-yellow color of the abdomen, often located in a light bluish belt or at least surrounded by whitish dots; the red-yellow color of the abdomen extends along the underside of the tail to its tip, only a few round black spots are noticeable on the underside of the tail.
The Alpine newt is found in northern and central France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, where it can be found everywhere except the North German Lowland; he also lives in Switzerland, Italy, Austria-Hungary and northern Greece*. In the mountains of the canton of Waadt it rises to 800 m, in northern Italy - up to 2000 m, and in Grisons - up to 2190 m.

* Recently, a decline in the number of alpine newts has been noted due to pollution, drying out and destruction of spawning sites and harsh winters. It was included in the Red Books of the USSR, Ukraine and in Appendix III of the 1979 Berne Convention for the Protection of European Species of Wild Fauna and Their Habitats.

Common newt(Tritirus vulgaris) reaches 7.5-8.5 cm in length and is distinguished by its temporal arch, consisting only of a tendon, the ridge on the back is jagged, males have toes on the hind legs trimmed with lobes, the abdomen is spotted, two irregular rows of depressed ones are noticeable on the head glandular pits, the tail is pointed at the end. On top, this newt is olive-green or brown in color, turning on the sides into a delicate, slightly silvery yellowish- White color, the underside of the body is orange-yellow. Dark spots are noticeable all over the body.
In the male's nuptial attire, the tail becomes higher and a crest appears, starting at the back of the head and spreading around the tail; near the anus it does not decrease, but, on the contrary, is especially strongly developed; a rim appears on the toes of the hind legs. The upper part of the body is olive green and the belly bright orange, this orange stripe continuing on the underside of the tail. Large round dark spots are located on the body and tail in longitudinal rows and on the upper and side parts of the head merge into 5 longitudinal stripes; above the yellow stripe of the tail, a bluish pearlescent shiny stripe appears, interrupted by transverse dark spots. At this time, the female does not have a crest, the fin on the tail at the top and bottom has a small width, and there is no edging on the toes of the hind legs. Her back is light olive-green or brown, the yellowish-white color on the sides of the abdomen has a faint golden tint, the orange color in the middle of the abdomen is not as bright as that of the male; dark spots are small, but there are more of them, and they are closer together; These spots merge into narrow jagged longitudinal stripes not only on the head, but also on the sides of the belly and tail.


The common newt represents the most normal look in Germany; it is found throughout Europe except southern France, Spain and Portugal, and also lives in Asia Minor as far as Armenia. A species of this newt, similar in many respects to the filamentous newt, is found in northern Italy, the northeastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and Greece.
Threaded or membranous newt(Triturus helveticus) is equal in height to the common newt and is 7-8 cm long. Its body is thin and slender, and it differs from all other European newts in its bony temporal arch; its dorsal crest is very low, the toes on the male’s hind legs are connected by membranes, the throat is not brightly colored, and two ribs are visible on the sides of the spinal ridge, so that the section of the body turns out to be quadrangular. A thread of varying lengths is attached to the blunt end of the tail, which is directed backwards. The upper part of the body is olive-brown with a yellowish tint with dark spots, and on the head with the same stripes; Sometimes a faint golden tint is noticed on the back. The underparts are dull orange-yellow with a few yellow spots.
Instead of a crest, a male in breeding clothing has a low border on his back, which forms a fin on the upper part of the tail; the toes on the hind legs are connected by a complete web; the main color of the head, back to the lateral border and the upper fin on the tail turns into an olive-brown color, the sides of the head, body and tail become metallic yellow, and the lower half of the body on the sides is shiny white; There is an orange-yellow stripe running through the middle of the abdomen. A beautiful marble pattern of black spots appears on the head, the limbs have a similar pattern or are completely black. There are many irregular and irregularly located dark spots on the back and sides. The throat is colorless, the abdomen has only a few black spots, and the tail spots are arranged in two stripes, between which a bluish shiny longitudinal stripe is noticeable. In the spring, the female has a low tail, the membranes between the toes on the hind legs are undeveloped and the coloring is more uniform, since the dark color further spreads to the sides and small spots are not so noticeable. The underside of the body is brighter colored than that of the male, and the orange color of the abdomen extends to the tail up to the last third of it.
The membranous newt lives in northern Spain, France, England, Belgium, Holland, western Germany and Switzerland. France should be considered the central part of its distribution area.


In their habits and way of life, these newts differ so little from each other that we can be content with describing one of them. I will mainly refer to the crested newt and will supplement the description with some observations relating to the lifestyle of other German species.
Newts are usually considered aquatic animals, and this is partly true, since during mating they always live in the water, sometimes they spend several months there, and in other cases they do not leave the water at all. However, it should be borne in mind that they usually spend some time on land, and individual species They even spend all their time there, except for the time necessary for reproduction. During mating and laying eggs, they prefer clean water surrounded by bushes, as there they find abundant food; They only avoid fast-flowing rivers and streams. The membranous newt loves cold mountain springs and the swamps surrounding them. On land it moves clumsily and awkwardly, but in water it swims very quickly, mainly due to its wide tail; they often rise vertically to the surface of the water to take in air and, having descended, release several bubbles to the surface; they descend down, wriggling like a snake, and run along the bottom, guarding or hunting for prey. In the summer they come out of the water and hide under the roots of trees and in earthen holes, and later, in the fall, they gather in whole societies in winter shelters; however, those who have found a pond for themselves, into which many springs flow, often remain in it during the cold season. According to Leydig's observations, newts can live for a very long time without water. “I met them,” says this observer, “at a distance of several hours’ journey from the water, and more than once noticed that puddles in which there were many newts completely dried up during the hot summer and remained without water for several years; this is partly true to puddles lying completely separately, for example, to a puddle located in a quarry on a mountain, where no other water could be found around that these animals could visit.Not without surprise, I noticed that when, after a long time, these puddles were filled again water, the newts appeared there again." Similar observations were made by Moisisovich. He writes about this as follows: “The cold time at Easter 1891, which I spent on the shores of Istria, was the reason that dredging at sea gave almost no results, so I had to take excursions inland. Rocky, partly very deserted and the barren mountainous country was then still covered in places with a light snow cover, and I found animals only under stones.We turned away several hundred fragments of rocks and found quite rich prey there, consisting of centipedes, scorpions, and in places rich in black soil, also earthworms ( Lumbricus complanatus) along with larvae different insects. Several times I found, as it seemed to me, traces of lizards, and three times, in places that were completely dry, I found stiff young common newts that lay curled up in small holes. These animals were very pale in color and were half the size of the specimens found near Graz, and, what was especially surprising, they still retained their external gills. I can explain this last circumstance only by the fact that there was a puddle nearby in which the animals made their transformation and which then completely dried up. But during my visit not a trace of water was visible around, and on the other hand, it is difficult to imagine that animals appeared here from a long distance." Every beetle collector often finds female common newts in summer and autumn under large stones. Newts also tolerate severe frosts : several times these animals were found completely frozen and seemed lifeless, but when they thawed they came to life again and moved nimbly, so newts can live very well in winter in a body of water that does not freeze to the very bottom. land, appear already at the end of February, swim merrily in the water, look for each other, swim in pairs and, like fish, beat each other with their tails. If there are many males around one female, then they try to push one another away and the most persistent of them in the end eventually takes possession of the female.This continues in the spring for a long time, sometimes for several weeks.
Gachet observed that the mating male raised his crest, moved it strongly and brought his muzzle closer to the female's muzzle. At the same time, his tail constantly moves and bends so much that it hits the female on the sides. Both animals touch each other with their heads, but the rear parts of the body are more distant and form an acute angle between themselves*.

* Recently, the behavior of newts has been actively studied. It has been established that for a number of species even combinations of mating dance poses are species specific. Typically, such demonstrations consist of the following ethological (behavioral) elements: side display - the male is in front of the female sideways and, as a rule, at an angle of 60° to the ground; jerk - the male, bending his tail at the base, pushes the water towards the female with his legs, moving the back of his body in an arc relative to the stationary head; sharp blows with the tip of the male's tail in front of the female's head; arching the back upward; pushing the male's muzzle into the female's body; arch - the position of the male with his body curved in an arc above the head of the female and wagging his tail; sniffing a female by a male. Experts have found that newts are capable of making sounds at a frequency of 3000-4000 Hz, the duration of which usually does not exceed 0.5 seconds. They have a well-developed sense of smell: the number of receptor brushes per 1 cm2 in the common newt, for example, reaches 200 thousand, which exceeds this figure for most tailed amphibians. The sense organs of newts play an important role in reproductive (sexual) behavior, which is manifested in the repeated repetition in water of the above-described elements of the mating dance (mating game).

Zeller found that in the alpine and spiny newts, the axolotl and other tailed reptiles, real mating does not occur, but that the male deposits peculiarly arranged seed packets in the water and attaches them to the bottom of the puddle, and the female then finds them. She separates the seed ball, surrounded by a gelatinous substance, from the package and takes it into the open opening of the cloaca. Zeller suggests, and we must agree with him, that this method of fertilization may, with some slight deviations, also be characteristic of Proteus and, in general, all tailed reptiles.
The newly laid egg of the crested newt, according to Rusconi, is at first spherical, whitish-yellow in color and surrounded by a sticky mass, which, however, is not closely associated with the egg. If you move an egg in water with a brush, it always falls on the side on which it originally lay. At the same time, you can notice that only one half of it is white, and the other, on the contrary, is brown, and the dark color corresponds to the yolk, and the light color to the white; The white is always heavier than the yolk, and therefore the egg always lies white side down. After just three days, the shape of the egg changes slightly and with the help of a magnifying glass you can see the outline of the embryo. On the fifth day, the embryo assumes a curved position and one can distinguish the head, body and tail, and even small elevations near the head, corresponding to future gills and forelimbs. On the seventh day, all the individual parts stand out even more and you can notice a fold separating the head from the body; the spinal column is also already noticeable. On the ninth day, the embryo changes its position and the lower part of the head and torso can be seen; At this time, the tail already has the appearance of a thin appendage, traces of the mouth and eyes are noticeable, the embryo begins to move and its heart contracts and expands. Movements are made even more often on the tenth day; The embryo changes its position three or four times within 24 hours, the lower parts of the body are covered with black spots, four threads appear on the sides of the head, which, as we will see later, serve the tadpole hatched from the egg to attach to foreign objects. The next day, leaves appear on the gills and you can see the movement of still whitish blood. On the twelfth day, the lateral leaves of the gills stand out more clearly, the movements of the embryo are very fast and varied, so that the walls of the egg protrude in many places. On the thirteenth day, the shell of the egg bursts, the tadpole hatches from the egg and, through its threads, attaches itself to leaves and other objects; if you touch him, he moves his body and tail, but usually remains motionless for several hours. Sometimes it happens that for no apparent reason it suddenly seems to awaken, begins to swim with the help of lateral movements of its tail, and then again attaches itself to some leaf and remains motionless for many hours. Sometimes the tadpole falls to the bottom and lies there as if dead. The eyes are barely open, the mouth barely opens yet, the forelimbs look like blunt processes, but more and more leaves grow on the gills. With the development of the internal organs, which occurs at this time, the animal life tadpole: he avoids what is unpleasant to him and looks for what he likes. He begins to hunt for small crustaceans floating in the water and deftly grabs them; when very hungry, it even attacks other tadpoles and bites off their gills and tail. The forelimbs gradually develop, and when the tadpole reaches 2 cm in length, the hind limbs appear. According to Bedriaga's observations, the tadpole reaches 50-82 mm in length, and after 3 months it takes the form of an adult animal.
Leydig repeated Rusconi's observations and extended them to other species, so that he significantly expanded the information about the development of newts. “The slow or rapid development of the embryo in the egg,” he says of the crested newt, “depends largely on temperature. Captured newts spawned in early April in a room at 18°-19°, while those living in freedom did this when at noon in the shade it was 13 ° -14 °. When free, the female newt always attaches eggs one at a time to various objects in the water, most likely to the leaves of living plants, but in other cases also to torn stems, pieces of wood and stones; in captivity or when she is frightened, the female releases several eggs at a time in short cords, which fall to the bottom of the vessel. From a very early age, newt tadpoles are easily distinguishable from the tadpoles of other amphibians. A tadpole hatched from an egg retains the yellow-green color of the egg yolk for some time, and subsequently two black stripes appear on the back and black spots all over the body, so that the yellow-green color gradually disappears, and a very narrow whitish border is formed on the pale tail. In mid-July, tadpoles that reach 5 cm in length are very beautiful. On four thin legs, very long and delicate fingers are noticeable; the gills, especially the front ones, are unusually well developed; the white border on the tail has become wider and at the end forms a gradually thinning thread, about 1 cm in length; in addition to a thin blackish mesh visible on the body and tail, large black spots and a number of small yellow dots are formed on the sides and tail. In general, the main color still remains light olive-brown, on which individual black spots are scattered; the stalks of the gills, sides and abdomen have a golden hue. At the beginning of September, the metallic sheen disappears, the body color becomes olive-gray and, in addition to black spots, vague white spots appear. A pale yellow longitudinal stripe on the abdomen and white cutaneous warts on the sides of the body are noticeable. In appearance, the tadpole already closely resembles an adult animal; the gills became much smaller, and along with the fish-like appearance the golden and silvery sheen characteristic of fish disappeared.”
Schreibers and Filippi were the first to observe that, under certain constrained conditions, a sexually mature newt retains the appearance of a tadpole and breathes with gills. It was in the Alpine newt that tadpoles with fully developed genitals were observed several times. Filippi rightly notes that this circumstance can serve as evidence in favor of the origin of species from one another: it obviously brings newts closer to fish-like amphibians than hitherto thought*. According to Leydig, this phenomenon, which Kohlman calls “neoteny,” should be considered as an animal’s adaptation to external conditions.

* Occasionally, in artificial reservoirs with steep walls (concreted ponds, wells), which do not allow amphibians to reach land, neotenic (capable of reproduction) larvae of crested newts can actually be found. In the Moscow region, such larvae were found in water supply channels running from the Uchinsky reservoir to Moscow. Such finds are known from Moldova, Ukraine (Carpathians), and Germany. In our time, neotenic populations of the common newt have been described, first identified in Abkhazia and Gatcha stump near St. Petersburg. And in Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy, independent populations of the Alpine newt have been discovered, consisting almost exclusively of neotenic larvae, which reproduce and live in this state for up to 7 years. A number of such populations are given subspecies status.

Newts live by carnivory from an early age and feed exclusively on animal substances. At first they hunt very small creatures, namely small crustaceans, insect larvae and worms, later they pursue larger prey, such as insects floating on the surface of the water, soft-bodied earthworms, tadpoles and even young newts; they also eat frog eggs. They cannot be called harmful; rather, they provide benefits by killing mosquito larvae*.

* About 90% of the food of common newts consists of the larvae of long-legged mosquitoes, biters and pushers.

In addition to the changes in color noticed during breeding, newts have the ability to change the color of their skin more or less voluntarily; They also have mobile pigment cells. Leydig once placed a beautifully colored newt, which had until then lived in a large pool, in a small jar in order to more easily draw it. To his surprise, he noticed that the animal, frightened by this relocation, noticeably changed color: its color became obviously paler. When the animal was again moved to a spacious aquarium with aquatic plants, its excitement gradually subsided and after half an hour it again acquired a brilliant color. This observation alone should have reminded Leydig of a similar phenomenon in the tree frog and led him to think about motile pigment cells; however, he soon noticed an even stronger change in color. All the newts that lived in his cold room were pale in color, while those that lived at a higher temperature had a darker color; when Leydig transferred the pale newts into a heated room to sketch them, their color changed: the light slate gray color turned into a dark slate blue and the large, clear, brown spots disappeared - in a word, the animals changed color in every way. This phenomenon depends, according to Leydig, on the influence nervous system: Excitement, fear and temperature changes cause color changes. Amphibians of hot countries differ from ours in this respect in that the change in color is not so strong and does not occur so quickly.
In the spring, newts molt in 2-8 days, less often after mating, and while on land, they probably do not molt at all. Although molting occurs quite quickly, it probably has a strong effect on the animals, since before this they lose their liveliness and become lazy. Just before molting, the skin becomes dull and dark, as it gradually lags behind the body; this probably causes an unpleasant sensation for the animal, and that is why the newts do not seem entirely healthy at this time. When the time comes, the newt tries with its front legs to form a hole in the old skin near the lower jaw, then separates the scalp near the end of the muzzle, bends its whole body then right side, then to the left, often shakes itself and sticks its head out of the water. By repeated contortions of his torso and scraping his body with his front legs, he slowly peels off his skin; when the forelimbs have already freed themselves from the old skin, he turns and shakes himself violently, so that the wrinkled outer skin is pushed back to the base of the tail, then he grabs it with his mouth and rips it off whole, just as a man takes off his shirt. Shedding usually ends within one hour, but sometimes lasts two or more hours and is unusually tiring for the newt. Often other newts help the molter and swallow the skin captured in the mouth, but sometimes, not without effort, they excrete it undigested. It happens, for example, that the swallowed skin partly sticks out from their anus and they try with all their might to pull it out with their paws and mouth; this observation, however, requires confirmation, and many explain it by the fact that their skin also peels off from their intestines. If shedding occurs quickly and successfully, then the separated skin is very beautiful: it is turned inside out, but is not torn anywhere, so that you can see each finger separately, only where the eyes are, there are two large holes. Under ordinary circumstances, newts do not make any sounds other than the sound resulting from the release of air bubbles from their mouths. However, they are not completely voiceless. If you touch them suddenly and quite strongly, they emit a clear croaking tone, which is similar to the voice of other reptiles.
The life of a newt in captivity was best described by Glaser. According to his observations, these animals are unpretentious and therefore are not difficult to keep in an ordinary aquarium. There they are quite entertaining, very voracious, and if you exercise them a lot and feed them often, they become tame. If you approach them, they stand at the bottom of the aquarium, raising their heads up like dogs and looking intently at every approaching person, waiting for a handout. During the first time of life in captivity, they are timid and fearful, constantly hiding, coming to the surface of the water after ten minutes to let out air and gain new ones, but then quickly hiding again in their shelters. When hunger begins to torment them and they are given the opportunity to satisfy it, they become bolder and, finally, so tame that they remain visible in the aquarium all day, wandering along the bottom or swimming and carefully looking around, trying to spot some prey. .
Newts, accustomed to the darkness of ditches and swamps, see poorly with their small eyes. They are also very awkward when grasping and swallowing prey, turning their heads in all directions to push food deeper into their mouths, and swallowing with difficulty, nodding their heads, rising on their forelimbs and convulsively jerking their whole body. Sometimes they yawn, in the full sense of the word, and generally seem to be the personification of laziness and inaction. Any food is suitable for them; they grab and swallow greedily very small dead fish that are brought to their mouth, but in the same way they grab crumbs of bread, raw meat and all sorts of other substances. Therefore, they can be kept in a warm room in winter without any difficulty.
Out of fear of large newts, young and small species constantly hide. Half a dozen small young black newts, 3 cm long, were very soon all eaten by the adults, and Glaser observed that the large newts grabbed and swallowed the common newts placed with them. In general, newts of another species cannot be kept together with a crested newt.
Feeding newts with earthworms gives great pleasure. At the same time, just as when feeding on flies, they grab each other’s legs with their mouths, spin and tug violently, and finally move away from each other; then the winner returns and takes the spoils as a reward. It often happens that while two large newts are trying to grab an insect thrown by them, an agile frog living with them in the same aquarium quickly jumps from afar and grabs the prey under the noses of the clumsy and half-blind newts. Since newts have poor vision, it is quite difficult to get them to notice food attached to the end of a stick; Out of greed, they often grab it with their mouths, but sometimes it happens that they grab the end of a stick with their jaws, and then they can be pulled out of the water. Glaser has seen crested newts, with great effort, eating pond snails and bobbins out of their shells on several occasions. These soft-bodied creatures stick their bodies far out of their shells, looking for a plant to feed on. It happens that at the same time they catch the eye of a hungry newt and, although he is very clumsy and slow in his movements, he still grabs the even slower-moving soft-bodied one, with a strong tilt of his head he gradually pulls it out of the shell and swallows it. Probably, in ponds, puddles and ditches, snails constitute the main food of newts, along with young and small animals of their own species, while on land, under stones and in burrows, as well as at night, when they crawl ashore, they eat slugs and earthworms . The crested newts who lived near Glaser held a roast summer time in the holes of the tuff, emerging in the form of an island in the middle of the aquarium, and at the same time did not move at all. Only when it became cooler did they reappear and begin looking for food, and readily ate large house flies. Glaser noticed that the newt, having swallowed a large winged female ant, spat her out again and did not grab her again, although she moved in front of him. Newts are also reluctant to eat dried ant pupae, which are often fed to goldfish and frogs in winter. One American newt(Molge viridescens) swallows, according to Piquet's observations, small pea shells (Pisidium) along with their contents. Sturkey describes the greed of crested newts in much the same way as Glaser. “If they were given,” he writes to me, “a large number of earthworms, then they fought among themselves for a long time before any of them touched one worm, and this happened even when there was enough food for everyone. Often they grabbed each other by the upper jaw and fought in this way for a long time. Finally, their anger passes and they begin to eat, and it happens that two newts, grabbing an earthworm from opposite ends, collide with their noses when swallowing. The prey is usually not torn in half, but the stronger newt pulls it out a worm from the mouth of another." Small newts behave in an aquarium almost the same way as large ones.
Observations were made on newts regarding their vitality and ability to reproduce lost body parts. Their insensitivity to temperature changes and ability to withstand the effects of cold for a long time have long been known; They also learned that cut off limbs grow back. Spallanzani and Blumenbach performed cruel experiments on them, cutting off their legs, tail and eyes. These experiments proved that all these parts of the body were completely renewed, and they noticed that new bones with all joints were formed in the grown limbs. The cut off tail grows back, is the same size as the old one, and vertebrae are formed in it again; cut off limbs grow back several times; even broken jaws grow back. Over the course of three months, Spallanzani's newts replaced 687 bones that had been taken away. Blumenbach cut out 4/5 of the newt's eyes and was convinced that after 10 months he had formed a new eye with a cornea and iris, as well as a lens, in a word, a completely new organ, differing from the previous one only in a slightly smaller size.
Erber tells an example of the survivability of the newt. “He already ate one of my newts, and then disappeared. A month later, in the kitchen, they pulled a box away from the wall and found behind it, probably spat out by a snake, a newt; when moving the box, the newt’s front leg was torn off; the animal seemed completely dried out, and I barely found it signs of life; I laid him on the ground flower pot. When they began to water the flowers and doused the newt, he began to move and even tried to crawl. I then put him in clean water and began to feed him earthworms. Within a few days he began to move faster, after three weeks, instead of the severed leg, he had a small shapeless appendage, and after 4 months the leg had grown completely. From then on, great attention began to be paid to the newt, and he soon learned to crawl on glass and take food from hands. The bank where he lived stood between the window frames. Late autumn, in severe frost, the water froze and the jar burst. At the same time, Triton also froze, but since I wanted to put him in alcohol, I placed the remains of the jar in a large vessel with water and put it on the stove so that the ice would melt; At the same time, I completely forgot about the newt, but I soon noticed that it came to life again from the warmth and was trying with all its might to escape from the hot bath. I put him in cold water again and after this incident he lived with me for another whole year.”
The most beautiful of European species should be considered marble triton(Triturus marmoratus), an animal from 13-14 cm in length, which differs from other species by its tendinous arches, a non-serrated dorsal crest and a dark abdomen with white spots; in the spring, the male has a high straight dorsal crest, which forms a deep notch at the base of the tail, and the female has a groove on her back instead of a ridge. This newt's skin is constantly uneven and warty; On the head behind the ears and along the lateral line, small openings of the glands are very noticeable. The upperside is grass green or olive green with a marbled black pattern; the dorsal and caudal crests are covered with transverse black and white stripes; A silvery-white stripe runs along the sides of the tail. The underside of the body is gray, brown or black with large black and small white spots; sometimes a marble pattern is formed here too. Black rings are visible on green fingers. The female has an orange-yellow or red dorsal stripe instead of a dorsal crest. This beautiful animal lives in Portugal, Spain and France*.

* Such a magnificent coloring of a fairly large newt (total length up to 16 cm) became the reason for the catch of the marbled newt by terrariumists, and therefore its number has noticeably decreased.

Although the marbled newt is found in France more often than the fire salamander, it still belongs to the rare tailed amphibians of this country and Spain should be considered its real homeland. Only in early spring, according to Latasta, can it be seen in ditches, springs and puddles, but at other times of the year it lives on land, like the fire salamander, in damp and shady areas and most often in pairs; This is where he spends the winter. This is a nocturnal animal, like the salamander, and it feeds on the same things as it does.


Fertilization and egg laying occur in the same way as in other newts. “Tadpoles,” says Gachet, move very quickly, swim in jerks, never approach the shore, but always stay in the middle of the reservoir and remain on the surface of the water for a very long time, without moving. At the slightest disturbance or if someone approaches them object, the tadpoles quickly escape and dive very deftly." The marbled newt breeds from early February to late May; its tadpoles, very similar to the tadpoles of the crested newt, but differing from them in a green tint, were caught by Latast in mid-April and were then 7 cm long; On May 15, they turned into adult animals. Bedriaga says that the tadpoles of this newt reach 43-70 mm in length. When the marbled newt comes to land, its smooth, mucous skin, like that of other newts, becomes matte and granular. If he is suddenly thrown into the water, then, according to Fischer's observations, his entire body is covered with a silvery layer of air and he can then dive only with difficulty.
Spiny or ribbed newt (Pleurodeles wain) has a slender and elongated body, but quite strong, the length of the head is somewhat greater than its width, the muzzle is blunt, flat and rounded, like a toad, the tail is strongly compressed from the sides and has the appearance of a knife blade, rounded at the end and with a thin fin both above and below. Neither the male nor the female has a leathery crest on the back, the temporal arch is bony, and the palatal teeth are moved forward so much that they stand much further than the internal nasal opening. The roundish tongue is small, attached at the front and free at the back and sides. The front legs have 4 and the hind legs have 5 toes, not connected by membranes. The outer skin is glandular and granular, and on the border between the back and sides there is a series of large horny tubercles, from which the very sharp ends of the ribs often protrude. Michaelles says that the back of this newt is dirty brown with a gray tint and inconspicuous spots, while the belly is ocher-yellow with small round blackish-gray spots. Schreibers, who observed a large number of these newts, states, on the contrary, that the main color of the upper part of the body is a dirty ocher-yellow, which in old females turns into gray, and in males into a red tint, sometimes in the latter it becomes brown, olive-green and even blackish. The underside of the tola is usually paler than the upper and covered with rather small, irregularly rounded blackish spots, which stand alone or sometimes more or less merge; as an exception, there are so many of them that they almost completely displace the main color. The lower edge of the caudal fin and the tips of the fingers are yellowish or orange-yellow; numerous warts on the body have black horny bumps at the end. Young newts differ from older ones in being lighter in color, turning brick-red on the upper side, and with a uniform belly. Large tadpoles are whitish or light yellow on top with numerous, mostly merging, dark ash-gray spots, while the underside of the body is white with many small gray dots. Of the three bundles of gills, the middle one is the shortest, while the posterior one is longer than the others and its tip reaches the fold of the forelimbs. The tail has a length equal to the length of the body, is strongly compressed from the sides and has a very high fin on top. The skin of tadpoles is almost smooth. Fully mature specimens are 18-21 cm in length, but can reach 23 cm; these large specimens are found in northern Africa. Young newts that have just completed their transformation are about 6 cm long, but tadpoles are often found that are not inferior in size to adult newts and are twice as long as young ones that have just completed their transformation, and are 6 or 8 times larger in body volume.


The spiny newt differs from other tailed aquatic animals more in its skeleton than in appearance and coloring. It has a large number of vertebrae, namely 56: the first vertebra has no ribs, and the next 14 have well-developed ribs, which are attached to the transverse processes of the vertebrae by two heads, have very sharp ends and are about 8 mm in length. The pelvic bones are attached to the large transverse processes of the sixteenth vertebra, and the hind limbs are attached to them; the other vertebrae are in a very long tail. No newt has such a large number and such developed ribs. Its skull is rounder and flatter than that of other newts, and is distinguished by a bony temporal arch. On the edge of the jaws there are sharp teeth, the number of which on each jaw is 48-60; old animals have fewer teeth than young ones. In the latter, 12 very small bony teeth are visible on each palatine bone, while in adults only a saw-tooth strip remains there.
The spiny newt has only been found in southwestern Spain, Portugal and Morocco and appears to live only in known localities. Waltl, who discovered it and after whom it is named, found it in reservoirs that are common in Andalusia. Some of these reservoirs are 6-10, and others even 30 m deep, and only a few of them are so constructed that you can catch newts in them using a long stick and a net. Newts live here in large numbers, but for the above reasons it is difficult to catch them, and the inquisitive naturalist has to be content with observations from afar. Later we learned that this newt is found not only in reservoirs, but also in ponds and puddles, where it is much easier to catch. Bedriaga suggests that adult newts of this species can live well in deep waters, but they certainly require shallow puddles to reproduce. Sure, spiny newts are forced into deep wells against their will, but they appear to live their entire lives in water. Their skin secretions are weaker and their vitality is stronger than that of other newts. These are nocturnal animals that prefer dark places to light ones, grow very quickly and are extremely voracious. They molt monthly during the winter and, like other newts, swallow their skin.
Before mating, the male, according to Latast, crawls under the female, squeezes her front legs from front to back with his paws, and the animals remain in this position for several hours. Bedriaga observed this mating, which takes place in water over several days, but neither he nor other naturalists saw the transfer of seed to eggs. Bedriaga suggests that the crested newt lays eggs twice a year: in July and August, and then in February and March.
Leydig tried to prove that the often-occurring perforation of the skin by the tips of the ribs is a painful phenomenon and occurs because the animal contracts strongly when it is grabbed and defends itself from the enemy with the sharp ends of its ribs. He may be right, but perforation of the skin by the ribs is so often noticed in animals and in the wild, as Bedriaga proved, that this phenomenon should be considered a distinctive feature of this strange animal.
Spectacled salamanders(Salamandrina) differ mainly in that they have 4 fingers on all limbs and a bony temporal arch; their body is elongated, the tail is round, sharp at the end and with a sharp edge at the top and bottom; there are no postauricular glands on the head and the skin of the entire body is granular. The palatal teeth form two, at first almost parallel, and at the rear strongly diverging rows, the anterior edge of which does not extend beyond the internal nasal openings. The tongue is large, long, narrowed in front, flatly rounded at the back and attached to the front part, so that not only the back half, but also the sides of the tongue are free.
The only species of this genus is spectacled salamander(Salamandrina tetdigitata), which the Italians call tarantalina. The upper part of the body is matte black, with the yellowish-red spectacled pattern above the eyes standing out very clearly; there is a white spot on the black throat, and on the light belly there are many irregular black spots and dots; place near the anus, inner side The limbs and the underside of the tail are a beautiful carmine red color. This animal is much smaller in height than an ordinary salamander; its length reaches 8-10 cm, of which 2/3 is on the tail.
This beautiful salamander lives on the shores Mediterranean Sea, in northern and central Italy and on the island of Sardinia. It is found in mountainous and shady places, but does not go high into the mountains, but prefers hilly areas with a temperate climate. Until 1863, information about the spectacled salamander was fragmentary, and even Ramorino’s short work, which appeared in the above year, remained little known. Only in 1868 Lesson published a detailed description of this animal, which he later expanded.
In the vicinity of Genoa, the spectacled salamander is very common and is often found in the mountains that surround this beautiful city in the form of an amphitheater. From these mountains many small streams flow into the sea, which after rains turn into rapid torrents, and then almost completely dry up, and in some places only small puddles remain, in the light water of which many plants grow and numerous insect larvae live. These mountains are not covered with forests, or even bushes and bushes. Spectacled salamanders stay close to the above-mentioned puddles, hide there under stones, or even live in semi-dried mud. On rainy days, especially in spring and autumn, salamanders come out of their shelters; in summer this happens only after heavy rainfalls, which, however, in the vicinity of Genoa are very rare at this time of year. They can be seen much more often on bright and quiet winter days, even in January. They feed mainly on ants and small spiders. On the first warm days of spring, precisely in March, spectacled salamanders go into the water to lay eggs, and then females can be seen in the above-mentioned puddles. Those that appear first choose the best places for themselves, namely the walls of rocks, which are not subject to strong surf of water, so that the eggs attached to them are not so easily washed away by the streams that intensify after the rain. When the best places are occupied, the other females must be content with those that remain unoccupied, and stick their eggs to the stems and branches of plants lying in the water, as well as to the leaves at the bottom of the puddle. It often happens that many eggs are washed away by water and carried out to sea, sometimes, but much less often, they die, because the puddles dry up completely in the summer. According to Lesson's observations, only females go into the water; at least neither this naturalist nor any of his assistants noticed a single male there. Mating therefore takes place on land.


The laid eggs are surrounded by mucus, like those of frogs, and in their development at first they do not differ significantly from the development of frog eggs. On the 18th day of its life in freedom, the tadpole develops fingers, and after 50-52 days the transformation is completely completed. In general, the tadpoles of the spectacled salamander are much less mobile than the tadpoles of frogs: they lie for a long time at the bottom on some stone and occasionally only move to grab prey. According to Lesson's observations, they undoubtedly feed exclusively on small animals, and therefore should be classified as carnivores. Lesson himself saw how they swallowed insect larvae, and also became convinced in another way that tadpoles die if they are not given animal food. Camerano raised many spectacled salamander tadpoles, but almost all of them died; he came up with the idea of ​​feeding the others meat: he cut the raw meat into very thin strips, attached them to the end of a wire and moved them in the water to give the meat the appearance of living creatures. The tadpoles swallowed the meat greedily; they were fed in this way for 15 days, and they completely completed their transformation 55 days after hatching. The gills almost completely disappeared five days before the end of the transformation, and the tadpoles often rose to the surface of the water to take air into their lungs, which, however, they had done before.
In June, young, newly developed spectacled salamanders can be seen in convenient places, and the next year they reach their real size. They run slowly and swim by lateral movements of their tail, but, however, are rather weak, so that after rainstorms they are often carried away from the mountains by water. After spawning, they moult; their skin secretes mucus in the same way as that of an ordinary salamander, but in much smaller quantities. According to Fisher's observations, the spectacled salamander does not, like other newts, have the ability to regenerate a severed tail and limbs.
The same naturalist noticed that the light pattern on the head of the spectacled salamander is subject to many changes: in males it may even not be there at all. Although it is common in some places, these salamanders can only be seen in large numbers in the spring or fall. When touched, she lies motionless. The dry, non-mucous skin is less sensitive to heat than that of other salamanders. The spectacled salamander is a diurnal animal and its movements are mainly guided by vision; in addition, she apparently has a well-developed taste. She has no voice and is difficult to scare with any noise. She lives in water only during spawning. If fed with live flies and beetle larvae, it tolerates captivity very well and also gets along well with other individuals of its species; They do not recognize their teacher, and in general their understanding is extremely weak.

Life of animals. - M.: State Publishing House of Geographical Literature. Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Real, family of tailed amphibians. Fertilization is internal. 45 species, in Eurasia and North America, live along the banks of water bodies. Salamanders include newts; salamanders are also called some tailed amphibians from other... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

One of the first Spanish travelers, Hernandez, says that near the city of Mexico in the lakes there live fish with soft skin and four legs similar to the legs of lizards, and that these fish are about a cubit long and about an inch thick: their... ... Animal Life

A true family of tailed amphibians. Fertilization is internal. 45 species, in Eurasia and Northern. America. They live along the banks of water bodies. In the west of Ukraine, there is a fire salamander, up to 70 cm long, black and yellow in color, secretions from the skin glands are poisonous... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Real, family of tailed amphibians. Fertilization is internal. 45 species, in Eurasia and Northern. America, live along the banks of reservoirs. S. includes newts; S. called also some tailed amphibians from other families (for example, gigantic S., ... ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

Caucasian salamander Scientific classification Kingdom: Animals Type: Chordata Class: Amphibians Order: Caudate amphibians Family ... Wikipedia

True salamanders are one of the large families tailed amphibians, including 40 species, grouped into 16 genera. They are characterized by posteriorly concave (opisthocoelous) vertebrae, the presence of teeth on the upper and lower jaws, and well-developed eyelids. Adults have lungs but no gills. This includes both completely terrestrial and aquatic species. Distributed in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America.

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Spotted or fire salamander(Salamandra salamandra) is the most famous and widespread species, inhabiting Central and Southern Europe, North Africa (Algeria, Morocco) and the western part of Asia Minor. Within the USSR it is found in western parts Ukraine, where it lives in the mountainous and foothill regions of the Carpathians.

The total length of the salamander is up to 25-28 cm, usually about 20-22 cm, of which less than half is the tail, which is round in cross section. The feet are short but strong, with 4 toes on the front and 5 on the hind limbs. Swimming membranes never happen. On the sides of the bluntly rounded muzzle are large black eyes. Behind the eyes lie convex elongated glands - parotids. The color is shiny black with bright yellow spots of irregular shape. The location and size of the spots are extremely variable.

The salamander lives from the foothills to 2000 m above sea level. It lives along wooded slopes, the banks of mountain rivers and streams, and in beech forests littered with windbreaks. Avoids dry and open places. During the day it hides in the mossy forest floor, in burrows, under fallen trees, in rotten stumps or under stones. It comes out to feed at dusk and at night, but in the rain, when the humidity is high, it leaves its shelter during the day, for which it received the local name “rain lizard” in the Carpathians. It is very resistant to low temperatures, and cold torpor occurs at a temperature of 2-4°. In nature it appears at air and soil temperatures of about 9°. It does not tolerate high temperatures well, and the salamander can tolerate 20-26° only with sufficiently high air humidity (above 90%). It avoids direct sunlight and always hides in the dark when kept in a terrarium.

It feeds on various invertebrates, primarily earthworms, naked slugs, woodlice, nodule, and insects. Salamanders overwinter under the roots of trees, in rotten stumps, under heaps of leaves, where they can gather several dozen in one place. Near warm underground springs, among stones and in small caves, hundreds of salamanders were found wintering in one place. The timing of wintering depends on the temperature conditions of the habitat. In the foothills of the Carpathians, salamanders disappear at the end of November and even at the beginning of December, and in the mountains - in October. During prolonged thaws, they can temporarily leave their winter shelters and crawl to the surface. Spring awakening occurs in the foothills in March, and in the mountains in April - May.

The reproduction of salamanders has not been fully studied. It is known that internal fertilization can occur both in water and on land. On land, the female and the male wrap themselves around each other, bring the cloaca closer together, and the spermatophore enters the female’s spermatheca, located in the anterior-superior part of the cloaca, where sperm can be stored for a long time. In the water, the male lays a spermatophore, which the female captures with the cloaca. The timing of mating is greatly extended and, obviously, occurs throughout the entire period of activity, from spring to autumn.

Fertilized eggs develop in the lower parts of the female's oviducts until the larvae hatch, which takes about 10 months, so that eggs fertilized this year produce larvae the following year. At the same time, the female’s oviducts can contain both fully formed larvae and eggs at different stages of development. The earliest known date for the birth of larvae is early February. The mass appearance of larvae was noted for foothill areas in May, for high mountain areas - in July. There are also cases of larvae being born in July and August.

Shortly before the birth of the larvae, females gather on the banks of reservoirs and enter the water, choosing such coastal areas of mountain streams where there is enough pure water, but there is no strong current. One female gives birth to from 2 to 70 larvae, usually about 50, in several stages over 7-10 days. The larvae emerge from the cloaca still in the egg shells, but at the moment of laying such an egg they break the shells and swim away. In captivity, there are known cases when a salamander laid eggs with not yet formed larvae, which within a few days completed their development in eggs laid in water.

A newly born spotted salamander larva reaches 26-35 mm in length and weighs about 0.2 g. It has a large round head, a high, laterally compressed body, a long, flattened tail, trimmed with a wide fin fold that turns into a crest on the back. The limbs, like the three pairs of external feathery gills, are well developed.

In nature, the larval period lasts all summer, and metamorphosis ends in August - September, when the larvae reach 50-60 mm in length. In captivity, at a temperature of 18-20°, the larval period lasts about 45 days; at a temperature of 15-18° - about 60 days. Before the end of metamorphosis, the larvae begin to crawl along the bottom, often rising to the surface of the water for air. Their gills begin to shorten, the color darkens, becoming slate-gray with dirty white spots, gradually turning yellow. Finally, their gills and fin folds completely disappear, and they switch to a terrestrial existence. They become sexually mature at 3–4 years of age. The lifespan of salamanders is quite long, since they have few enemies thanks to the poisonous secretions of the skin glands. In the wild there are salamanders 8-9 years old. There are known cases when salamanders lived in a terrarium for 15-18 years.

Alpine or black salamander(Salamandra atra) is similar to the spotted one, but differs from it in its slimmer build, uniform, spotless, shiny black color. The total length is 13-18 cm. The black salamander is widespread in the Alps and adjacent mountain ranges at altitudes from 600 to 3000 m. It lives along the banks of mountain streams under the protection of bushes and stones.

Like the spotted salamander, it is viviparous, but only two developing larvae go through all stages of development in the mother’s body until complete metamorphosis inclusive, which lasts about a year. 30-40 eggs enter the female’s oviduct from the ovaries, but only two eggs develop (one in each oviduct), and the remaining eggs merge into a common yolk mass used for nutrition developing embryos. Initially, in the egg shells, the embryos feed on the yolk of their own eggs, and after leaving the shells, they swim in the general yolk mass and eat it, using it entirely at the time of birth. The gills of the embryos of the black salamander, when they swim in the yolk mass, are extremely large and highly branched, exceeding half the length of the larva in length, but by the time of birth they disappear. P. Kammerer, in his famous experiments, managed to grow black salamander larvae in water, removing them from the female’s oviducts at a stage corresponding to the stage of birth of larvae in the spotted salamander. Later observations showed that the black salamander, at the lower limit of its distribution in the mountains, sometimes lays incompletely developed larvae in the water, which develop and metamorphose in the water. P. Kammerer also showed that at temperatures below 12° the spotted salamander also delays the birth of its young and they undergo part of the development in the oviducts that they usually complete in water bodies. With his experiments, P. Kammerer wanted to prove that the features of biology, including reproduction, are formed under the influence of external conditions and are adaptive.

Caucasian salamander(Mertensielea caucasica) lives here in Western Transcaucasia and adjacent parts of Western and Southwestern Asia, at an altitude of 500 to 2800 m. It is a relatively small, barely 19 in length, slender salamander, with a long tail noticeably longer than the length of the body. It is shiny brown-black above with yellow oval spots on the back and sides, and brown below.

It lives near mountain rivers and streams; during the day it hides under stones, branches of bushes and in crevices of the soil. Active at night, when it feeds on earthworms, amphipods, woodlice, centipedes, mollusks, insects and their larvae. Likes to lie in shallow water with its head out. Runs quickly on land, resembling a lizard. When caught by the tail, it sometimes throws it away, and after a while the tail is restored.

In June, in quiet dams of mountain streams, where the water temperature is 12-14°, it lays about 90 large eggs, 5-6.5 mm in diameter. Heaps of eggs are usually glued to leaves or stones that have fallen to the bottom. The timing of mating and egg development is unknown. Mating probably occurs in the spring. In males, on the upper surface of the tail, at its base, there are special glands that secrete a secret that excites the female. There are rollers on the shoulders that serve to better hold the female during internal fertilization. The larvae have a longitudinal groove on the back and a poorly developed fin fold on the tail.

Lusitanian salamander(Chioglossa lusitanica), living in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, is also a completely terrestrial species, living in shady forests. It is distinguished by a slender body and a very long tail, which is twice as long as the body. It runs nimbly, like a lizard, and can even jump from stone to stone. The tongue of the Lusitanian salamander, attached at the anterior end, like that of frogs, is thrown forward by 2-3 cm.

Spectacled salamander(Salamandrina ter-digitata), native to Northern and Central Italy, is characterized by four-toed forelimbs and hindlimbs and a reddish-yellow spectacle-like pattern above the eyes. Like the previous species, it occurs in water for a short period, in early spring, during egg laying. Like the Lusitanian salamander, it hides during the dry summer months and possibly hibernates in summer. On the contrary, hibernation is very short, and in some years salamanders are active throughout the winter.

Salamanders of the genus Tylototriton, 6 species of which are distributed in Southeast Asia, mainly in high mountain regions, have not been studied at all. These beautiful black and red or yellow salamanders do not have webbing between their toes, their tail fin folds are poorly developed, and they probably lead a terrestrial lifestyle.

Species leading a more or less aquatic lifestyle are grouped into the genera Triturus, Pleurodeles, Pachytriton, Paramesotriton, Taricha, Neurergus, Euproctes, Diemictylus, Cynops, Notophthalmus, Hypseletriton. The most extensive genus Triturus includes 9 species of true newts, the remaining genera contain 1-3 species each of American, Asian and southern European newts.

Common newt(Triturus vulgaris) is one of the smallest newts, its total length reaches 11 cm, usually about 8 cm, of which about half is the tail. The skin is smooth or fine-grained. The color of the upper side of the body is olive-brown, the lower side is yellowish with small dark spots. There are longitudinal dark stripes on the head, of which the stripe passing through the eye is always clearly visible. The color of males during the mating season becomes brighter and a scalloped crest grows from the back of the head to the end of the tail, usually with an orange border and a blue stripe with a pearlescent sheen. This fin fold is not interrupted at the base of the tail. Lobate edges form on the toes of the hind paws. The female does not have breeding colors or a dorsal crest, but the color becomes brighter. The male's crest is an additional respiratory organ and is especially rich in cutaneous capillary vessels.

Distributed from France, England and Southern Sweden to Western Siberia inclusive. The easternmost points of location lie at 90° E. in the north of the Altai Territory. The northern border of the range within our country passes through South Karelia, Vologda, Kirov, Tyumen, Omsk and Tomsk regions. Southern - from the Black Sea (not in Crimea) to the north of the Volgograd, south of the Saratov and west of the Orenburg region. In the Caucasus, it inhabits areas south of the line Novorossiysk - Krasnodar - Stavropol - Lenkoran, but does not rise into the mountains above 1200-1500 m.

Lives in deciduous and mixed forests, as well as in the forest-steppe, where it adheres to bushes, beams, parks and other shaded places. It avoids open steppes and fields and, with the reduction of forest area in Ukraine and the Volga region, disappeared from a number of areas.

Spends spring and early summer, i.e., an extended breeding season, in reservoirs, then moving to land. The period of stay in water lengthens as it moves from the southwest to the northeast of the range. IN Vologda region and Western Siberia spends almost the entire summer in water.

The reservoirs that newts choose are small lakes, oxbow lakes, ponds, ditches, streams, holes filled with water, etc. After leaving the reservoirs, newts stay in the wettest shady places. During the day, they hide under the loose bark of fallen trees, in rotten stumps, under heaps of brushwood and leaves, and sometimes in rodent burrows. At night, rarely during the day after rain, they feed on land. They are apparently active in reservoirs around the clock. Here, in May - June, it is most often possible to see newts, animatedly swimming in the water and periodically rising to the surface for air. It is very rare to see a newt on land, except perhaps immediately after a warm July rain on a forest path. At the same time, the number of common newts in the middle zone of the European part of our country is very large. Thus, in hunting ditches it makes up 20 - 30% of all amphibians caught in them and ranks second or third in number, usually second only to grass and pointed-faced frogs. There are few newts only in the years after little snowy but frosty winters, as a result of which newts die in their wintering areas.

The food of newts differs sharply in composition during their aquatic and terrestrial existence. Living in water for 1.5-3 months, newts feed on mosquito larvae (long-legged, biting, pushers), which in different places make up from 14 to 90% of all food in terms of occurrence. Great importance Newts' diet may include lower crustaceans (isopods, cladocerans and other crustaceans), found in 18-63% of newt stomachs, dragonfly larvae (20-26%), rowing bugs (24%), swimming beetle larvae (20%) , aquatic mollusks (11-15%), fish and frog caviar (up to 35%). During their stay on land, before leaving for the winter, i.e. 2-4, 5 months, newts feed on centipedes (15-18%), oribatid mites (9-20%), earthworms (5-28%), caterpillars (6-10%), insects (4-9%) and other terrestrial invertebrates.

Newts go to wintering (in piles of leaves, holes of rodents and moles, sometimes basements and cellars) on various days in October. More often they winter in small groups of 3-5 individuals, but in cellars and underground, if they are located near a reservoir, sometimes several tens and hundreds of newts gather. Typically, the distance from the reservoir to the wintering site does not exceed 50-100 m. In Western Siberia, cases of wintering in non-freezing reservoirs have been noted.

They leave wintering grounds in late March - early April in the south of the range and April - May in the north. This is one of the species of our amphibians most resistant to low temperatures. Usually emerges from wintering grounds at an air temperature of 8 - 10° and appears in water at a temperature of 4-7°. In the spring you can sometimes find a newt crawling along the ice edges towards the water, or meet it at dawn, when the ground is covered with frost from morning frost. In the experiment, they lose mobility at a temperature of about 0°. Living in captivity, they emerge from the terrarium litter in early spring, when the surface temperature rises to 8-9°. The preferred temperature in the experiment is also one of the lowest for our amphibians, 23.5°. It is quite sensitive to high temperatures, especially outside the water.

From wintering sites, newts head to reservoirs, where after 5-9 days they begin to reproduce, which happens at various times in April or early May. At this time, the water temperature is about 10°. Males acquire the nuptial plumage described above at the end of wintering and in the very first days of entering the water. Fertilization of eggs is preceded by lively mating games. At the same time, the animals stay in pairs, swim together, sometimes snuggling, sometimes moving somewhat away from each other. The male moves his tail quickly, often striking the female on the sides. As a result of these games, the male lays gelatinous packets - spermatophores containing sperm. It attaches spermatophores to surrounding objects in the water or deposits them on the bottom. The female, excited by the games, finds them and grabs them with the edges of the cloaca. In the cloaca, the spermatophore is placed in a special pocket-shaped recess, the so-called spermatheca. From here, sperm descend, fertilizing the eggs emerging from the oviducts.

Each female lays from 60 to 700 eggs, most often about 150 eggs during the entire breeding season. The diameter of the egg without shell is 1.6-1.7 mm. The female lays each egg on a leaf of an underwater plant, part of which she then bends with her hind legs, so that the egg is hidden between two leaves of the leaf. Sticking to the mucous membranes of the egg, the bent leaf remains in this state until the larva hatches (Fig. 20).

The larva appears on the 14-20th day. Its length is about 6.5 mm. When the larva hatches, it has a distinct tail surrounded by a fin fold, rudimentary forelimbs and feathery external gills. She does not have a sucker, but on the sides of her head there are glandular outgrowths - balancers, which quickly disappear. During the first hours she is inactive, but by the end of the first day of life she has a mouth opening, and on the second day her mouth breaks through and she begins to actively feed. The larvae do not differ from adults in their feeding habits; they are also predators, but they attack smaller animals. Still very small, newt larvae, hiding in the thickets, wait for their prey - small crustaceans or mosquito larvae and with a sharp lunge they rush at it, mouth wide open. Predation among juvenile newts is possible because the larvae emerging from single eggs laid at large intervals over large spaces do not form large aggregations and can be provided with food. The nature of nutrition determines the structural features and development of the larvae of tailed amphibians, including the common newt, distinguishing them from tailless amphibians. Thus, the mouth of newt larvae is no different from the mouth of adults, the length of the intestine is correspondingly equal to its length in adults, and the eyes are well developed. On the second day of hatching, the gill slits open along with the mouth. External gills develop and function throughout the larval period of life. The hind limbs appear approximately on the 20th day of larval life. The entire larval period lasts more often than not 60-70 days, and the larva before reaching land has a length of 32-36 mm.

Metamorphosis in the larvae of the common newt, as in all tailed amphibians, occurs gradually, without sharp sudden changes in the structure of the animal. This nature of metamorphosis is determined by the fact that the larva has few larval organs and is similar to adults in lifestyle. During metamorphosis, the animal switches to pulmonary respiration, the gills disappear, the gill slits become overgrown, changes occur in the structure of the skin, and the larva turns into an adult newt.

In some years, especially at the northern borders of its range, the larvae of the common newt do not metamorphose in the summer, but continue to grow, retaining external gills. They overwinter in the larval stage, turning into adult newts only the following summer. This phenomenon is called incomplete neoteny.

Sexual maturity occurs in the second or third year of life. Enemies of newts include snakes, vipers, storks, herons, buzzards, but they still rarely attack newts because of their hidden lifestyle.

The common newt is one of the most useful amphibians, since it destroys a large number of mosquito larvae, including malaria ones.

Crested newt(Triturus cristatus) differs from the common one in its larger size, reaching 18 cm in length (usually 14-15 cm). Its color is darker - brown-black or black on top; the belly is orange with black spots. The leather is coarse grained. During the breeding season, the male's crest, unlike that of the common newt, is jagged and interrupted at the base of the tail. On the sides of the tail, males who have “put on” their breeding plumage have a bluish-white stripe. Females often have a thin yellow line along the back, but always without a crest.

Distributed, like the common newt, almost throughout Europe, with the exception of the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Scandinavia, but does not penetrate so far to the east, reaching only the southern part Sverdlovsk region. On the contrary, it is more widespread in the Caucasus; is in Crimea.

Like the previous species, it is associated with forests, parks, and shrubs; it is also found in cultural landscapes of wide river valleys and, probably, gets along more easily in open spaces than the common newt.

Spends spring and early summer in reservoirs, moving to land from mid-June. Prefers small forest lakes, oxbow lakes, ponds, water holes, sedge and peat bogs, and ditches. Having left the pond, crested newts hide during the day in rotten stumps, under the bark of fallen trees, in pits with sand and fallen leaves, in rodent burrows, and underground passages of moles. In water it is active both day and night. On land it is active only at night.

The crested newt is not particularly numerous. It is usually 4-6 times less than ordinary. Only in forest-steppe zone, where the conditions for it are obviously the best, there are 2-3 times less of it than the common newt. It makes up 4-15% of the number of all other amphibian species.

In the water, crested newts feed on water beetles (diving beetles, whirligigs, water lovers), which are found in 12-20% of stomachs. Shellfish, especially peas, are of great importance in nutrition. They often eat mosquito larvae, water bugs, dragonfly larvae, eggs of amphibians and fish, small crustaceans, and tadpoles.

It feeds little on land. Up to one third of newts caught on land have empty stomachs. Prey on land includes earthworms (up to 65%), slugs (12-22%), insects and their larvae (20-60%), and sometimes young newts of other species that have just come ashore.

Crested newts leave for the winter late - in October, when the air temperature drops to 6-4° and there are frosts at night. It is not uncommon to find active crested newts as early as early November. It is the most resistant to low temperatures European look amphibians, which does not lose mobility even at 0°. It also has the lowest preferred temperature in the experiment (+19.4-20.6°). Crested newts overwinter in the same places as common newts: under a thick moss cover, in rotten stumps, root passages, rodent and mole burrows, in sand pits, basements and cellars. Sometimes several dozen animals gather in one place, but more often they spend the winter in small groups. Wintering sites have been recorded in non-freezing streams with springs. The latter is possible due to the fact that the crested newt has a very highly developed network of capillary vessels of the skin, which have a respiratory function. The length of the skin capillaries in this species is 73.7% of the total length of the capillaries of the entire respiratory surface (lungs, oral cavity, skin).

In spring, newts appear more often in April; in the south of the range - in March, and in the north - at the end of April. At this time, the air temperature is 9-10°, and the water temperature is about 6°.

From wintering sites, crested newts often go to water bodies together with common newts, but they choose deeper places in the water body. If there are two bodies of water in the area, one of which is deeper and larger, then the crested newt prefers the latter, while the common newt prefers a shallower, well-warmed one.

3-10 days after arriving in the pond, newts begin to reproduce. By this time, males acquire full breeding plumage with a high crest on the back and tail. This crest, like that of the common newt, is very rich in capillary vessels and serves additional body breathing. After mating games, males lay spermatophores, attaching them to the bottom or underwater objects. The female grabs the spermatophore with the cloaca, it enters a pocket-shaped depression - the spermatheca, from where the sperm, descending, fertilize the eggs passing from the oviducts.

The female lays from 80 to 600, more often about 150-200 eggs, attaching them singly or in short chains of 2-3 eggs on the underside of leaves, branches and other objects floating in the water. It often lays them on the leaves of aquatic plants, but does not wrap them in leaves, as females of the common newt do. The eggs in the shells are somewhat elongated: their width is 2.0-2.5, length - 4.0-4.5 mm.

The larva hatches from the egg after 13-15 days, having a length of 9-10 mm. It has clearly visible rudimentary forelimbs, a tail surrounded by a swimming membrane, and on the sides of its head feathery gills and paired long outgrowths - balancers. During the first hours of life, it is inactive and hangs, attached by balancers to underwater objects or plants. By the end of the second day, her mouth breaks out and she begins to actively swim and feed. After about three weeks, the larva develops its hind limbs. The crested newt larva is clearly distinguished from the common newt larva by its long tail filament and very long inner toes. Apparently, with these long fingers the larvae cling when moving among thickets of aquatic plants. During metamorphosis, the long cartilaginous thread into which the terminal phalanges of the fingers continue disappears and the fingers become sharply shortened. The development of crested newt larvae lasts about 90 days, metamorphosis ends when the animal has a total length of 40 to 60 mm, and proceeds in the same way as in the common newt. In some cases, metamorphosis may be delayed, and the larvae overwinter, metamorphosing the next year, having a length of 75-90 mm. They become sexually mature in the third year.

The crested newt has few enemies, due to the fact that the secretions of its skin glands are highly poisonous. Occasionally it becomes prey for snakes, storks and herons. In captivity it lives 10-12 years.

Carpathian newt(Triturus montandoni) is characterized by the complete absence of a ridge on the back, even during the breeding season. The upper part of the body is angular due to two skin folds running along the sides. In cross section the body is almost quadrangular. There are three longitudinal grooves on the flat head. The total length is about 8 cm, of which half is the tail. In females, the tail ends in a pointed protrusion, and in males it ends in a thin thread, which noticeably increases in size during the breeding season. The skin is slightly tuberculate, colored olive-brown or brownish-brown on top with vague dark spots. The belly is orange, without spots.

Distributed in the Carpathians and adjacent mountainous countries. In our country it is found only in Western Ukraine, in the mountainous and foothill regions of the Carpathians. Inhabits from the foothills to the highest peaks of the Carpathians. Lives on damp, shaded mountain slopes and damp depressions in treeless meadows.

The most typical bodies of water where newts settle for the breeding season are shallow backwaters along the banks of mountain rivers, large puddles of melt water on mountain slopes, watering wells with springs at the bottom, and less commonly lakes and reservoirs. The water in such reservoirs is clean, of low temperature, usually not exceeding 10°.

On land, Carpathian newts stay in damp, shaded places in the forest zone, hiding during the day in the forest litter, moss cover, in old stumps, under logs, and in piles of stones.

In water they feed mainly on the larvae of mosquito mosquitoes (“bloodworms”), which are found in 80-85% of stomachs; they eat small quantities of daphnia, copepods, caddisfly larvae, centipedes, swimming beetles, etc. On land they feed on small beetles, spiders, earthworms and other terrestrial invertebrates.

They leave reservoirs in mid-June; in the upper mountain zone - at the end of this month or at the beginning of July. They leave for the winter in September - October, climbing into shelters similar to summer ones. Among the stones sprinkled with earth, up to 250 newts were found gathered in one place.

In April, they leave wintering grounds and come to reservoirs when the water temperature in them is barely above zero. Carpathian newts can be seen in the melt water of puddles, on the edges of which there is still snow, and animals can be observed crawling along the bottom of puddles, covered from the surface with thin ice.

Egg laying begins in late April - early May, and high in the mountains - in early June. Fertilization and laying of eggs occur as in other newts, while the female Carpathian newt, like the common one, wraps the egg in a leaf or blade of grass under water. One female lays from 100 to 250 eggs with a diameter of 2.2-2.8 mm. The eggs develop in about 30 days at a temperature of 15-17°. The larva develops in water for about three months and completes metamorphosis, reaching 40-42 mm in length. In the highlands, the larvae do not have time to complete development during the hatching season and overwinter in the reservoir, metamorphosing the following summer. In places where Carpathian newts live together with common ones, hybrids between them are known. From above, the hybrids are similar to the Carpathian newt, but their abdomen is spotted, like an ordinary one.

Alpine newt(Triturus alpestris) is one of the most beautiful newts. The smooth skin of the male's back is dark greyish-brown with a blue tint, brightest in the middle of the back, where the low crest runs. There are a number of dark blue spots of irregular shape on the sides. Cheeks and limbs are also spotted. The belly and throat are fiery orange. The ridge of the back, which turns into the fin edge of the tail, appears checkered due to alternating light and dark almost rectangular spots. The tail is bluish-gray at the top, olive-gray at the bottom, and has blue spots scattered on its edge. Females are less brightly colored and do not have a dorsal crest. Length is about 9 cm, half of which is on the tail.

Distributed in Central Europe from Central Spain, Northern Italy and Greece north to Denmark and east to the Carpathians inclusive. In our country it is found only in Western Ukraine, in the mountainous and foothill regions of the Carpathians. Like the Carpathian newt, it lives from the foothills to the very tops of the mountains, occupying all kinds of shady and damp places. In the northeastern and northern regions In the Carpathians, this newt is rare, on the contrary, in the southeast and south of the Soviet Carpathians - in Bukovina, the alpine newt is the most numerous species of tailed amphibians.

Appears in reservoirs in March, April or early May, depending on altitude. Leaves the reservoir at the end of July - in August. It winters on land, in the forest floor, under stones and fallen tree trunks.

In water it feeds on daphnia (35-40%), larvae of mosquitoes (25-30%), biting mosquitoes (10-15%), larvae of caddis flies (10-15%), flies (10%), as well as mayflies , mollusks, shell crustaceans, stonefly larvae, etc. The food of the Alpine newt is very diverse, which distinguishes it from other species that live with it. On land it feeds on earthworms, naked slugs, spiders, and insects.

Lays eggs on different days of May, depending on the altitude of the habitat. It is indiscriminate in water bodies and often breeds in polluted ditches. The eggs are laid in small groups, 3-5 pieces, among the leaves of aquatic plants. One female lays about 100 eggs with a diameter of 1.2-1.3 mm. The larvae hatch after 16-20 days, have a length of 5 - 7 mm. By mid-August, having reached 20-24 mm in length, they complete metamorphosis and leave the reservoir. High in the mountains, the larvae remain for the winter; There are cases when the larvae remained in the water for several years, reaching sizes of 7-8 cm, i.e., the phenomenon of partial neoteny was noted.

Marbled newt(Triturus marmoratus), common in Portugal, Spain and France, is also very beautiful. The color of the upper side and sides of the body is green with a black marbled pattern. The male's dorsal crest and the upper part of the caudal fin are covered with alternating black and white vertical stripes. A silvery-white stripe runs along the sides of the tail. Instead of a dorsal crest, the female has an orange-yellow or red groove along her back. Its lifestyle is similar to that of the common newt.

Common in Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany filamentous, or membranous, newt(Triturus helveticus) is interesting for some features of its structure. A long thread-like process protrudes from the blunt end of the tail, longitudinal ridges stretch on both sides of the ridge, and the toes of the hind legs are connected by a swimming membrane. In males in breeding plumage, instead of a crest, a small protrusion is formed on the back, which turns into an upper border on the tail. The upper side is olive-brown in color, the sides are yellowish with a metallic sheen, and the lower part of the sides is shiny white, with an orange stripe running along the belly. On the sides of the tail, between two longitudinal rows of dark spots, stripes of a bluish tint appear.

Another European species - spanish newt(T. boscai) also lacks a crest.

Probably the most beautiful of the newts - Asia Minor newt(Triturus vittatus). Males have a very high, jagged crest that ends abruptly at the base of the tail. The upper side of the body of males in breeding plumage is a magnificent bronze-olive color with dark spots. A silver stripe protrudes sharply on the sides of the body, bordered above and below by darker stripes; On the sides of the tail there are two dark longitudinal stripes, which then turn into one longitudinal row of dark spots elongated across. The belly is orange-yellow or orange-red. Asia Minor newts reach 14 cm in length.

Distributed in the Western Caucasus and Asia Minor, where it lives at altitudes of 600-2750 m, apparently spending the whole year in water, where it winters. It prefers clean, flowing reservoirs with rich aquatic vegetation at altitudes of about 1000 m. After wintering, it appears at the end of March and lays eggs in April. The larvae metamorphose, having a length of 28-32 mm. The lifestyle has been little studied.

Spiny or ribbed newt(Pleurodeles waltli), which belongs to a special genus close to salamanders, is interesting in that a series of tubercles are formed on the sides of its body on each side, through which the pointed ends of the ribs protrude. The skin is granular, rich in glands. There is no dorsal ridge, and the tail is trimmed with small fin folds. The color is brown with vague spots on the back. The belly is buffy with small dark spots. There are orange-red spots on the sides of the body surrounding the protruding ends of the ribs. Length 20-23 cm, slightly less than half of which is on the tail.

Distributed in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, where it lives in ponds, lakes, and ditches. Obviously, it leads both aquatic and terrestrial lifestyles, but is better known as the newt, which can not leave the reservoir for years. It breeds in February - March and again in July - August, laying about 1000 eggs over two breeding periods. The female eggs are attached to plants in the form of short chains. Lives well in aquariums; There are cases where spiny newts lived in captivity for up to 20 years.

Another species of the same genus, Pleurodeles poireti, is common in North Africa.

The genus of so-called mountain newts(Euproctes) contains three species, two of which are limited in their distribution to the islands of Corsica (E. montanus) and Sardinia (E. platycephalus). Great Pyrenean newt(Euproctes asper) is common in the Pyrenees mountains, at altitudes up to 2000 m. It lives in clean mountain lakes and streams. During the breeding season, the male firmly grasps the female with his forepaws and grabs her with his teeth, transferring the spermatophore into the female’s cloaca. Large eggs, about 2.5 mm in diameter (without shells), are laid singly on underwater plants or stones.

Asian newts The genera Cynops (4 species in Japan and China), Pachytriton (1 species in Southeast China), Hypselotriton (1 species in Southern China), Neurergus (1 species in Asia Minor) are almost completely unstudied. Only fire-bellied newt(Cynops pyrrhogaster), which is often kept in aquariums due to its beautiful coloration, chocolate on top and bright red below, as well as its mobility and funny disposition, is better known than others. After mating, its female lays eggs in March, like our newts.

American newts the genera Taricha (3 species), Diemictylus (3 species) and Nothopthalmus (1-2 species) were previously assigned to the genus Triturus. They really resemble our newts in appearance and lifestyle, but they also have some features.

California newt(Taricha torosa) and related species (T. rivularis, T. sierrae) are common on the Pacific coast of North America.

The California newt, 16 - 19 cm long, brown-fawn in color, lives both on land and in water. In December - March they have a breeding season and newts gather in small forest lakes. The first to arrive are the males, who develop bright breeding colors and caudal fin folds. They meet each female, surrounding her with a dense ring, and begin mating games. One of the males grabs the female with his front paws, sits astride her, and the pair of newts swims together for a long time. At this time, the male rubs his cloaca against the female’s back and strokes her muzzle with his chin. On the male's chin there are special glands that secrete a secretion that excites the female. The male then releases a spermatophore, which the female captures with the cloaca. The female lays small portions of eggs containing from 7 to 29 eggs, 2-2.5 mm in diameter, on underwater plants. The larvae at the time of hatching are 11 - 12 mm long.

Greenish newt(Diemictylus viridescens) and related small newts 7-9 mm long, inhabiting the eastern half of North America, are interesting for the sharp changes in their color and skin structure during periods of life on land and in water. These changes are so great that the same newts caught in water and on land were long considered to belong to different species.

Until reaching sexual maturity, i.e., the first 2-3 years, the greenish newt lives only on land, hiding in the forest floor. It has granular, rough skin, yellowish-red or brownish-red on top and sides with brighter red spots bordered with black. When it enters a pond, it acquires smooth olive-green skin with a row of red eye-shaped spots with black borders. The underside of the body is always orange with small dark speckles. Reproduction occurs in April, when, after mating games, accompanied by the laying of a spermatophore, which the female grabs with the cloaca, she lays 200-275 eggs individually on aquatic plants. After 20-35 days, the eggs hatch into larvae 7.5 mm long. In mid-summer, the larvae metamorphose, and young newts leave the pond, only to return in 2-3 years.

Wikipedia encyclopedic dictionary - includes species of the class Amphibians, common in Great Britain. The class Amphibia in the UK includes 8 native species (3 species of caudate and 5 species of anuran). Contents 1 Order Caudata (Caudata) ... Wikipedia

Includes species of the Amphibian class, common in Ukraine. Currently, 20 species have been recorded on the territory of Ukraine. Contents 1 List of species 1.1 Order Caudata (Caudata) ... Wikipedia

Salamanders - who are they: reptiles or amphibians? What does science say about these creatures? The first look at a salamander tells us that these creatures are relatives of lizards, but wait! Don't make hasty conclusions! After all, if lizards are reptiles, then salamanders are...

These are real amphibians! And frogs are much more “native” to them than the representatives of the suborder “Lizards” that are so similar to them. The closest relatives, from a scientific point of view, of salamanders are newts.

Salamanders are the most numerous group among all representatives of tailed amphibians.

By structure internal organs these animals are divided into lungless and pulmonary. In connection with this structure, the habitat also differs: the first category is exclusively aquatic, but the second prefers to combine a land lifestyle with a terrestrial one.

As already mentioned, salamanders (especially pulmonary salamanders) resemble lizards in appearance: they have an elongated body, a long tail, and short legs. In lungless salamanders, the tail and body have a highly elongated, serpentine shape. The eye of these animals has a movable eyelid, the body is covered with thin, very delicate skin, however, like all amphibians. For normal life, the salamander needs its skin to be constantly moisturized and covered with special mucus, otherwise the animal will have problems breathing, because these creatures breathe not only with their lungs, but also with the entire surface of their body. Speaking of mucus, in some species of salamanders it is poisonous, which makes these amphibians completely inedible and even potentially dangerous to other animals.

Salamanders can have any body color. Some species have very modest, inconspicuous skin, while other salamanders are endowed with bright “clothes”: red, yellow, orange, or a speckled pattern, which is also very expressive, such as.

The sizes of these amphibians vary; body length can range from 7 to 25 centimeters. Some species (for example, the Caucasian salamander) are capable of self-regeneration: that is, they can cast off a tail, which then grows back - this in some way makes them similar to lizards.

These animals live in North America, as well as in Eurasia. Most often, salamanders can be found in the waters of streams, in damp forests and even in dark caves.

By way of life, all salamanders are solitary. These animals go out in search of food after dark. When cold seasons arrive, salamanders (many species) hibernate. The main diet of salamanders consists of various insects.

About reproduction... The mating season begins for salamanders with the arrival of spring. Fertilization in these animals is external, as is the case with other amphibians living on Earth. However, there are some differences between different types of salamanders. For example, pulmonary salamanders pull eggs fertilized by the male inside themselves, and release them out only when the maturation process is completed (sometimes this lasts 10 months). As soon as the clutch is laid again, larvae immediately emerge from the eggs. Outwardly, they do not look like their parents. But in lungless salamanders, on the contrary, the hatched larvae are just like adults (in appearance). Lungless (aquatic) salamanders protect their clutches until the offspring hatch.

Salamanders are the largest group of tailed amphibians, numbering more than 200 species. Close relatives of salamanders are newts. All salamanders are divided into 2 families - true and lungless salamanders. The main difference between them is that true salamanders are typically amphibious animals that breathe with lungs, while lungless salamanders are purely aquatic, and therefore their lungs are reduced.

Despite the name, the red-spotted or eastern American newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) also belongs to the salamanders.

All types of salamanders have the same structure: an elongated body with a long tail, a small head and short, weak legs. In general, true salamanders are shorter and stubbier, while lungless salamanders often have a very elongated body and tail, almost serpentine in shape. Salamanders have movable eyelids. Their tongue is short, their jaws are weak with small teeth. The body of salamanders, like all amphibians, is covered with thin, rather delicate skin. It is always wet, since salamanders breathe not only with their lungs, but also with the entire surface of their body. In addition to moisturizing mucus, the skin of some salamanders may contain poisonous glands, the secretion of which makes them completely inedible. The coloring of different species of salamanders is of two types: in some species it is dark and inconspicuous, while in others it is bright - red, orange, yellow - with a spotted or speckled pattern. The bright color serves as a warning to predators.

The fire or spotted salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is poisonous.

The Caucasian salamander is capable of shedding its tail like a lizard, then the tail grows back. The size of different types of salamanders varies from 7 to 25 cm.

Salamanders can be found in Europe and Asia, but they have reached their greatest diversity in North America. The habitats of these amphibians are varied, but are somehow connected with water. Most species live in streams, some hide under trees in damp forests, and some have adapted to living in dark caves.

Oklahoma salamanders (Eurycea tynerensis) hide under rocks.

Salamanders are solitary animals. They show diurnal activity and usually come out of hiding at night. With the arrival of cold weather, many species of salamanders hibernate.

These animals feed on woodlice, slugs, small insects and earthworms. The breeding season occurs in spring. Salamanders, like all amphibians, have external fertilization, but the fate of the fertilized eggs is different. Females of true salamanders draw eggs fertilized by the male into their cloaca, where their further development occurs. The female lays eggs again when the development of the embryo is completed (sometimes this process lasts up to 10 months). Larvae are immediately born from the laid eggs. In the Alpine salamander, only two larvae generally develop in the body, and the rest of the eggs go to feed these two embryos.

Alpine salamander (Salamandra atra).

Lungless salamanders guard the clutch of eggs until the offspring hatch. The clutches of salamanders are gelatinous lumps; the number of eggs in salamanders is small (12-30), but they are large.

The salamander's clutch is eaten by caddisfly larvae.

The larvae of true salamanders undergo a metamorphosis characteristic of all amphibians, and the larvae of lungless salamanders are similar to adult animals. They reach full development only by 2-3 years.

The enemies of fragile salamanders are snakes, birds, and sometimes small animals. However, due to their relatively small numbers and hidden lifestyle, salamanders are not systematically preyed on by these animals. Rather, they end up on the tooth by accident. Due to the peculiarities of their physiology, salamanders are very vulnerable to drought, cold, and drying direct sun rays. Therefore, they are found only in untouched areas with dense vegetation and an abundance of natural shelters. Many species of salamanders are endemic (that is, they live in a very limited area) and are under the strictest protection.

The red-footed salamander (Plethodon shermani) is one of the American endemics.

Classification

View: salamander

Squad: tailed amphibians

Type: chordates

Family: real salamanders

Subfamily: salamanders

Class: amphibians

Dimensions: body length - 15 mm - 170 cm, in most cases - 20 - 25 cm; body weight - from 30 mg to 80 kg

Lifespan: on average 20 - 25 years, but can reach 50 years of age in captivity.

The salamander is a mysterious creature that has been described in many ancient myths and stories. Sometimes she was even called the messenger of hell, which is largely due to the toxicity of the entire species.

And even now, when this amphibian has been fully studied, it still inspires fear in some.

The salamander is a mysterious creature that has been described in many ancient myths and stories. Christians even called her the messenger of hell, which is largely due to the toxicity of the entire species.

And even now, when this amphibian has been fully studied, it still inspires fear in some.

The group of salamanders is the largest among amphibians. Varieties of these amphibians can be found in different parts of the planet, and each individual representative will be somewhat different.

Habitat

If you want to see the maximum diversity of salamanders, then you should go to North America - this part of the world is heavily favored by reptiles.

They also live in Asia and Europe, and some individual species are found in those places where they are most comfortable, regardless of the presence of nearby family members.

For example, in eastern China you can see the largest existing salamander. The giant reptile reaches 80 kg in weight and 180-190 cm in length (including the tail part of the body).

This species is called Chinese-giant, and despite its external danger, its representatives feed modestly: small fish, amphibians and invertebrates that live in the water.

The giant salamander is considered the largest amphibian in the world. this moment, so she stands out not only among her species.

This is what it looks like giant salamander. This reptile prefers to live in forests and hills, but there must be a body of water nearby.

The Chinese-giant variety of these creatures is slowly beginning to die out, which is why the relevant organizations are holding various rallies and putting all their efforts into preserving the species.

So, despite their rather terrifying appearance, reptiles are actively protected.

Interesting!The fire salamander is the most common representative of this family; it lives throughout Europe, but it can also be found in Germany, Poland and Portugal. Individual populations can be found even in Turkey.

Characteristic

There are salamanders different types and sizes, but they all equally pose a threat to other creatures. The fire salamander, just like all other species, is a poisonous amphibian.

It is important to consider that members of the family are divided into two types:

• real;
• lungless.

The latter are distinguished by the absence of lungs and can breathe exclusively through the skin.

This family currently numbers about 400 species, and this figure for tailed amphibians is simply huge.

But the number of real salamanders is even greater, and it is constantly increasing: scientists are still discovering new populations around the world.

By the way, it is the lungless type of these amphibians that can be seen much more often in the water.

Tailed amphibians, which have a full set of necessary organs, often go ashore and calmly walk along it.

Salamanders, which belong to the lungless type, differ in appearance from their counterparts. Their body is highly elongated, which is why such reptiles most closely resemble snakes. In the photo you can see what a salamander looks like without lungs.

Interesting!A giant salamander, if positioned vertically, would be taller than the average man. This animal reaches 1.7 meters in length, thanks to which it holds the title of “the largest tailed amphibian.” Well, the smallest representative of the family does not exceed the size of a 5-kopeck coin.

Appearance

All salamanders are similar in structure: they have an elongated body, a long tail, underdeveloped limbs and a small head.

These animals move much better in water (as already mentioned, this mainly refers to the lungless type), precisely because of their short and undeveloped legs.

Such tailed amphibians are very interesting due to their variety of colors and sizes: in nature you can find amazing representatives of some species that really look like miniature dragons.

An animal belonging to any type of salamander has movable eyelids, thanks to which it can examine the situation around it.

In addition, such tailed amphibians have very poorly developed jaws, and in general the oral region is not conducive to eating solid food.

The fire salamander has a rather unusual coloring that will definitely attract the attention of any unlucky tourist. But behind the bright appearance lies a toxic poison that can kill several living creatures at once.

Most of all, this dangerous animal resembles a familiar lizard, for example, but the differences between them are easily noticeable upon closer examination.

It’s not just about the colors, which are more prominent in salamanders, but also about other factors. Poisonous amphibians have a slimy, long body and bright eyes.

Interesting!In many myths, the salamander is designated as a servant of dark forces. Partly because of its danger to surrounding creatures, and also because of its unusual appearance, any member of the family in the past was considered a serious threat to people. At the same time, the poison of this amphibian cannot kill a person; the maximum effect after it is a burn.

Key Features

Quite a lot has already been written about what a salamander looks like, but there is one more thing in its appearance. interesting feature, which distinguishes it from many amphibians: the absence of membranes between the fingers.

This factor may seem insignificant, but even it casts doubt on whether this creature belongs to this particular type of animal.

The photo shows an alpine black newt, one of the most poisonous representatives of the salamander class. At the same time, its length rarely exceeds 12 cm, and this animal prefers to live in gorges and dense forests.

The interesting facts don’t end there, here are a few more of them:

1. The fire salamander, like all species from this family, has a toxic venom that is found on the surface of its skin. It is secreted by the parotid glands, and this process occurs constantly. The peculiarity is that if, for example, a dog eats a salamander, it will soon die.
2. The poison of these animals is called salamandrin in chemistry. It is really dangerous for humans only when consumed internally, which is why the use of these amphibians as food is prohibited. It is also noteworthy that they use their poison exclusively for the purpose of self-defense, and not for hunting.
3. The giant salamander prefers to be in water, or to be more precise: in cold and fast-flowing mountain streams. And despite its large size, this animal does not disdain to feed on insects and crustaceans, alternating them with fish. The activity period of this species is at night.
4. All salamanders have the ability to regenerate not only the tail, but also the rest of the limbs. In this feature they resemble lizards, but in this factor they are also ahead of them in development.
5. According to German mythology, this family of amphibians personifies the spirit of fire. Moreover, the Germans in their stories attribute to salamanders the ability to tolerate combustion temperatures without any damage. From the point of view of the Christian faith, these creatures are messengers of the devil. And indeed, judging by the way the salamander looks, one might get such an impression.

Not all species of these amphibians have a frightening appearance, as many have a neutral coloration. But the fire salamander easily inspires fear with its color alone: ​​bright yellow or orange spots on a black, sometimes brown body.

Interesting!This animal hibernates in winter, like many others. Around October, the poisonous amphibian takes refuge in a pile of fallen leaves, and sometimes even huddles together with its fellows.

Nutrition

The diet of such a tailed amphibian as the salamander depends to a small extent on its species.

Predators among these animals can be counted on the fingers of one hand, while populations of the family are found in all corners of the world.

This is largely due to the underdeveloped jaw and innate laziness of this group. In general, the daily menu of each of its representatives most often includes:

• caterpillars;
• spiders and butterflies;
• slugs and earthworms;
• small newts and frogs (the fire salamander especially loves them).

If we talk about larger individuals of these amphibians, then they prefer to use;

• small amphibians;
• crustaceans.

This diet is preferred by the giant salamander and some other individuals of this family that live in water bodies. These creatures go hunting at night; during the day their activity is extremely low.

In addition, they prefer not to attack predators, and reduce the likelihood of collisions with potential enemies to a minimum.

In the photo you can see how the giant salamander rested in the man’s arms. This once again challenges the idea that these creatures are capable of eating people.

Interesting!By the way, there is also a myth about the immortality of the salamander. At one time, people were so afraid of these animals that they attributed fantastic abilities to them, so some facts of the past regarding this family are greatly distorted.

Reproduction

The fire salamander prefers to reproduce immediately after hibernation. During this period, she shows maximum activity and is completely ready for fertilization.

This process, as well as mating games, for these ambitions takes place on land.

In males, a special sac is formed in which the germ cells (spermatophore) are located.

Once it is fully formed, the male lays it on the ground. After this, the female presses against the spermatophore, resulting in fertilization.

In the end, the female can deposit the “ready” cells into the water, or continue to carry them inside herself. Small larvae can also be born in two ways:

• hatching from eggs directly into water;
• after the process of viviparity.

It all depends on the mother of the offspring and her choice. By the way, scientists have not established exactly how the salamanders perform it.

Apparently, maternal instinct is responsible for these actions, but this theory is not one hundred percent proven.

The cub turns into an adult upon reaching 3 years of age. After this, it can live another 12-15 years and reproduce regularly.

Interesting!Individuals aged 50 years or more are seen very rarely. As a rule, such salamanders grow in their natural environment and, until the last moment, are able to provide themselves with waste products.

At one time there was a rumor circulating online that a 200-year-old giant salamander had been found in China. This information was disseminated not only by entertainment portals, but also by serious publications. The photo shows exactly the same specimen caught by an ordinary fisherman.

Interesting!China is one of the few countries in the world where salamanders are still eaten. We are talking specifically about the largest representatives of the family. Some parts of the body and substances extracted from the body of this amphibian are also used for medical purposes.

Like many other dangerous animals, salamanders can be safely kept in your own apartment, observing necessary measures safety and providing proper care.

For these amphibians, as in keeping , and, it is best to buy a horizontal or cubic terrarium.

To fill it with the right soil, you can use a mixture of moss, bark, peat, soil and charcoal. In this case, the moss will need to be constantly replaced, since it will not be able to grow in the conditions of the terrarium.

Important rules for keeping salamanders:

1. You must not overheat the place where the amphibian is kept, as this will prevent it from breathing comfortably. These animals tolerate low temperatures very well.
2. A period of hunger strike is normal for this reptile. She may not feed during the molting period.
3. For lighting, it is better to use lamps that do not affect the temperature, or rather, fluorescent ones. To decorate the terrarium, you can use plants and large stones.
4. We must not forget about the importance of a reservoir in which the water must be replaced regularly.

Fire salamander in a terrarium. This baby is moving actively and clearly feels great.

Salamander: Miniature dragon with a rich history

The salamander looks like an ordinary small amphibian with an interesting coloring, but the history of its species is fraught with many mysterious myths and secrets. In addition, this creature can move in water and has the ability to regenerate limbs.