Salamander
Salamander is the common name applied to approximately 500
amphibian
vertebrates with slender bodies, short legs, and long tails . The moist skin of the amphibians limits them to habitats either near water or under some protection on moist ground, usually in a
forest. Some species are aquatic throughout life, some take to the water intermittently, and some are entirely terrestrial as adults. Their ability to switch between swimming and walking makes them interesting animals to study the evolution of locomotion during vertebrate evolution. The two types of gaits have been studied using neuromechanical simulations .
Encyclopedia
Salamander is the common name applied to approximately 500
amphibian
vertebrates with slender bodies, short legs, and long tails . The moist skin of the amphibians limits them to habitats either near water or under some protection on moist ground, usually in a
forest. Some species are aquatic throughout life, some take to the water intermittently, and some are entirely terrestrial as adults. Their ability to switch between swimming and walking makes them interesting animals to study the evolution of locomotion during vertebrate evolution. The two types of gaits have been studied using neuromechanical simulations .
Salamanders superficially resemble
lizards, but are easily distinguished by their lack of scales. They are capable of regenerating lost limbs.
The female members of the suborder Salamandroidea have cloacal glands in their cloacal chamber called spermathecae used to store sperm, as well as cloacal lips to pick up the male spermatophores.
The suborders Cryptobranchoidea and
Sirenoidea have external fertilization.
Adult salamanders who retain their external gills are called perennibranchiate species.
Some salamanders retain their juvenile, gilled morphology but become sexually mature in a process called neoteny. The
Axolotl,
Ambystoma mexicanum, is a textbook example of a neotenic salamander, although there are many more neotenic species within the
Ambystoma species complex. The juvenile form is retained to avoid the rigors of terrestrial life.
Species of salamanders are numerous and found in most moist or aqueous habitats in the northern hemisphere. Most are small but some reach up to 5 feet in length. They live in brooks and ponds and other moist locations.
North America has the
hellbender and the
mudpuppy which can reach the length of a foot or more. In Japan and China the
giant salamander is found, which reaches 5 feet and weighs up to 30 kilograms .
Salamander habitat is generally restricted to mostly the
northern hemisphere, with the exception of a few species living in the northernmost part of
South America. Although common on the European mainland, salamanders are not a native species of either
Great Britain or
Ireland.
Mythology
The mythical salamander resembles the real salamander somewhat in appearance, but makes its home in fires, the hotter the better. Early travelers to
China were shown garments supposedly woven from salamander wool; the cloth was completely unharmed by fire. The garments had actually been
woven from
asbestos. Later
Paracelsus suggested that the salamander was the elemental of
fire. Because of this, salamanders have often been associated with
dragons because of their connection with fire. These myths originate in Europe from the fire salamander,
Salamandra salamandra, which hibernates in and under rotting logs. When logs were brought indoors and put on the fire, the animals mysteriously appeared from the flames.
King
Francois I of France used a salamander as his personal emblem.
Popular Culture
Salamander is a 2D shoot 'em up series by Konami. It is generally considered a sister series to
Gradius, and the games feature a variation on the Gradius power-up system, as well as both horizontal and vertically scrolling levels.
Salamanders are magical beasts mentioned in the
Harry Potter books are an immensely popular series of fantasy novel [i]s by British [i]...
series.
In
Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian [i] fiction [i] novel by Ray Bradbury [i].
...
by
Ray Bradbury, the salamander, along with the mythical phoenix, is a symbol of the firemen.
In the
Discworld is a series [i] of thirty-four fantasy novels, a number of short stories, and ...
series of books, salamanders are used by
Iconographers to create flash for their pictures
The
MMORPG World Of Warcraft features humanoid salamander creatures that can be found in the raid zone
Molten Core, including several bosses. They are generally referred to as Flamewakers, which is likely a nod to the aforementioned information about fire salamanders.
In , Salamander can be summoned by Nathan, providing him with fire-elemental magic.
In the second and third installments of the games in the Megaman: Battle Network series, a powerful attack known as the Salamander, harnessed the power of fire and sent a great flame in the shape of the creature flying at the enemy if the player had a style aligned with fire.
In
Lost Magic, the Salamander is one of the four elementals, found in Blaze Lake; attacks using fireballs.
In
Battletech, the Salamander is a fearsome Clan anti-battlemech and anti-infantry battle armor that utilizes a flamethrower type weapon in conjunction with incendiary missiles.
In the anime Legendz, Salamander is an anthropomorphic salamander who is relegated a role as a minor character.
Classification
There are ten families belonging to the order
Urodela, divided into three suborders:
References
External references
