Amphibians are cold blooded animals. Amphibian means double life and it is given to this group for the double life that they lead. They usually live on land but their eggs must be laid in the water. The larva frog or tadpole live their early years in the water. The amphibians have slimy skin. Frogs, Salamanders, and Newts are all amphibians. A newt is a Salamander but a newt is just what they call it in Europe. Did you know that frogs have teeth and that they can hear? If a toad has a puffy pocket on its back it is poisonous!

 

The salamander is a very bright and colorful animal. The tiger or spotted salamander lizards are the one's that really caught my eye. The tiger salamander is very bright and catchy. It is a dark black with yellow stripes. There is also the spotted salamander, which is black with very bright yellow dots. Breeding usually takes place from December to February. Permanent pools in colder regions may be permanent homes, so a forest is a perfect home for the Salamander. They are commonly found in the states east of Minnesota or in the Pine Country.

 

Some of the food they eat is invertebrates such worms, insects, and moths. Adults secrete a milky toxin from a gland on the back of their tails for defense against predators. In the wild they will eat almost any thing that wiggles, is small and that they can swallow. In the zoo they eat crickets, moths, and worms.

 

Author: Josh P.

Published: April 2006

 

Sources: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/narcam/idguide/ambymacu.htm Dorota. "Weird Frog Facts." Frogland. (1999)Nov. 1999). http://allaboutfrogs.org Holt Science & Technology, United States of America Holt, Rinehart and Winston,2001 Peggy Intrator,Scholastic Children's Dictionary,Broadway, NY Scholastic Inc.,1996

 

Photo Credit: http://www.amphibiainfo.com/gallery/caudata/ambystomatidae/ambystoma/ maculatum/ambystoma_maculatum.jpg