Spotted cross-tooth newt
| Spotted cross-tooth newt | ||||||||||||
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Spotted newt ( Ambystoma maculatum ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ambystoma maculatum | ||||||||||||
| ( Shaw , 1802) |
The stain tooth cross pig ( Ambystoma maculatum ) is a native to North America tailed amphibian (caudata) from the superfamily of Salamander relatives (Salamandroidea).
features
The spotted cross-tooth newt reaches a maximum total length of 25 centimeters. The skin is smooth and shiny. The head, back, flanks and tail are deep black, blue-black or black-brown in color and provided with a few, mostly circular, yellow or orange to cream-colored spots. The underside is colored gray without drawing. The mouth is very wide and shovel-shaped. The palatal teeth are arranged in transverse rows. Males can be recognized by the more strongly developed cloaca . The larvae that live in the water and are afflicted with gills are gray-green and show small black dots that are distributed over the entire body. In terms of color and drawing, the species is similar to the Californian tiger cross-toothed newt ( Ambystoma californiense ). However, since this occurs exclusively in California , there is no geographical overlap between the two species.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the spotted cross-toothed newt extends from eastern Canada and the USA to eastern Texas . Adult animals live in moist deciduous forests and like to hide in caves in the ground, under tree stumps or in the leaves. Their larvae prefer to inhabit small, fish-free waters.
Way of life and development
Adult individuals feed primarily on various insects and worms. They are mostly nocturnal. Their aquatic, gill- equipped young animals are aggressive hunters and eat smaller animals that can overwhelm them, including aquatic insect larvae, worms, snails, crustaceans and frog tadpoles . Cannibalism sometimes occurs with overpopulations . In the spring, after most of the snow has melted and rainy days set in, the amphibian mating season begins. After mating, the eggs are attached to aquatic plants or stones in small pools as spawning balls . On average, a spawning ball contains 200 eggs protected in a gelatinous mass. This protective layer can be transparent if it contains a water-soluble protein or it can be cloudy whitish if it contains a crystalline hydrophobic protein. Brood care does not take place. Mutualistic algae live in the cells of the embryos and in the surrounding gel layer of the spawn , which promote the development of the larvae. While the algae provide their host with oxygen, the algae benefit in return from the ammonia excreted by the newts. Depending on the climatic conditions, the larvae hatch after four to seven weeks. The metamorphosis , i.e. H. the transformation of the aquatic tadpole to the terrestrial form is also mainly dependent on the climatic environmental conditions. Sexual maturity takes place in warmer areas after two years, in colder areas only after seven years.
Danger
The species sometimes occurs in large numbers in its distribution areas and is therefore classified as 
( least concern = not endangered) by the World Conservation Organization IUCN . In the future, however, a decline is to be expected in areas due to drainage and infrastructure measures.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Lauren Pajerski, George Hammond & Nichol Stout, Animal Diversity Web Ambystoma maculatum, Spotted Salamander , University of Michigan, USA, Museum of Zoology, (accessed at http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ambystoma_maculatum/ on 26. July 2017)
- ↑ a b c Wesley K. Savage & Kelly R. Zamudio: Ambystoma maculatum , AmphibiaWeb, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, (viewed at http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Ambystoma&where- species = maculatum on July 26, 2017)
- ↑ Laurence M. Hardy & M. Cran Lucas (1991). A crystalline protein is responsible for dimorphic egg jellies in the spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum (Shaw) (Caudata: Ambystomatidae) . Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. 100A (3): pp. 653-660. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/030096299190385P?via%3Dihub
- ↑ Kerney, R. Symbiosis (2011) 54: 107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-011-0134-2
- ^ IUCN Red List
Web links
- Spotted newt (Ambystoma maculatum) in the Encyclopedia of Life . Retrieved August 11, 2017.