Gené's cave salamander
| Gené's cave salamander | ||||||||||||
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Gené's Cave Salamander ( Atylodes genei ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Atylodes | ||||||||||||
| Gistel , 1868 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Atylodes genei | ||||||||||||
| ( Temminck & Schlegel , 1838) |
Brown cave salamander ( Atylodes genei , Syn. : Speleomantes genei is a southern European) salamander of the family lungless salamander (Plethodontidae).
features
Adult animals reach a maximum length of 14 cm. The tail of the salamander is relatively short, the head is broad and clearly separated from the neck. The eyes protrude, the muzzle is blunt. Fingers and toes are short, rounded, and up to half of their length connected with tension skins.
The back color is very variable and can be yellowish, olive or dark brown and have light or dark spots. The belly is yellowish or pale pink and can be darkly pollinated.
distribution
This species lives in the south-east of Sardinia .
Way of life
Gené's cave salamander occurs in the mountains up to heights of about 1000 meters and lives in caves and in the open in shady, damp places under stones, tree stumps, rotten wood stacks and in crevices. They are pure rural dwellers who swim poorly but climb well. Because they have no lungs, breathing occurs exclusively through the oral mucosa and the body surface. Gené's cave salamanders feed on small insects, woodlice and spiders, which are preyed on with their sticky, quick-flinging tongue.
Reproduction
As with other cave salamanders, mating occurs on land. The male climbs onto the female and clasps it with his front legs. Both partners wiggle their tails. The male then releases his embrace and begins the "mating march", the male first and the female afterwards, during which the male deposits a spermatophore on the ground. This seed packet is then taken up by the female with her cloaca . Later, mostly in spring, the female lays a few eggs in burrows and guards them there. The young hatch from the eggs after about 12 months.
Hazard and protection
Gené's cave salamander is classified by the IUCN as "Near Threatened" (corresponds roughly to the German category "Warning List"). There are no indications that the total population is falling. Habitat loss can occur locally , and specimens are sometimes illegally collected.
Gené's cave salamander is listed by the European Union in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive and is therefore a species of community interest that must be strictly protected, for whose preservation special protection areas must be designated by the member states.
literature
- Axel Kwet: Reptiles and Amphibians of Europe. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-440-10237-8 .
- Andreas Nöllert, Christel Nöllert: The amphibians of Europe. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-440-06340-2 .
Web links
- Speleomantes genei in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Franco Andreone, Roberta Lecis, Paul Edgar, Claudia Corti, Roberto Sindaco Antonio Romano, 2008. Accessed February 14 2012th
- Arie van der Meijden, Research associate, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley. " Hydromantes genei " (eng.). AmphibiaWeb, University of California.
- American Museum of Natural History Amphibian Species of the World 5.5
- More images from Gené's cave salamander