Caucasian salamander
| Caucasian salamander | ||||||||||||
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Caucasian salamander ( Mertensiella caucasica ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Mertensiella | ||||||||||||
| Wolterstorff , 1925 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Mertensiella caucasica | ||||||||||||
| ( Waga , 1876) |
The Caucasian salamander ( Mertensiella caucasica ) is the only species from the genus Mertensiella . The Lycian salamander , which was also classified there until a few years ago , is now listed in seven species under the genus Lyciasalamandra .
The genus Mertensiella was named in honor of the German herpetologist Robert Mertens .
features
The up to 18 centimeters long Caucasus salamander is a slender salamander with a relatively long tail with a round cross-section. The elongated head is characterized by distinct ear glands and large "frog eyes". The trunk is segmented by 12 to 13 constrictions (ribs). The animal is dark brown in color and has two mostly separate, golden-yellow to copper-red longitudinal stripes on its back, which connect to a continuous longitudinal stripe on the tail. The tail length is one and a half times greater than the head-body length.
The male has a "pseudopenis" at the base of the tail - a large, upwardly directed, curved hump that is used as a stimulus during mating. It also develops heat calluses on the upper arms.
Occurrence, way of life
The distribution area of the Caucasian salamander is limited southeast of the Black Sea to the area of Transcaucasia and extends from Trabzon ( Turkey ) to Borjomi in Georgia .
The species lives in moist beech forests with abundant shrub growth, mosses and ferns at 400 to 2800 meters above sea level, but most often around 1000 m above sea level. The animals often stay in the splash zone of streams, but also under tree trunks.
For longest part of the year, the Caucasian salamander lives hidden in the system of gaps and crevices in the ground. From the beginning of May to September it is active above ground in the twilight and night hours and in rainy weather. He flees lizard-like nimble and can swim neatly wriggling. In addition to worms and snails, very agile river fleas also serve as prey.
In dangerous situations, the tail of the Caucasian salamander can exceptionally break off. However, the animal should then generally no longer be viable, so that it would not be a question of a survival strategy comparable to that of lizards .
Reproduction, individual development
The mating takes place in the cold shallow water of streams. The male first wraps around the female's hind legs and later its front legs from below. The couple swims in the water for some time. Later on land, the female cloaca with the caudal hump is stimulated first by lateral pendulum movements and later by being inserted into the cloaca. After the spermatophores have settled on the floor, the male angles his lower body to one side and the female cloaca descends on the seed carrier.
After the snowmelt in April to May, the eggs are laid in underground cavities in rivers. The eggs are glued to stones or water plants. The larvae, which are initially 35 millimeters long, feed primarily on small crustaceans and insect larvae. The young salamanders are 80 to 85 millimeters long during metamorphosis after one to four years of larval development time.
literature
- G. Schultschik: On the reproductive biology of Mertensiella caucasica (WAGA, 1876) (Urodela: Salamandridae). In: Treatises and reports for natural history. Volume 17, Magdeburg 1994, pp. 163-175.
- G. Schultschik: Mertensiella caucasica: keeping, offspring and field observation. In: Salamandra. Volume 30, No. 3, Rheinbach 1994, pp. 161-173.
Web links
- information
- photos
- Mertensiella caucasica inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Ugur Kaya, Boris Tuniyev, Natalia Ananjeva, Nikolai Orlov, Theodore Papenfuss, Sergius Kuzmin, David Tarkhnishvili, Sako Tuniyev, Max Sparreboom, Ismail Ugurtas, Steven Anderson, 2008. Retrieved November 20, 2013.