Silver salamander
| Silver salamander | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Silver salamander ( Plethodon glutinosus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Plethodon glutinosus | ||||||||||||
| ( Green , 1818) |
The silver salamander ( Plethodon glutinosus ) is a salamander from the species-rich family of lung lots Salamander . There are about 16 subspecies.
features
The silver salamander is black with white or silver spots. The bottom is lighter than the top. The animals are 12 to 17 centimeters long. The hull has 14 to 15 side furrows. The head is relatively large. Newly transformed pups may still have small white gills.
Occurrence
The silver salamander occurs from New York south to Florida and west to Mississippi , Arkansas and Oklahoma . It lives in damp forests and river valleys up to 1,600 meters above sea level, where it hides under flat stones and rotting wood. The silver salamander feeds on ants , beetles and worms .
Way of life
While it is active all year round in the south, it hibernates in the north. After rains he leaves his hiding place.
If the silver salamander is attacked, it secretes an extremely unpleasant, milky white and slimy secretion (the English name of the animal is "Slimy Salamander"), which can hardly be removed from the skin.
Reproduction
Mating takes place on land in spring, summer or autumn, depending on the geographic location. In the north the females breed every two years, in the south, however, every year. The female lays 6 to 36 eggs in crevices or holes and guards them. The eggs develop without a larval stage in the water. The young hatch in the north in late summer and in the south in October. An animal becomes sexually mature at the age of three.
Web links
- English website
- English website with pictures
- German website with feeding video and pictures
- Plethodon glutinosus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: Geoffrey Hammerson, 2004. Accessed March 12, 2012th