Tailed amphibians, whose representatives are very few, have great similarity in structure with frogs. But, unlike frogs, there are about 340 species of caudate species. Tailed amphibians include tritons, salamanders and coal-tootheds.
The external structure of tailed amphibians
Like frogs, caudate has bare skin, there are four limbs, but a tail is present. Outwardly, the tailed amphibians look like lizards, although they have gills. The body lines are smooth, without sharp corners.
The limbs are used only for movement on land, in the water, tailed amphibians do not use them.
The eyes, like frogs, are covered with transparent eyelids, which protect them from dirt and sun exposure.
Habitat
Almost only in the northern hemisphere are tailed amphibians. Species of some prefer to live in water and only very rarely appear on land. Others, on the contrary, constantly live on land and enter the water as necessary. These species are almost helpless in the water. And those who love to live in water, on the contrary, will not be able to move normally along the shore. These species have very short paws. The article presents their interesting photos.
Tailed amphibians are predominantly nocturnal and spend the day in burrows, under stones, in stumps or other shelters.
Corner teeth
These amphibian tailed families live in Southeast Asia. But one of its representatives, the Siberian newt, lives beyond the Arctic Circle.
This is probably the only cold-blooded species that climbed so far north. Siberian Triton is a very ancient species, and most likely survived due to the fact that in the edge of permafrost it has no competitors.
The Siberian newt is able to survive low temperatures, and there were cases when a Siberian was found frozen a hundred years ago in the ice, and it came to life after the ice melted.
Fire salamander
Since ancient times, salamanders have been known not as amphibians, tailless, but as mythical songs. It was believed that the salamander is not afraid of fire, lives in a stove or fireplace and protects the house from fire. According to another version, she was the spirit of fire.
But the brightest representative - the fire salamander - was not named so for this reason. She just has a beautiful skin color: bright red and orange spots on a black background. And, like human fingerprints, the shape of the spots does not repeat.
The fiery salamander lives next to other species of the so-called real salamander. They live in North America, Europe and Asia.
The salamander has a long tail and legs without swimming membranes.
Gigantic Salamander
Represents a family of hidden ghosts, a squad of tailed amphibians.
This is the largest representative of the entire species of caudate amphibian. The length of the gigantic salamander can reach one and a half meters.
Mostly lives near the major rivers of China and Japan. She loves fast flow. Under large or overhanging stones, it spends daylight hours, and at night goes out for prey. The gigantic salamander feeds on small fish, frogs, insects and crustaceans. Her mouth is equipped with small teeth, which are used to hold prey.
The body of this salamander is flattened laterally, as is the head. The tail is also compressed on the sides and participates in movement on water.
The forelimbs of the gigantic salamander are thick and have four fingers. There are five on the hind limbs of the fingers.
The color of this species is heterogeneous, the back is painted in dark gray, with barely noticeable spots, and the belly is light and also with spots of a dark color.
Currently, the gigantic salamander is rarely found in nature. She has very tasty meat, and she has become a subject of hunting.
Allegamsky crypt
It lives in North America and has a length of just over half a meter. In appearance it is close to a gigantic salamander. The skin color is light or brown, skin folds stretch from the sides to the edges of the hind legs.
It lives in rivers with a fast current, in the shallowest places. Leads a nocturnal lifestyle, except for the mating season. The Allegamsian coxinchis hunts in water and very rarely rises to the surface.
Newts
In ancient Greece, the newts called the male version of the mermaid. But now amphibians are called tritons, which live mainly in water.
The body structure of the tritons is slightly different from the addition of the salamander: the body is flattened from the sides, and the tail has a small rim that resembles a fish fin.
The legs of the newt are not too developed and poorly adapted for movement on land. In the water, he feels much more confident and swims with the tail. During the movement, an amphibian throws its forelimbs behind its back and uses them as a helm.
Tritons lead a nocturnal lifestyle - they sit out in shelter during the day, and go hunting at night. They feed on worms and insects. In winter, they hide in small groups in foliage near a reservoir, where they plan to get out in the spring.
Tiger Ambistoma
These tailed amphibians do not grow large. Their length is only 15-20 centimeters. There are eight subspecies. The head of the tiger ambistoma is round and large, and the body is thick.
The color of the animal is dark brown or dark olive with yellow spots.
These tailed amphibians prefer to live near calm waters - ponds or lakes. Very rarely settle near rivers. Like all other amphibians, they lead a nocturnal lifestyle, and at night they get food. The tiger ambistoma feeds on insects, worms, mollusks and other small invertebrates.
This species can be kept at home in the aquarium. Also in some states of the USA, tiger ambistoma is included in the list of protected animals.
Pacific salamander
It lives in the forests of Canada and the USA. Salamanders settle in burrows, and do not dig them yourself, but use the shelters of small rodents. Or they find some object on earth and settle down there.
The most interesting feature is the protection against enemies. The Pacific salamander is able to cast its tail like a lizard. She can also throw poison from her tail.
When attacked, it resembles a cat: it extends its tail with a pipe, arches its back and shoots with poison. Most often, in this way she guards her masonry, but in some cases can transfer it from place to place.
Black-bellied lungless salamander
It lives in the mountains of Apalachi, which are located in the USA. Likes to settle near mountain cold streams.
The color of the salamander is black, with faint dark spots on the back.
The black-bellied salamander is very nimble and aggressive. Unlike other salamanders, he likes to get out of the water and move around the surroundings of his reservoir. Can jump over rocks, slopes and branches.
In case of danger, it quickly hides in the water and disguises itself among the underwater foliage.
The metabolism of the black-bellied salamander is slow, so she eats infrequently and little. This species belongs to the lungless salamander.
Triton ordinary
Lives in the temperate climatic zone of the continent of Eurasia. Triton is small in size, an adult can grow up to 12 centimeters. Of these, 6 is the length of the tail.
The color of the ordinary newt is brown, and the abdomen is yellowish. Multi-colored spots are scattered on the skin. To attract females, males are painted much brighter. During the mating season, the male has a beautiful serrated orange-blue crest. It starts from the head and ends at the tip of the tail. The female in the mating season can also become brighter. In order to give offspring, the newt must be older than two years.
The newt feeds on insects, worms, and small invertebrates. Mostly lives and hunts on land, hiding during the day and going hunting at night, and hibernates for the winter.
Comb Newt
This newt is similar to an ordinary, but larger in size. In length, it can reach twenty centimeters. The skin of the comb newt is strewn with small warts.
The skin is brown, and the abdomen is orange. Black spots are scattered throughout the body.
The crest during mating season turns blue to attract the female. What is characteristic, the female does not “dress up” during the mating season.
Like almost all amphibians, the crested newt leads a nocturnal lifestyle. During the day he sits in a shelter, and at night he gets food.
Asia Minor Newt
It is a class of amphibians, a tailed squad, a family of real salamanders, a genus of newts.
The length of Asia Minor Triton can vary from 15 to 17 centimeters. The tail is wide and slightly exceeds the length of the body. In the mating season, an elegant crest appears in the males. On the back, it resembles fins of fish.
The coloring of the Asia Minor Newt is lead-olive and the entire surface of the body is strewn with spots. On the sides there are black and silver stripes. The color of the belly is yellow.
This amphibian lives throughout the continent of Eurasia, likes to settle in the mountains and forests. Ponds picks with rich aquatic vegetation.
Leaves the pond only in the summer and early fall. He cannot stand the heat, he can die because he does not go hunting. Hibernates for the winter.
Asia Minor triton preys on mollusks, invertebrates, spiders, worms, and small newts.
Triton propagates in water. The larva of caudate amphibians emerges after about a month and begins to feed on the second day. Four months pass before the full appearance of the newt from the larva.
Females live almost twice as long as males - 21 years old. And the male is only 12 years old.