| Salamanders Fossil range: Jurassic–present |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Subclass: | Lissamphibia |
| Order: | Caudata Scopoli, 1777 |
| Suborders | |
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| Native distribution of salamanders (in green) | |
Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant species are grouped together as the Urodela.[1] Most salamanders have four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs. Their moist skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water, or under some protection (e.g., moist ground), often in a wetland. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout life, some take to the water intermittently, and some are entirely terrestrial as adults. Uniquely among vertebrates, they are capable of regenerating lost limbs, as well as other body parts.
Contents |
Mature salamanders generally have a body form similar to that of lizards, with slender bodies, long tails, and four limbs. However, like some lizards, many species of salamander have reduced or absent limbs, giving them a more eel-like appearance. Most species have limbs with four toes on the forelimbs, and five on the hind limbs, and lack claws. Salamanders are often brightly colored, either in both sexes throughout the year, or only in the males, especially during the breeding season. However, the species dwelling entirely underground are often white or pink, lacking any skin pigment.[2]
Many salamanders are relatively small, but there are definite exceptions. They range in size from the minute salamanders, with a total length of 2.7 centimetres (1.1 in), including the tail, to the Chinese giant salamander which reaches 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) and weighs up to 65 kg (140 lb). Most, however, are between 10 centimetres (3.9 in) and 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length. Salamanders regularly shed the outer layer of their skin (the epidermis) as they grow, and then eat the resulting slough.[2][3][4]
Respiration differs among the different species of salamanders. Species that lack lungs respire through gills. In most cases, these are external gills, visible as tufts on either side of the head, although the amphiumas have internal gills and gill slits. Some salamanders that are terrestrial have lungs that are used in respiration, although these are simple and sac-like, unlike the more complex organs found in mammals. Many species, such as the olm, have both lungs and gills as adults.[2]
Some terrestrial species lack both lungs and gills and perform gas exchange through their skin, a process known as valerian respiration in which the capillary beds are spread throughout the epidermis, and inside the mouth. Even some species with lungs can respire through the skin in this manner.
The skin of salamanders secretes mucus, which helps keep the animal moist when on dry land, and maintains their salt balance while in water, as well as providing a lubricant during swimming. Salamanders also secrete poison from glands in their skin, and some additionally have skin glands for secreting courtship pheromones.[2]
Hunting is yet another unique aspect of salamanders. In the lungless salamanders, muscles surrounding the hyoid bone contract to create pressure and actually "shoot" the hyoid bone out of the mouth along with the tongue. The tip of the tongue is composed of a mucus which creates a sticky end to which the prey is captured. Muscles in the pelvic region are used in order to reel the tongue and the hyoid back to its original position.
Many of the highly aquatic species, however, have no muscles in the tongue, and do not use it for capturing prey, while most other species have a mobile tongue, but without the adaptations to the hyoid bone. Most species of salamander have small teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. Unlike frogs, even the larvae of salamanders possess these teeth.[2]
To find their prey, salamanders use trichromatic color vision in the ultraviolet range based on two photoreceptor types maximally sensitive around 450 nm, 500 nm and 570 nm.[5] Permanently subterranean salamanders have reduced eyes, which may even be covered by a layer of skin. The larvae, and the adults of some highly aquatic species, also have a lateral line organ, similar to that of fish, which can detect changes in water pressure. Salamanders have no external ear, and only a vestigial middle ear.[2]
Salamanders will use tail autotomy to escape predators. Their tail will drop off and wriggle around for a little while, and the salamanders will either run away or stay still enough to not be noticed while the predator is distracted. Salamanders routinely regenerate complex tissues. Within only a few weeks of losing a piece of limb, a salamander perfectly reforms the missing structure.[6]
Salamanders split off from the other amphibians during the Mid to Late Permian, and initially were similar to modern members of the Cryptobranchoidea. Any resemblance to lizards is the result of convergence of the basic tetrapod body plan, as they are no more closely related to lizards than they are to mammals. Their nearest relatives are the frogs and toads, within Batrachia.
Caudates are found on all continents except for Australia, Antarctica and most of Africa. One-third of the known salamanders are found in North America. The highest concentration of these is found in the Appalachian Mountains region. Species of salamander are numerous and found in most moist or arid habitats in the northern hemisphere. They usually live in or near brooks, creeks, ponds, and other moist locations.
The life history of salamanders is similar to that of other amphibians such as frogs and toads. Most species fertilise the eggs internally, with the male depositing a sac of sperm in the female's cloaca. The most primitive salamanders, grouped together as the Cryptobranchoidea, instead exhibit external fertilisation. The eggs are laid in a moist environment, often a pond, but sometimes moist soil, or inside bromeliads. Some species are ovoviviparous, with the female retaining the eggs inside her body until they hatch.[2]
A larval stage follows in which the organism is fully aquatic or land dwelling, and possesses gills. Depending on species, the larval stage may or may not possess legs. The larval stage may last anything from days to years, depending on the species. Some species (such as Dunn's Salamander) exhibit no larval stage at all, with the young hatching as miniature versions of the adult.
Neoteny has been observed in all salamander families, in which an individual may retain gills into sexual maturity. This may be universally possible in all salamander species[7]. More commonly, however, metamorphosis continues with the loss of gills, the growth (or increase in size) of legs, and the capability of the animal to function terrestrially.
A general decline in living amphibian species, caused by the fungal disease chytridiomycosis, has had a significant effect on the salamander as well. While researchers have not yet found a direct link between the fungus and the population decline, they do believe it has played a role. Researchers also cite deforestation and climate change as possible contributing factors. This is based on surveys conducted in Guatemala during the 1970s as well as recently. Especially affected were Pseudoeurycea brunnata and Pseudoeurycea goebeli, both of which were abundant during the 1970s.[8]
There are ten families belonging to the order Caudata, divided into three suborders.[1] The clade Neocaudata is often used to separate Cryptobranchoidea and Salamandroidea from the Sirenoidea.
| Cryptobranchoidea (Giant salamanders) | |||
| Family | Common Names | Example Species |
Example Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptobranchidae | Giant salamanders | Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) |  |
| Hynobiidae | Asiatic salamanders | Hida Salamander (Hynobius kimurae) |  |
| Salamandroidea (Advanced salamanders) | |||
| Ambystomatidae | Mole salamanders | Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) |  |
| Amphiumidae | Amphiumas or Congo eels | Two-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma means) |  |
| Dicamptodontidae | Pacific giant salamanders | Pacific Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) |  |
| Plethodontidae | Lungless salamanders | Red Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) |  |
| Proteidae | Mudpuppies and olms | Olm (Proteus anguinus) |  |
| Rhyacotritonidae | Torrent salamanders | Southern Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton variegatus) |  |
| Salamandridae | Newts and true salamanders | Alpine Newt (Triturus alpestris) |  |
| Sirenoidea (Sirens) | |||
| Sirenidae | Sirens | Greater Siren (Siren lacertina) |  |
Numerous legends have developed around the salamander over the centuries, many related to fire. This connection likely originates from the tendency of many salamanders to dwell inside rotting logs. When placed into a fire, the salamander would attempt to escape from the log, lending to the belief that salamanders were created from flames - a belief that gave the creature its name.[9]
Associations of the salamander with fire appear in the Talmud as well as in the writings of Aristotle, Pliny, Conrad Lycosthenes, Benvenuto Cellini, Ray Bradbury, David Weber, Paracelsus and Leonardo da Vinci.
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'SALAMANDER. Salamanders in the restricted sense (genus Salamandra of N. Laurenti) are close allies of the newts, but of exclusively terrestrial habits, indicated by the shape of the tail, which is not distinctly compressed. The genus is restricted in its habitat to the western parts of the Palaearctic region and represented by four species only: the spotted salamander, S. maculosa, the well-known black and yellow creature inhabiting Central and Southern Europe, North-West Africa and SouthWestern Asia; the black salamander, S. atra, restricted to the Alps; S. caucasica from the Caucasus, and S. luschani from Asia Minor. Salamanders, far from being able to withstand the action of fire, as was believed by the ancients, are only found in damp places, and emerge in misty weather only or after thunderstorms, when they may appear in enormous numbers in localities where at other times their presence would not be suspected. They are usually much dreaded by country people, and although they are quite harmless to man, the large glands which are disposed very regularly on their smooth, shiny bodies, secrete a very active, milky poison which protects them from the attacks of many enemies.
The breeding habits of the two well-known European species are highly interesting. They pair on land, the male clasping the female at the arms, and the impregnation is internal. Long after pairing the female gives birth to living young. S. maculosa, which lives in plains or at low altitudes (up to 3000 ft.), deposits her young, ten to fifty in number, in the water, in springs or cool rivulets, and these young at birth are of small size, provided with external gills and four limbs, in every way similar to advanced newt larvae. S. atra, on the other hand, inhabits the Alps between 2000 and 9000 ft. altitude. Localities at such altitudes not being, as a rule, suitable for larval life in the water, the young are retained in the uterus, until the completion of the metamorphosis. Only two young, rarely three or four, are born, and they may measure as much as 50 mm. at birth, the mother measuring only 120. The uterine eggs are large and numerous, as in S. maculosa, but as a rule only one fully develops in each uterus, the embryo being nourished on the yolk of the other eggs, which more or less dissolve to form a large mass of nutrient matter. The embryo passes through three stages - (I) still enclosed within the egg and living on its own yolk; (2) free, within the vitelline mass, which is directly swallowed by the mouth; (3) there is no more vitelline mass, but the embryo is possessed of long external gills, which serve for an exchange of nutritive fluid through the maternal uterus, these gills functioning in the same way as the chorionic villi of the mammalian egg. Embryos in the second stage, if artificially released from the uterus, are able to live in water, in the same way as similarly developed larvae of S. maculosa. But the uterine gills soon wither and are shed, and are replaced by other gills differing in no respect from those of its congener.
- Marie von Chauvin, Zeitschr. Wiss. Zool. xxix. (1877), p. 324; P. Kammerer, Arch. f. Entwickel. xvii. (1904), p. 1; Mme. Phisalix-Picot, Recherches embryologiques, histologiques et physiologiques sur les glandes d venin de la salamandre terrestre (Paris, 1900, 8vo).
Categories: SAK-SAN | Vertebrates
Salamander, m (plural: Salamander)
| Life Force | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Release date | PC-Engine: December 6, 1991 (JP) Virtual Console: September 11, 2007 (JP) |
| Genre | Scrolling Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single player 2 player Cooperative |
| Age rating(s) | N/A NES PC-Engine CERO: A Virtual Console |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System PC-Engine Virtual Console |
| Media | HuCard PC-Engine |
| Input | NES Controller Turbo Pad Gamecube Controller Wii Remote Classic Controller |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
Salamander (Life Force in North America) is a spinoff of the Gradius series released by Konami for arcades. The game was later ported to home consoles and computers.
It is similar to Gradius, except that two players can participate in the same game at the same time, the player's new ship appears right in the middle of the ongoing action instead of starting over from some "checkpoint" position, and in some versions you can collect the specific power-up that appears rather than waiting to collect enough power-up pods to activate the desired power-up. There is a total of six levels in the game; the odd-numbered levels are all horizontal, while the even-numbered levels are vertical. At the end of every level there is a boss creature that you must defeat; at the end of the sixth, there is also a series of rapidly closing gates that you must navigate safely through to escape.
 NES Boxart |
 PC-Engine Boxart |
| Gradius series |
|---|
| Main series |
| Gradius | Gradius II | Gradius III | Gradius IV | Gradius V Nemesis | Gradius: The Interstellar Assault | Gradius Gaiden | Gradius Galaxies | Gradius ReBirth |
| Spin-offs |
| Parodius series | Salamander / Life Force | Salamander II |
| Compilations |
| Gradius Collection |
 |
This article is a stub. You can help by adding to it.
Stubs are articles that writers have begun work on, but are not yet complete enough to be considered finished articles. |
| Salamander Fossil range: Jurassic – Recent | |||||||||||
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| File:Salamandra salamandra (Marek Szczepanek).jpg | |||||||||||
| A Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) showing warning colouration. | |||||||||||
| Scientific classification | |||||||||||
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| File:Distribution.caudata. | |||||||||||
Salamanders are amphibians. They are the order Caudata (or Urodela). There are about 500 different species.
Salamanders live in water and on land, and look rather like lizards, with four legs and a tail. They hatch as larvae from eggs in the water. At that stage, they have gills that stick out.
Most salamanders live on land when they are adults, after changing their shape (metamorphosis). On land, salamanders are confined to moist habitats. Their method of respiration varies. Some salamanders stay in the water, but look like adults. These are called newts. Some salamanders retain gills into sexual maturity, such as the Axolotl. This process is called neoteny.
Often, salamanders may have a chemical defence to predators; they are poisonous to eat. In this case, they will have warning colouration: see Mimicry#Warning colouration. Otherwise, if not poisonous, they will usually have camouflage.
Salamanders are the only tetrapods able to regeneate limbs, as well as other body parts.
Contents |
Respiration differs between species of salamanders. Species that lack lungs respire through gills. In most cases, these are external gills, visible as tufts on either side of the head, although the amphiumas have internal gills and gill slits. Some salamanders that are terrestrial have lungs that are used in respiration, although these are simple and sac-like, unlike the more complex organs found in mammals. Many species, such as the Olm, have both lungs and gills as adults.[1]
Some terrestrial species lack both lungs and gills and perform gas exchange through their skin, a process known as valerian respiration in which the capillary beds are spread throughout the epidermis, and inside the mouth. Even some species with lungs can also respire through the skin in this manner.
The skin of salamanders secretes mucus. This helps to keep the animal moist when on dry land, and maintains their salt balance while in water, as well as providing a lubricant during swimming. Salamanders also secrete poison from glands in their skin, and some additionally have skin glands for secreting courtship pheromones.[1]
Hunting is yet another unique aspect of salamanders. In the lungless salamanders, muscles surrounding the hyoid bone contract to create pressure and actually "shoot" the hyoid bone out of the mouth along with the tongue. The tip of the tongue is composed of a mucus which creates a sticky end to which the prey is captured. Muscles in the pelvic region are used in order to reel the tongue and the hyoid back to its original position.
Many of the highly aquatic species, however, have no muscles in the tongue, and do not use it for capturing prey, while most other species have a mobile tongue, but without the adaptations to the hyoid bone. Most species of salamander have small teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. Unlike frogs, even the larvae of salamanders possess these teeth.[1]
To find their prey, salamanders use trichromatic color vision in the ultraviolet range.[2] Permanently subterranean salamanders have reduced eyes, which may even be covered by a layer of skin. The larvae, and the adults of some highly aquatic species, also have a lateral line organ, similar to that of fish, which can detect changes in water pressure. Salamanders have no external ear, and only a vestigial middle ear.[1]
Salamanders can drop their tail to escape predators. The tail will drop off and wriggle around for a little while, and the salamanders will either run away or stay still enough to not be noticed while the predator is distracted. Salamanders routinely regenerate complex tissues. Within only a few weeks of losing a piece of limb, a salamander perfectly reforms the missing structure.[3]
There are ten families in the order Urodela, divided into three suborders:
| Cryptobranchoidea (Giant salamanders) | |||
| Family | Common Names | Example Species |
Example Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptobranchidae | Giant salamanders | Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) | |
| Hynobiidae | Asiatic salamanders | Hida Salamander (Hynobius kimurae) | |
| Salamandroidea (Advanced salamanders) | |||
| Ambystomatidae | Mole salamanders | Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) | |
| Amphiumidae | Amphiumas or Congo eels | Two-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma means) | |
| Dicamptodontidae | Pacific giant salamanders | Pacific Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) | |
| Plethodontidae | Lungless salamanders | Red Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) | |
| Proteidae | Mudpuppies or waterdogs | Olm (Proteus anguinus) | |
| Rhyacotritonidae | Torrent salamanders | Southern Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton variegatus) | |
| Salamandridae | Newts and true salamanders | Alpine Newt (Triturus alpestris) | |
| Sirenoidea (Sirens) | |||
| Sirenidae | Sirens | Greater Siren (Siren lacertina) |
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